【正文】 有察覺到的矛盾和混淆之處。 40. Stamp Draft 1 6/22/2000 on it. This may be the first of many drafts, so avoid confusion early by numbering and dating all drafts at the top of the first page. It is also a good idea to write DRAFT across the face of each page to preclude the possibility of an impatient client signing a draft rather than waiting for the final version. “第一稿于200年6月22日”,第一稿完成后，可能還要草擬幾個版本，為了避免他們之間相互混淆，最好在每份草稿首頁的頂部注上序號和起草時間。另外，在每一個版本的封面上注明“草稿”字樣，也能夠避免你那急躁的客戶不等到最后的定稿文本就急于簽字。 41. Let your client read it. Letting the client in on reading the first draft assures that your drafting will stay in tune with the client’s wishes. 41讓你的客戶讀你草擬的合同。你的客戶讀第一稿，可以確保你的起草的東西和客戶的愿望相符。 42. Save the drafts as multiple files on your puter. If you save the first draft on your puter as two files, you will have one file identified as the first draft and the other identified as the current version. This can be done by naming the current version contract and the first draft as . Then, subsequent versions can be named , , etc., where the d in the extension indicates draft. (Of course, if you’re not using WordPerfect for DOS, as I do, you can use long file names to show the contract name, draft number and draft date, such as Contract Smith Jones draft 2 datd 6 22 2000.) 。如果你將第一稿合同存了兩份在電腦中，那么其中的一份可以用來存檔，另一份則可以用來繼續(xù)修改。用來存檔的文件可以命名為。用來修改的文件可以命名為合同。以此類推，以后修改的版本就命名為，等等。帶草字的擴(kuò)展名表示此合同是草擬版本。（當(dāng)然，你可能不經(jīng)常用DOS下的WordPerfect ，我是經(jīng)常用的，你也可以用一個較長的文件名來清楚地表達(dá)出草擬合同的名稱、編號及起草時間，范例如：。） 43. Compare the current version to prior versions. If you save draft versions, it is very easy to pare one version to another using the word processor’s pare feature or using the CompareRite puter program. When you pare to , save the parison as and print it to show the client what changes were made. 。如果你存了很多合同的草擬版本，那么你就可以很容易地用文字處理軟件或者是CompareRite軟件來比較分析兩個合同版本。當(dāng)你用軟件比較和兩個版本時，最好將軟件的分析結(jié)果打印出來送給客戶看，讓他知道變化在哪里。 How to Print and Sign the Final Draft 第七部分：怎樣打印和簽署最后的定稿合同。 44. Print the contract on 24 pound bond paper instead of 20 pound copier paper. Using a heavy bond paper will make it easy to tell the original contract from copies. It will also last longer. 。用厚一點(diǎn)的紙不僅復(fù)印副本很容易，而且，它被保存的時間也要長一些。 45. Print on pages using the same paper, and if pages are changed, reprint the document using the same paper. This will avoid an argument that pages were substituted after the contract was signed. ，如果打印過程中紙發(fā)生了改變，一定要用同樣的紙?jiān)俅蛴∫淮?。這樣做，對方就不會說合同在簽署后被偷換了。 46. Sign the contract in blue ink, not black ink. This, too, will make it easier to differentiate the signed original contract from photocopies. 46. 最好用藍(lán)墨水而不是用黑墨水來簽署合同，因?yàn)樗{(lán)墨水可以很容易地讓人區(qū)別出哪個是合同正本，哪個是影印副本。 47. Initial every page of the contract. Having each party initial each page of the contract will make it less likely that anyone could claim a page was changed after the contract was signed. ，這樣做可以避免有人懷疑合同簽署后被更改過。 48. Identify the parties and witnesses who sign by providing blank lines below their signature lines for their printed names and addresses. This will make it easier to find the witnesses if the contract is contested. And remember to include two witnesses for mercial leases. ，以便合同雙方和見證人填寫他們的名字和地址。這樣，一旦合同引起糾紛，就能很容易地找到證人。要記住，一般的商業(yè)租賃需要兩個見證人。 49. Be sure that corporate officers include their titles, the corporation name and the word as. Failure to do this can result in personal liability of the officer. The proper way to sign in a representative capacity is as follows: ABC Corporation, a Florida corporation By:____________________________________ John Jones, as its President ，一定要寫上他們的職務(wù)和其所在公司的名稱。不這樣做就可能導(dǎo)致這個官員個人承擔(dān)責(zé)任。簽約代表簽名的正確方法如下： ABC公司，佛羅里州分公司 簽約代表：________________ 公司總裁： 50. Add a notary clause that plies with the notary law. The notary acknowledgement in Appendix B is such a clause. ，類似的范例見附錄B Concluding Advice 最后的忠告 If these 50 tips don’t keep your contracts out of court, try mastering Strunk amp。 White’s Elements of Style*. I hear it’s real handy in appellate work. 如果這50招都不能讓你起草的合同免于訴訟，《設(shè)計原理》吧，我聽說它對應(yīng)付上訴非常有幫助。第 14 頁 共 14 頁