A legal memo is judged the same way a piece of scientific research is: on preparation and method, not on how persuasively it's written. This Training Course in Legal Research, Drafting and Legal Writing, delivered by the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, is built for professionals who need their contracts, memos and negotiations to hold up on both counts.

What separates a strong legal officer from an average one is often described as legal sense — the ability to draw sound conclusions from a subject after studying it thoroughly, with full impartiality. That sense has to be paired with scientific drafting method: sales contracts, leases and negotiated agreements of every kind demand rules and principles that keep a memo free of factual gaps or unexamined conclusions. This course sets out to build exactly that foundation, with input from legal advisors and law professors throughout.

Who should attend:

• Company managers and enterprise leaders.
• Legal department staff in commercial and business firms.
• Business owners developing their legal drafting skills.
• Legal management employees.
• Law students, graduates and trainee lawyers.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Draft contracts and legal documents in a complete, legally sound form.
• Apply the correct type, division and classification of law to a given case.
• Determine contract specifications accurately throughout the procurement cycle.
• Assess the legal and strategic weight of the "invitation to tender" process.
• Adopt the appropriate international or institutional standards where needed.
• Practice the procedures involved in resolving legal disputes.

Module 1: The Discipline Behind Legal Writing

• What "legal sense" means, and why it matters more than eloquence.
• The two principles behind a sound legal memo: thorough preparation and scientific method.
• Setting the scientific and regulatory basis for legal drafting before writing a single clause.

Module 2: How Law Is Structured — Types, Divisions and Legislation

• The characteristics and concepts behind laws and regulations.
• Types and divisions of law, and who each one applies to.
• Classifications of legislation and how they interact.

Module 3: From Legal Research to a Defensible Draft

• Extensive study of legal sciences as the foundation for research.
• Contract preparation and conclusion skills across sales, lease and other agreement types.
• Legal drafting methods and how the discipline's style has evolved, in concept, method and tools.

Module 4: Negotiation, Persuasion and Concluding the Deal

• Negotiation and dispute-resolution skills.
• Persuasion techniques for reaching agreement without conceding legal ground.
• The ability to conclude contracts and write clear, actionable legal notes.

Module 5: Contract Specifications and the Tender Process

• Writing and analyzing contract specifications and procurement processes.
• The legal weight of specifications, their link to "invitation to tender," and how different specification types affect prospective bidders.
• The role of technical proposals in tender evaluation, and adopting the right international or institutional standard.