Master the art of drafting airtight agreements, avoid costly legal pitfalls, and discover the essential best practices to protect your business interests in every deal.
This program is presented in two parts.
The first part examines the core disciplines required to draft contracts that minimise the risk of future disputes. Beginning with a practical definition of a contract—as a set of instructions—the session explores the essential elements of contract preparation needed to produce clear, enforceable, and litigation-resistant agreements.
The second part focuses on the preparation and negotiation of key contracts and provisions, including letters of intent and term sheets, confidentiality agreements, shareholder arrangements, options, and non-compete clauses.
This program is particularly valuable for early-career attorneys. It addresses a well-recognised gap in legal education by providing practical guidance on drafting effective contracts—an area often underemphasised in traditional law school training.
Attorney
Peter Siviglia was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has spent more than five decades practicing law, primarily in Manhattan. Now semi-retired, he devotes much of his time to writing about contract preparation and negotiation, as well as sharing his experiences—and a few classic Brooklyn street games—with his grandchildren. Peter earned a BA from Williams College in 1961, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with Highest Honors, followed by an MA from Brown University in 1962 and a JD from Harvard University in 1965. He has practiced law in New York continuously for over 50 years, representing both domestic and international clients across public and private sectors. His work has focused on transactional and corporate matters, and he has frequently served as correspondent and special counsel to major international law firms on contract drafting and negotiation. A hallmark of Peter’s career is the clarity and enforceability of his contracts. In the relatively few instances where his agreements have been litigated, they have been consistently upheld—always on summary judgment—based solely on their precise wording. Courts have praised the clarity of his drafting, with one federal district court noting, “Nothing could be more clear,” and a Texas appellate court emphasising the “unambiguous” language of an agreement in awarding a $21 million fee. Before retiring to Tarrytown, New York, Peter was co-managing partner of Sharfman, Siviglia, Poret, Kook, Ross & Shanman, P.C., and he remains a member of the New York State Bar Association. Peter is also a prolific author. His works include Commercial Agreements – A Lawyer’s Guide to Drafting and Negotiating, published by Thomson Reuters and supplemented annually for more than 30 years. He has also authored Transactional Skills – Contract Preparation and Negotiating and Exercises in Commercial Transactions, both published by Carolina Academic Press in revised and expanded editions. In addition, he has written numerous articles on contract law and a collection of poetry and essays, The Sidelines of Time, published by Archway Publishing. He continues to lecture on contract preparation, negotiation, and business transactions for Continuing Legal Education programs.
