The Power of the Pen: Ink Your Advantage

There’s a concept in contracting called the Power of the Pen.

It means that there’s a powerful advantage to being the one who writes the first draft.

When I draft a contract, I’m in the driver's seat. I can carefully craft key provisions to give my clients an edge.

On the other hand, when I’m reviewing an agreement someone else wrote, I’m always limited in what I can suggest.

Recently after I was very thorough in my review, my client balked at the extent of the redline. He was worried that the whole deal would fall apart. It didn’t -- the other side accepted all of my changes. But while he waited for that to happen, he was pretty stressed out about it.

Starting a new business relationship is both thrilling and nerve-wracking, but it's worth considering whose counsel prepares the first draft of the agreement.