作者：James. Martin

Keep Your Client Informed While You Write 
第五部分：书写时要常和你的客户沟通 

    35. All contracts should come with a cover letter. This gives you a place to instruct your client on how to use and sign the contract. 
    35.所有的合同都应该有一封说明书---用来告诉你的客户如何使用和签署合同。

    36. Tell your client the ideas that come as you write. Many ideas will occur to you as you write: things that could go wrong with the deal, things that might happen in the future, things that happened in the past, ways to structure things better. Write these in your letter to the client. 
    36.告诉客户你在撰写过程中的一些想法。比如：哪些事情可能会随着交易变得很遭，哪些事可能会在将来发生，哪些事情已经发生了，哪些可以让事情朝好的方向发展的方法.....你最好在给客户的说明书中都将这些都写上。  

    37. Inform your client of the risks. Writing a letter to the client as you write the contract is the perfect way to inform the client of the risks and rewards of entering into the contract. Frequently, problems do not become apparent until time is spent trying to word a contract. 
    37.告诉客户合同的风险所在。在撰写合同时，你最好向客户说订立合同需要承担的风险和能够得到的利益。通常情况下，只要你花时间来起草合同，你就会发现真正的风险在哪里。

What To Do After the First Draft Is Written 
第六部分：完成初稿后做什么 

    38. Check spelling, paragraph numbering, and cross references both manually and with your word processor's spelling and grammar checker. This almost goes without saying today, especially since Microsoft Word now checks your spelling and grammar as you type. (Unfortunately it also changes "per stirpes" to "per stupid" if you fail to watch it closely.) And now there are even computer programs that check contract documents for undefined terms. DealProof is packaged with Corel WordPerfect for law offices, and DocProofReader is available for download for MS Word 97 and 2000. 
    38.核实合同的拼写情况、段落序号以及上下文的注解，你可以自己手动来做，也可以用文字编辑软件中的拼写和语法检查功能来完成，特别是自从有了微软的 word软件后，做这样的工作你似乎不要费多少精力（但机器有时也不可靠，如果你不看仔细，它就会把"per stirpes"改变为 "per stupid"）。现在，这类专业的软件甚至可以帮你检测到合同中没有释义的术语，如：Corel公司专门为法律办公开发的文字处理软件包中的 DealProof软件，还有可供word97和word2000下载安装的DocProofReader软件。 

    39. Let your secretary or paralegal read it. Not only will your staff frequently find spelling and grammar errors missed by your word processor's spell checker, but they will find inconsistencies and confusing areas that you missed when drafting. 
    39.让你的秘书或者助手阅读你草拟的合同。你的同事不仅能通过文字处理软件来帮你检查到你没有查到的拼写和语法错误，而且他们还能发现你起草时没有察觉到的矛盾和混淆之处。 

    40. Stamp "Draft #1 6/22/2000" on it. This may be the first of many drafts, so avoid confusion early by numbering and dating all drafts at the top of the first page. It is also a good idea to write "DRAFT" across the face of each page to preclude the possibility of an impatient client signing a draft rather than waiting for the final version. 
    40.在合同上注明“第一稿于200年6月22日”,第一稿完成后，可能还要草拟几个版本，为了避免他们之间相互混淆，最好在每份草稿首页的顶部注上序号 和起草时间。另外，在每一个版本的封面上注明“草稿”字样，也能够避免你那急躁的客户不等到最后的定稿文本就急于签字。 

    41. Let your client read it. Letting the client in on reading the first draft assures that your drafting will stay in tune with the client's wishes. 
    41让你的客户读你草拟的合同。你的客户读第一稿，可以确保你的起草的东西和客户的愿望相符。 

    42. Save the drafts as multiple files on your computer. If you save the first draft on your computer as two files, you will have one file identified as the first draft and the other identified as the current version. This can be done by naming the current version "contract" and the first draft as "contract.d1." Then, subsequent versions can be named "contract.d2", "contract.d3," etc., where the "d" in the extension indicates draft. (Of course, if you're not using WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, as I do, you can use long file names to show the contract name, draft number and draft date, such as "Contract Smith Jones draft 2 datd 6 22 2000.") 
    42.在电脑中将草拟的合同多保存几个复件。如果你将第一稿合同存了两份在电脑中，那么其中的一份可以用来存档，另一份则可以用来继续修改。用来存档的文 件可以命名为"合同.草1"。用来修改的文件可以命名为"合同"。以此类推，以后修改的版本就命名为"合同.草2"，"合同.草3"，等等。带"草"字的 扩展名表示此合同是草拟版本。（当然，你可能不经常用DOS下的WordPerfect 5.1软件，我是经常用的，你也可以用一个较长的文件名来清楚地表达出草拟合同的名称、编号及起草时间，范例如："史密斯.琼斯于2000年6月22日草 拟的第二版合同"。） 

    43. Compare the current version to prior versions. If you save draft versions, it is very easy to compare one version to another using the word processor's compare feature or using the CompareRite computer program. When you compare "contract.d1" to "contract.d2", save the comparison as "contract.c21" and print it to show the client what changes were made. 
    43.将当前的草拟版本和以前的版本进行比较。如果你存了很多合同的草拟版本，那么你就可以很容易地用文字处理软件或者是CompareRite软件来比 较分析两个合同版本。当你用软件比较"合同.草1"和"合同.草2"两个版本时，最好将软件的分析结果打印出来送给客户看，让他知道变化在哪里。 

How to Print and Sign the Final Draft 
第七部分：怎样打印和签署最后的定稿合同

    44. Print the contract on 24 pound bond paper instead of 20 pound copier paper. Using a heavy bond paper will make it easy to tell the original contract from copies. It will also last longer. 
    44.用24磅的铜板纸而不是用20磅的复印纸来打印合同。用厚一点的纸不仅复印副本很容易，而且，它被保存的时间也要长一些。 

    45. Print on pages using the same paper, and if pages are changed, reprint the document using the same paper. This will avoid an argument that pages were substituted after the contract was signed. 
    45.打印整个合同要用同样的纸，如果打印过程中纸发生了改变，一定要用同样的纸再打印一次。这样做，对方就不会说合同在签署后被偷换了。 

    46. Sign the contract in blue ink, not black ink. This, too, will make it easier to differentiate the signed original contract from photocopies. 
    46. 最好用蓝墨水而不是用黑墨水来签署合同，因为蓝墨水可以很容易地让人区别出哪个是合同正本，哪个是影印副本。 

    47. Initial every page of the contract. Having each party initial each page of the contract will make it less likely that anyone could claim a page was changed after the contract was signed. 
    47.让双方在每页合同上签字，这样做可以避免有人怀疑合同签署后被更改过。 

    48. Identify the parties and witnesses who sign by providing blank lines below their signature lines for their printed names and addresses. This will make it easier to find the witnesses if the contract is contested. And remember to include two witnesses for commercial leases. 
    48.在合同签名栏的下方留下一些空白行，以便合同双方和见证人填写他们的名字和地址。这样，一旦合同引起纠纷，就能很容易地找到证人。要记住，一般的商业租赁需要两个见证人。

    49. Be sure that corporate officers include their titles, the corporation name and the word "as." Failure to do this can result in personal liability of the officer. The proper way to sign in a representative capacity is as follows: 
    ABC Corporation, a Florida corporation 
    By:____________________________________ 
    John Jones, as its President 
    49.签名者如果是公司官员，一定要写上他们的职务和其所在公司的名称。不这样做就可能导致这个官员个人承担责任。签约代表签名的正确方法如下： 
    ABC公司，佛罗里州分公司 
    签约代表：________________ 
    公司总裁：史密斯.琼斯 

    50. Add a notary clause that complies with the notary law. The notary acknowledgement in Appendix B is such a clause. 
    50.根据公证法增加公证条款，类似的范例见附录B 

Concluding Advice 
最后的忠告 

    If these 50 tips don't keep your contracts out of court, try mastering Strunk & White's Elements of Style*. I hear it's real handy in appellate work. 
    如果这50招都不能让你起草的合同免于诉讼，那你就去掌握斯创得.怀特先生的《设计原理》吧，我听说它对应付上诉非常有帮助。

（来源：美国佛罗里达州律所杂志）