As will be expected for the rest of your career, a key function of this course is to help you think independently and become professionally calibrated – that is, comfortable determining the relevant legal principles and then applying them to the client’s needs, priorities and circumstances. This course starts with an introduction to the standard terms and structure of a contract. Students will then examine a broad range of contracts in actual use (typical business agreement, law firm retainer letter, consumer credit card agreement, web site terms of use, etc.) and present to the class their assessment of why provisions were likely drafted as they were and what alternatives might be considered. Students will then draft a simple version of a contract and then write an opinion letter interpreting a complex contract. The final third of the course will be team presentations with the rest of the class functioning as the client’s CEO, CFO, general counsel and other senior managers.
