What is drafting?

Drafting – or perhaps more accurately, legal drafting – divides into two main disciplines, namely, the drafting of legal documents such as contracts, wills, trusts and conveyances; and the drafting of pleadings, such as a plaint, a statement of claim or a defence in an action in breach of contract, negligence or some other cause of action.

Legal documents -

The drafting of legal documents is concerned with the formulation and preparation of documents that define relationships and set out procedures which govern a transaction. The rights, benefits, duties and liabilities which will, or may, arise from a transaction are set out in a definitive form and the persons upon whom they are conferred or imposed are identified. For example, a trust deed will set out the rights and benefits conferred on the beneficiaries, and the duties and liabilities imposed on the trustees.

           The rights, benefits, duties and liabilities contained in a legal document usually apply to a relationship between two or more parties, as, for example, under an agreement, trust deed or conveyance. The terms of these may depend on agreement between the parties, so that, for example, in the case of an agreement for the sale of a business, the seller and the buyer may initially differ as to the content of certain important aspects of the transaction and may eventually have to compromise on these if the transaction is to proceed. Some legal documents are, however, the unilateral act of an individual in relation to that individual’s affairs, for example, a will or a power of attorney. In either case, the main object in drafting the document is to ensure that its provisions ‘work’, so that, when they are applied to circumstances to which they relate, they will provide clear directions as to what is to be done and who is to do it.