Contract Drafting and Negotiation for Entrepreneurs and Business Professionals
- Steven W. Bender, Professor and Associate Dean, Seattle University School of Law
"The book is written for the interested lay person, but I would recommend that my law students get a copy as well and use it as a handy reference when they enter practice and begin advising business clients.”
- Daniel J. Morrissey, Professor of Law and Former Dean, Gonzaga University Law School
"Every entrepreneur should read this book. Swegle does a wonderful job of making legal terminology and building blocks accessible to anybody - a rare accomplishment!... A marvelous blueprint for creating successful business relationships and avoiding costly problems and liabilities."
-Seaton Gras, Founder and CEO, SURF Incubator - a vibrant community for technology startups
DESCRIPTION
Author and attorney Paul Swegle has spent much of his career working closely with business colleagues in companies across several industries to negotiate and document commercial arrangements - contracts that supported the design, development, launch, distribution and marketing of countless products and services.
In doing so, Paul has witnessed and celebrated countless successful commercial relationships, some lasting more than a decade. He has also learned important lessons from myriad ill-fated relationships, tripped up by poorly written agreements, under-performing commercial partners and unexpected surprises of nearly every variety.
Paul's book presents practical insights accumulated and shared with business colleagues over a 20-year period. Its purpose is to help business persons negotiate agreements that achieve their business goals without creating unexpected and unnecessary risks and liabilities. Paul’s guidance emphasizes mindfulness of the balance between protecting key interests while still getting important deals done.
Paul has served as in-house general counsel to twelve different companies across many industries. He worked previously in the SEC’s Enforcement Division and its Division of Corporation Finance, and also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. Paul gives talks around the country on startup law and fundraising, guest-lectures in business law and technology law classes, serves on the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association and writes on a range of law, governance and finance topics.
Reviews (69)
Misleading Title
The book should be titled contract interpretation. I thought I would find tailored contract drafting advice for start-ups and entrepeneurs , not so. Just standard boilerplate that I learned in contracts in law school. I received this note from the author complaining about my review: Hello Mr. Wheelock, I wanted to let you know that I was disappointed to see your extremely negative review of my book today. Clearly the book contains far more information than "Just standard boilerplate that I learned in contracts in law school." Your characterization of the book as just mindless "boilerplate," contrary to every other review, including Kirkus, is likely to deter many who would benefit from reading it for years to come, which is disappointing. You're obviously free to express yourself however you wish, but, by its title the book is clearly aimed at entrepreneurs and business professionals, and not experienced attorneys who work with contracts regularly, as both you and I do. I did not title it "Advanced Contract Drafting Techniques for Business Counsel." Just wanted to let you know that I had noticed, and been disappointed by, your trashing of my book. Sincerely, Paul A. Swegle I stand by my review. I did not use the word "mindless" anywhere in my review. In my experience as a corporate attorney, entrepeneurs and business professionals do not need this kind of primer on contract provisions because they already routinely deal with the basics discussed in this book. In my opinion entrepeneurs and business professionals need clear discussion of the types of contracts and specialized provisions for agreements between start-up founders, venture capitalists, restricted sales agreements of start-up equity between founders, principals and lenders, employment agreements between founders, capitalization and financing agreements among start-up principals, management of intellectual property rights, provisions for liquidation and/or bankruptcy. These are the deficiencies that prompted me to call out the author for his misleading title. This paperback is 6" x 10" and less than 150 pages. It is not what it is advertised to be - and in my opinion clearly not worth the money. I called this book to the attention of my clients, all of whom are running growing start-ups, especially after Mr. Swegle went to the trouble to search me out and send me the personal note quoted above on my gmail account because I wanted to be fair and get their opinion (I find attorney Swegle's conduct find a little creepy - in fact I reported his stalking of me to Amazon - and because there is no time limit on reporting ethical misconduct I am keeping an open mind on reporting his invasion of my privacy to the Washington State bar) . Those who bought the book looked at it and returned it, agreeing with me.
Expert legal information - can save you a lot of time and headaches in the long run.
I've taken a legal class from Paul Swegle and can tell you that the price of this book may save you a lot of money and headaches in the future. I've run two businesses now and from my first one of the biggest lessons I learned was that it pays to understand contracts - how to structure them so they are fair and balanced for both parties, and what your legal obligations and rights are in any contract scenario. Many lessons to learn in this book.
practical advice for anyone responsible for reviewing, redlining or negotiating contracts
I have read several books on contract law and this is by far the best. It conveys lots of excellent strategic insights and practical advice for anyone responsible for reviewing, redlining or negotiating contracts, and it does so in an easy to read style. I work in industrial sales and I highly recommend this book to other business professionals.
Thorough, Insightful, Easy to Use
Paul Swegle writes with the voice of experience. A longtime corporate attorney, he has much to share on the subject of negotiating, drafting, implementing, and working with contracts--and he does it in plain language, accessible to non-lawyer businesspeople. This easy-to-read and easy-to-use little book is the only desktop handbook to contracts you'll ever need. It's a delightful and insightful read, handy for looking up a specific topic or for just spending an hour introducing yourself to the language and world of contracts. This should be on every businessperson's desk, from top executive to beginning entrepreneur.
A Masterpiece of Useful Information
Put this book high on your gift list. Better yet, buy it today for yourself and get extra copies for anyone that negotiates or fulfills contracts for you or your company. It is mercifully succinct compared to most books on contracts. This one will actually get read and be understood. Swegle has a passion for helping people develop confidence negotiating and entering binding written agreements -- all in an easily understood writing style perfect for non-lawyers. The many great ideas can be implemented immediately in your real world of business dealings. Readers will be rewarded with powerful knowledge, and learn to avoid the most common errors that lead to distracting disputes. If things do go awry, Swegle has great advice about when and how to involve lawyers. Keep this book at your desk, and it will help you enter contracts that make sense for your company.
Every business person (entrepreneur) needs to read this book.
I am an entrepreneur, where business ideas run rampant in my thought process. One of the things that I have realized reading this book is to consider that every one of those business ideas potentially could require some sort of contract and or negotiation. This is where Paul's book comes in handy. What I have noticed is that it is an easy read and an easy reference guide for looking up information that pertain to common contracts and negotiation. I know the author Paul Swegle personally... this is a person that I think has at least 4 identical brothers...one who plays drums professionally (ala Kieth Moon), one who seems to hike upwards of 100 hikes a year including climbing Mt. Rainier, another one who runs a successful Law Office, and then another who has a successful Air BnB that has one of the highest ratings out there....and he is a dedicated father of 2 very active teenagers and now has written this book in his spare time. So there have been many times sitting over a beer or during a commercial watching a Seahawks game I have brought up a legal issue with Paul and now to think that I now have this easy to read manual at my fingertips.
Valuable Information
Book came in the time stated. This book is great for students, business owners, etc.
A Fantastic Resource
This book is surprisingly easy to read, has great real world examples, and covers important concepts of contract drafting and negotiating that every business person should know. I highly recommend this book to people who are looking to better understand the contracting process in order to improve their business acumen. The writing is clear, the examples make the content memorable, and I learned important tools in what can be a tricky area for non-lawyers. Any business person interested in understanding the contracting process better will find this book extremely useful.
An excellent and practical resource!
This book is a gold mine of information for business development and management professionals, entrepreneurs, lawyers and more. I was privileged to work for several years at a company where Paul Swegle served as Chief Legal Counsel. My group negotiated multi-million-dollar contracts with business partners, and Paul was a critical member of the team that reviewed, improved and approved each and every contract we executed. His deep knowledge of business and contract law gained over years of experience, as well as his incisive thinking and insights, were a major advantage to our side as we negotiated with other companies, from small start-ups to Fortune 50 and 100 companies. With this book, Paul shares his deep knowledge, experience and thinking with you to give your business that same advantage. I highly recommend it!
Great Guidance for Anyone Negotiating a Contract
This book takes a complicated subject and breaks it down into an easy to understand format without losing any of important content. The writer makes learning about contracts interesting, by giving real examples of how minor mistakes in a contract can lead to unanticipated and costly outcomes. He shows how to avoid those mistakes by knowing what to look for in a contract and, equally important, paying attention to what is not in the contract. I would recommend this book for entrepreneurs or for anyone seeking step by step instructions on how to negotiate a business contract.
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