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Strategic Writing to Win for Non-Legal PMEs

This workshop is about legally protective writing strategies. Nobody gets it right first time. Writing in a strategic way is as important as oral statements. Strategic writing to win is critical for solving commercial and business or engineering disputes and winning legal battles. This workshop will provide a wide range of topics that arise in everyday tasks in a business and commercial setting. It gives to the non-expert matters relating to drafting contracts and writing letters. You do not need to have prior legal knowledge to attend this course.

When in doubt and before you write your final draft in your office, check the dictionary and then the legal dictionary. Some letters are not easily readable. Lay readers may not easily understand certain documents. It all boils down to "clarity" - using plain simple English in writing letters, office memos or documents.
What to avoid when writing documents and letters? How to draft documents? Learn the modern style to write clearly, properly and effectively in this 1-day workshop, which will take you through the effective strategies for a better writing of your letters and documents. Choosing the right word to write is ever so important, but also watch out for problem words with multiple meanings. Learn what works and what doesn't.

Objective

At the end of this one-day workshop, participants will learn to:

• Write in a strategic and winning way
• Write in a practical, tactical and focused manner
• Rely on boilerplate precedents
• Write Plain English for maximum effectiveness
• General Principles of Legal Writing and Drafting Letters, Memoranda and Reports

Outline

1. Writing Commercial Contracts

• Legalese vs. simple English
• Know your reader
• Decide on what to say; keep your ideas in check
• Grammar, style, correctness, meaning, spelling and organisation
• Use present tense and shorter words
• Use definitions
• Write in paragraphs
• Be consistent
• Avoid repetition
• Be careful of muddled sentences
• Sentence structure
  
  * Avoid sentence fragments 
  * Avoid run-on sentences
  * Eliminate redundancies
  * Avoid incorrect deletions
  * Use sentence structure for emphasis


• Watch out for problem words with multiple meanings or special legal meanings, vague words or confusing pairs
• Avoid negatives - why prefer the active to the passive voice?
• How to make passive verbs active?
• The power of punctuation
• How to write effective letters and formal documents
• Factual instructional or informative
• Persuasive, influencing and advising
• Form, style and layout conventions
• Heading and numbering
• Tone, politeness and humanity
• Retain composure on paper
• Prompt response
• Voice of assurance
• Without prejudice letters
• Subject to contract
• Internal notes and memo
• Preparing memos, briefs and minutes
• Avoid legalese, archaic language
• Choose the right word
• Use of dictionary and legal dictionary
• Reasoning - writing a case analysis
• Preparing and organising an office memo

2. Practical Clauses

• Definitions and interpretation
• Commencement and termination
• Confidentiality and disclosures
• Intellectual property rights
• Standard warranties, guarantees and indemnities
• Exclusions of liability
• Liquidated damages clause
• Severability clause
• Retention of title
• Service of notices
• Whole agreement and variation clauses
• Novation
• Dispute

3. Structure of Standard Commercial Agreement

• Commencement
• Recitals
• Operative part
• Definitions
• Conditions precedent
• Boiler-plates
• Schedules
• Appendix
• Execution

Who should attend

Directors, Office Managers and Executives and any office personnel who writes letters, reports and business contracts.

Profile of Catherine Tay

Catherine Tay has over 35 years of lecturing experience as an Associate Professor lecturing business law at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Strategy and Policy, NUS Business School. She is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. She is also a barrister-at-law (of Lincoln’s Inn, United Kingdom). She is an author of more than 8 law books, including her best-seller book title called "Contract Law - A layman Guide".

She studied law at Queen Mary College, University of London and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and with a Master of Laws, in which she specialised in Company, Shipping, Insurance and Marine Insurance Laws.

She has facilitated seminars and in-house training courses for many business law topics such as tenancy agreements, contract administration management, procurement contracts, legal and practical aspects of tender management, Service Level Agreements and Outsourcing contracts, oil and gas contract management, insurance contracts, Intellectual Property Laws and PDPA data privacy laws. She is an examiner on law subjects for a number of professional bodies and universities in Singapore and overseas. She has lectured at the NUS Extension in professional and business management law courses.

She was an adjunct lecturer at NUS Institute of System Science, in IT outsourcing contracts for over 20 years. She is the Honourable Legal Advisor for Singapore Optometric Association, as well as for the Singapore Institute of Engineering Technologists.