如何寫好招投標英文合同（一）

　　Before You Write the First Word

　　第一部分：在動筆之前

　　1. Ask your client to list the deal points. This can be in the form of a list， outline or narration. Doing this will help the client focus on the terms of the agreement.

　　1.要求你的客戶列出合同交易的要點，也可以說是合同的清單、目錄或概述。這一招首先幫助你的客戶弄清合同的重點所在。

　　2. Engage your client in “what if” scenarios. A good contract will anticipate many possible factual situations and express the parties' understanding in case those facts arise. Talking to your client about this will generate many issues you may not otherwise consider.

　　2.讓你的客戶提供一些假設可能發(fā)生的情況。好的合同不僅能夠預見到許多可能發(fā)生的情況，而且還能清楚地描述出發(fā)生這些情況后合同雙方的立場。和客戶聊這些情況將有助于你發(fā)現(xiàn)一些你可能沒有考慮到的問題。

　　3. Ask your client for a similar contract. Frequently， clients have had similar transactions in the past or they have access to contracts for similar transactions.

　　3.請求你的客戶提供類似的合同。通常情況下，客戶都保留著過去的交易記錄或者是類似合同。

　　4. Search your office computer or the Internet for a similar form. Many times you can find a similar form on your computer. It may be one you prepared for another client or one you negotiated with another lawyer. Just remember to find and replace the old client's name. Starting with an existing form saves time and avoids the errors of typing.

　　4.在辦公室的電腦中或是在因特網上搜索類似的合同范本。通常你會在你的電腦上找到你想要的東西，這些類似的合同范本要么是你給其他客戶準備的，要么是你和其他的律師共同協(xié)商起草的。使用這些舊合同可以為你節(jié)省時間和避免打印錯誤，不過，用這些合同范本時別忘了替換掉老客戶的名字。

　　5. Obtain forms in books or CD-ROM. Typical forms of contracts can be found in form books， such as West's Legal Forms （a nationwide set） and Florida Jur Forms， as well as in treatises and Florida Bar CLE publications. These can be used as the starting point for drafting the contract or as checklists of typical provisions and wording to include in the contract. Many treatises and form books now come with forms on disk or CD-ROM.

　　5.從書中或者是光盤上獲取合同范本。典型的合同范本在一些范例書中都可能找到：比如，西方法律文書（全國版）佛羅里達州文書期刊，另外，在有些論文和佛羅里達州律師協(xié)會的法律繼續(xù)教育出版物中也可以找到一些。起草合同時，你可以把這些范本當做原始資料，利用其中某些典型的條款和措詞。更為方便的是，許多論文和書中的合同范本都有電子文本儲存在磁盤或光盤中。

　　6. Don't let your client sign a letter of intent without this wording. Sometimes clients are anxious to sign something to show good faith before the contract is prepared. A properly worded letter of intent is useful at such times. Just be sure that the letter of intent clearly states that it is not a contract， but that it is merely an outline of possible terms for discussion purposes. See Appendix C.

　　6.如果沒有特別申明，不要讓你的客戶在意向書上簽字。有時候，在合同未準備好之前，客戶為了表示誠意，往往急于簽署某些東西，當然，在這種情況下，如果客戶急于簽署的是有特別申明的意向書，這也是可以的，但一定要注明：本意向書并非合同，只是雙方為了更好地溝通協(xié)商，而擬定的對未來條款的概述。類似意向書的范例見附錄C.

　　Writing that First Word

　　第二部分：開始起草合同

　　7. Start with a simple， generic contract form. The form in Appendix A is such a form. It provides a solid starting point for the structure of the contract. Like a house， a contract must have a good， solid foundation.

　　7.從簡單、典型的合同入手。附錄A就是一個簡單、典型的合同，它提供了一個合同的基本支架。像房子一樣，一個合同必須有一個牢固的根基。

　　8. State the correct legal names of the parties in the first paragraph. As obvious as this is， it is one of the most common problems in contracts. For individuals， include full first and last name， and middle initials if available， and other identifying information， if appropriate， such as Jr.， M.D.， etc. For corporations， check with the Secretary of State where incorporated.

　　8.在合同的第一段要寫清楚雙方的名稱。，這是個簡單而又不得不引起重視的問題。如果是個人，要寫清姓和名，中間有大寫字母和其他身份信息的，也要注明，例如：jr.，M.D，等等；如果是公司，為避免弄錯，寫名稱時可以到公司注冊地的相應機構去核對一下。

　　9. Identify the parties by nicknames. Giving each party a nickname in the first paragraph will make the contract easier to read. For example， James W. Martin would be nicknamed “Martin.”

　　9.確定合同雙方的別稱（簡稱）。為便于閱讀，一般要在合同的第一段為雙方弄一個別稱，如：將詹姆士。馬丁簡寫為“馬丁”。

　　10. Be careful when using legal terms for nicknames. Do not use “Contractor” as a nickname unless that party is legally a contractor. Do not use “Agent” unless you intend for that party to be an agent， and if you do， then you better specify the scope of authority and other agency issues to avoid future disagreements.

　　10.使用法定術語作為雙方當事人的別稱時，要小心。除非一方當事人在法定上就是承包人，否則不要將“承包人”作為其別稱。同樣，除非你想讓一方當事人成為法定上的代理人，否則不要稱其為“代理人”，如果堅持要用，最好明確一下代理范圍并找到其他可以避免將來爭執(zhí)的方案。

　　11. Include a blank for the date in the first paragraph. Putting the date in the first paragraph makes it easy to find after the contract is signed. It also makes it easy to describe the contract in other documents in a precise way， such as the “December 20， 2000， Contract for Sale of Real Estate.”

　　11.在合同的第一段要為書寫簽約時間留下空格。把簽約時間放在第一段，當合同簽署后，你就能夠很容易地找到它，而且，這樣做還可以給你在其他相關文件中準確地描述這個合同提供幫助，范例如：不動產買賣合同，訂立于2000年12月20日

　　12. Include to provide background. Recitals are the “whereas” clauses that precede the body of a contract. They provide a simple way to bring the contract's reader （party， judge or jury） up to speed on what the contract is about， who the parties are， why they are signing a contract， etc. The first paragraph in the body of the contract can incorporate the recitals by reference and state that they are true and correct. This will avoid a later argument as to whether or not the recitals are a legally binding part of the contract.

　　12.書寫引述語。引述語是指那些放在合同主體前面的“鑒于”條款。書寫此類條款的目的是為了讓讀者（通常指合同雙方，法官，陪審團）很快地了解到合同的主要內容是什么，合同雙方是誰，以及他們?yōu)槭裁春炗喓贤鹊?。當然，合同主體的第一段也可以加上引述語并陳述其是真實準確的，如果這樣做了，合同雙方將來就不會爭執(zhí)：引述語作為合同的一部分是否具有法律效力？

　　13. Outline the contract by writing out and underlining paragraph headings in their logical order. The paragraphs should flow in logical， organized fashion. It is not necessary to write them all at once； you can write them as you think of them. Try to group related concepts in the same paragraphs or in adjacent paragraphs. For example， write an employment contract's initial paragraph headings like this：

　　Recitals.

　　Employment.

　　Duties.

　　Term.

　　Compensation.

　　13.按邏輯順序列出合同段落的標題詞。合同的段落是按一定的邏輯順序組織起來的，當然，你并不需要一下子列出所有段落的標題詞，想到多少就寫多少，不過，這些標題詞要力求總結出每個段落或相關段落的內容。比如：撰寫勞動合同時列出的標題詞就像下面這些：

　　引述語

　　聘用

　　職責

　　期限

　　賠償

　　14. Complete each paragraph by writing the contract terms that apply to that paragraph. This is simple. You learned this in elementary school. Just explain in words what the parties agree to do or not do paragraph by paragraph.

　　14.在撰寫每一段時要注意內容集中，不要東拉西扯，是的，這很簡單，你可能上小學時就學過，但我還是要提醒你，要集中火力，一段一段地分別說明合同雙方同意做什么，不同意做什么。

　　15. Keep a pad at hand to remember clauses to add. It is normal to think of additional clauses， wording and issues while writing a contract. Jot these down on a pad as you write； they are easily forgotten. Also keep your client's outline and other forms in front of you as you write， and check off items as you write them.

　　15.放一個便箋簿在手邊，以便記下需要添加的條款。在書寫合同的同時，你可能隨時會想到一些需要添加條款、措詞和問題，要盡快記在便箋簿上，因為他們太容易忘了。另外，你最好將客戶列出的要點和一些類似的合同范本也放在眼前，以便在書寫過程中隨時查對。

　　16. Repeat yourself only when repetition is necessary to improve clarity. Ambiguity is created by saying the same thing more than once； it is almost impossible to say it twice without creating ambiguity. Only if the concept is a difficult one should you write it in more than one way. In addition， if you use an example to clarify a difficult concept or formula， be sure that all possible meanings are considered and that the example is accurate and consistent with the concept as worded.

　　16.除非是為了更清晰地說明問題，否則不要在合同中重復陳述某個內容。將一個事實來回地說很容易讓人模棱兩可。如果你將一個概念重復地解釋，那理解起來就更有困難。另外，如果你想通過一個例子來闡明一個難以理解的概念或規(guī)則時，一定要考慮到其所有的含義、這個例子的準確性以及它和概念的相符性。