Drafting contracts is one of the main activities undertaken by legal firms and corporate legal departments. It takes in-depth understanding of jurisprudence, law and years of experience to be a good contract writer. Legal firms in particular bank on highly experienced hands to do this rather intricate and time consuming work. This is simply because in a contract every word matters and there is no place of ambiguity. In this article we will delve deeper into the attributes of a contract and what all you need to know about contracts and contract drafting services.
Let’s start with the basics of a contract. Ideally a legal contract has the following attributes:
Intent: This part of the contract signifies the real purpose behind the the coming together of the parties involved. It has to state very categorically why the parties involved are getting into the contract. The reasons may be as diverse as the life itself. The most common intents for parties getting into a contract include real estate deals, financial services, loans, distribution of resources, land use deals, medical insurance, home loans, car loans and a variety of other deals. While drafting the intent part of the contract the person or company responsible should make sure that all the parties involved understand each and every word used. If you are a party to a contract are are not a qualified lawyer, it is best to hire contract drafting services or contract abstraction services of a reputed firm.
Subject Matter: While the intent part signifies the reasons behind the parties getting into the contract, subject matter defines the terms and conditions governing the agreement. In this part the attorney has to make sure that all the parties are on the same page regarding meanings attached to the terms used in the contract. In the subject matter part the parties involved are in the negotiation phase. So, this part often uses words such as ‘subject to contract’, ‘without prejudice’. These terms indicate that the contract is still in the negotiation phase and is not final.
Offer: The offer part of a contract simply signifies the need to know information for all the parties involved. Generally in a contact one party offers something and the other parties have to understand it thoroughly. While drafting this part the the legal resource in charge has to make sure that there is no room for ambiguity. If the offer is something big, ideally it should be broken down in a sequential order and every part should be explained separately. Here the attorney’s ability to communicate the most complex of concepts is put to test. Only a well qualified and experienced lawyer can write this part of the contract and hence it makes sense to hire a professional contract drafting service.
Acceptance: Once the offer has been communicated to all the parties, they negotiate on different parts of it. At this juncture, there has be an absolute understanding among the parties about the different aspects of the offer. Once the offer has been accepted, no modifications whatsoever can be made to the contract. A contract is considered null and void if the parties involved do not accept the offer. If the offer declares a certain type of acceptance, then that type of acceptance must used for the contract to be legally binding on all the parties.
Contract drafting is all about these four attributes and every part has to be clear, unambiguous and legally correct. Almost everybody gets into some kind of contract in life and hence should understand these aspects of a legally binding agreement. Whether you are a corporate or an individual getting into a contract, it best to hire legal contract drafting services of a qualified attorney to safeguard your interests.