Breakout 8 | Up your drafting game: Preparing separation agreements your clients will understand

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For family law attorneys, marital settlement and separation agreements are our stock in trade. Too often, however, these agreements are relics from another age, chock full of jargon, legalese, and inscrutable convoluted sentences that frequently make no sense. Provisions that haven't been updated for decades require a refresh. Simplifying the structure of the agreement can lead to fewer ambiguities and reduced return visits to lawyers when ambiguous terms are disputed. This presentation will give you a fresh look at these contracts and encourage you to follow Bryan Garner's valuable directive: "If you wouldn't say it, don't write it."

Takeaways:

• Learn how to simplify the language of a separation agreement.
• Learn the best structure for a separation agreement.
• Learn to simplify the "boilerplate" through shorter, tighter sentences and the elimination of "legalese."
• Create a template for separation agreements that clients will understand and appreciate.

Speaker: Alan Freed, Paule Camazine & Blumenthal, PC, St. Louis

Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.