Strategic Contract Drafting and NegotiationEnquire
What you will learn
Gain contemporary skills and knowledge for your job now.
The ability to draft contracts that achieve key commercial objectives is indispensable for lawyers and other professionals working in a globalised market.
This micro-credential is ideal for a range of professionals – legal and otherwise – seeking the practical skills to draft commercial contracts that add strategic value to contract negotiations.
Understand how contract drafters add value to negotiation processes
Review the features of good contract drafting and learn to identify opportunities for value-added strategic drafting in commercial agreements. You'll build on your existing knowledge of contract language to gain a practical understanding of how to structure contract provisions that can be leveraged during contract negotiations.
Explore best-practice approaches to the drafting of strategic contracts
Analyse real-world examples of contract clauses and identify potential drafting issues related to language, structure, and legal interpretations. You'll explore the relationship between contract drafting and interest-based negotiations, and consider how they combine to deliver outcomes that reflect the commercial interests of the parties to a contract.
Apply what you've learned to a drafting and negotiation strategy
With your new knowledge of strategic contract writing, you'll be guided to develop a drafting and negotiation strategy that delivers appropriate solutions for clients and transactions, including in a cross-border context. You'll structure a complex contract provision that reflects the commercial interests of the party for which you are drafting, and receive valuable feedback on your work.
Who you will learn from
Learn from skilled academics and professional experts who will share invaluable knowledge you can use in your job.
Dr Andrew Godwin
Principal Fellow
Andrew is a former partner in an international law firm and has over a decade of experience in the area of contract drafting training. He has trained lawyers in Australia, Asia and Europe. He is also the author of China Lexicon, a critically acclaimed bilingual book that examines Chinese and English legal terminology and concepts.
More from this series
Take multiple courses to deepen your knowledge or stack towards a full degree.
The Contract Drafting suite
This suite of Melbourne MicroCerts will provide you with the practical skills, knowledge, and confidence to draft effective commercial contracts that reflect the commercial needs of the parties to a contract. You'll examine key components of the contract drafting process, such as the fundamentals of contract language, how to structure complex contract provisions, and the value of strategic drafting as part of the negotiation process.
This micro-credential is for professionals – legal and otherwise – looking to gain the practical skills and knowledge to draft commercial contracts that add strategic value to commercial negotiations. To take this course, it is recommended you have at least one year of relevant legal or contract administration experience.
Relevance to your job and industry
This micro-credential has been designed in close consultation with industry and is based on extensive experience in the design and delivery of industry training.
You'll gain insights from a diverse range of industry professionals to underline the diverse perspectives of stakeholders such as clients, lawyers and in-house counsel.
This course has been designed to apply Plain English rules and clear drafting principles as recognised in various contexts, including legislative drafting, disclosure requirements, and effective contract drafting guides produced by professional bodies.
Learning on this micro-credential is equivalent to AQF Level 8 of the Australian Qualifications Framework.
Skills and learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you'll better understand how to draft contracts that add strategic value to commercial negotiations and how strategic drafting operates as part of the negotiation process in business deals.
You'll be able to:
Examine how contract drafters add value through the drafting process
Identify and apply good practices in terms of taking instructions and achieving a client's commercial needs
Assess the strategic value of drafting during contract negotiations.
Workload and assessment
This course runs over four weeks.
Your total time commitment is approximately 42 hours, which includes:
7 hours guided learning
10 hours assessment tasks
25 hours independent study and reading
Assessment:
Issue-spotting exercise: Identify opportunities for value-added and strategic drafting across a broad range of contractual provisions (30%)
Simulated drafting exercise: Plan and draft a negotiation strategy and a complex contractual provision that reflects a client's commercial objectives (70%).
Your digital certificate
Once you've successfully completed this course, you will be awarded your Strategic Contract Drafting and Negotiation micro-credential. This digital certificate will warrant the achievement of knowledge, skills and capabilities outlined in the learning outcomes. It may also include artefacts (such as videos and written material) related to both experiential and work-integrated learning, including translatable assessment that is practical to your professional life. You can also share your micro-credential digitally and via social media by adding it to your personal platforms, such as LinkedIn. See example certificate.
Pathways to further study
Strategic Contract Drafting and Negotiation can be taken as a stand-alone micro-credential, or complemented with Contract Drafting Skills to deepen your knowledge and skills.
Strategic Contract Drafting and Negotiation is usually undertaken as the second micro-credential in this suite, but this is not a requirement.
You'll learn alongside other professionals throughout this course within our innovative online learning environment. You'll undertake guided learning activities such as peer learning and interaction on discussion boards, as well as synchronous discussions or interactive seminars via video conferencing.
You'll begin to put your skills into practice and receive vital feedback from your instructor, a seasoned legal expert. To underline the diverse perspectives of stakeholders, such as clients, solicitors, and in-house counsel, you'll also hear from a range of industry professionals.
