The reality is that in-house lawyers and professionals have far more work than they can do. The stack of contracts we need to review, negotiate, and approve is overwhelming. When I was in-house, I'd find myself feeling sad, angry, and frustrated because of my inability to tackle all the work on my plate. I'd think,"There is no way I can do all this. Don't they know I'm only one person?!" That dialogue in my head would get me more upset, which made it even harder to get the work done. What I learned is that surviving my stressful job depended less on how much work I had and more on my mindset ..read more

We have had the great pleasure to interview Roman Koch, Commercial Legal Counsel EMEA at Manpower Group. This interview is part of the How I Contract interview series designed to offer various perspectives from experienced lawyers and contract professionals on what works in contracts in the real world.  Let's dive in!  What was your biggest challenge when you started working with contracts? If you could go back in time, but keep all the knowledge and experience you have now, how would you deal with it? My biggest challenge when I began working with contracts was understandi ..read more

Working on vendor contracts can be overwhelming. We often have to use the vendor's templates, which adds a lot of time and energy trying to figure out the deal and the terms. I accelerate my review by quickly assessing the risk before I start my review. Doing this helps me quickly identify the risk attributes, what terms I need to include, and how much time I should spend on this deal. I ask these four questions: 1. Is it a direct or indirect purchase? We use direct and indirect to classify what a company buys. With a direct purchase, you are incorporating the item into what you sell to ot ..read more

  We each have to find our own approach to contract negotiations. The evolution of my negotiation style reminds me of the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You remember - one chair was too soft, one was too hard, and one was just right. As a new lawyer, I had a lot of fear about negotiations. I knew I'd screw it all up and embarrass myself in front of my client. I was so anxious, and that made me less effective. This approach was too soft. After I had some experience, I became more aggressive. I went into the sessions with my guard up. I might be smiling, but I was ready ..read more

We have had the great pleasure to interview Alexandra Sepulveda, Senior Commercial Counsel at Gusto, ex-Uber, ex-Udemy, and ex-Unity. This interview is part of the How I Contract interview series designed to offer various perspectives from experienced lawyers and contract professionals on what works in contracts in the real world.  Let's dive in!  What was your biggest challenge when you started working with contracts? If you could go back in time, but keep all the knowledge and experience you have now, how would you deal with it? My biggest challenge when I started working wit ..read more

We have had the great pleasure to interview Brooke Achua, Principal Attorney and Founder at Achua Law, General Counsel at Bear Givers. This interview is part of the How I Contract interview series designed to offer various perspectives from experienced lawyers and contract professionals on what works in contracts in the real world. Before you dive in, let us share this super kind note from Brooke: "At the outset, sincerest thanks to the How to Contract team for this opportunity to reflect. Lessons, memories, and insights can get lost amidst the daily grind of our demanding profession. I'm ..read more

We have had the great pleasure to interview Cory Sumsion, former Sr. Director, Commercial Legal at eBay where he lead the commercial legal team and global commercial operations team. This interview is part of the How I Contract interview series designed to offer various perspectives from experienced lawyers and contract professionals on what works in contracts in the real world. Dive in!    What was your biggest challenge when you started working with contracts? If you could go back in time, but keep all the knowledge and experience you have now, how would you deal with it ..read more

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I'm talking about phrases like “that the parties may agree to change from time to time” or "unless otherwise agreed." I see these phrases appear randomly after stating an obligation or referencing other documents.  I'm not a fan of this drafting approach.  The language stating the parties can change a contract is not necessary. The parties to a contract are always free to amend anything and everything. They do not need the contract to give that permission. Some people view this practice as innocuous. They say, “It can’t hurt. Why not include it if the parties have that right anyway ..read more