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Responding to the call to place more emphasis on practical skills, Contracts and Commercial Transactions is a groundbreaking text that immerses the reader in real agreements made between sophisticated parties—so the reader can develop the ability to read, understand, and draft contracts effectively.

Drawing upon their collective experiences in the classroom and the boardroom as well as in law-firm and in-house practice, authors David Zarfes and Michael L. Bloom, in Contracts and Commercial Transactions, explore actual agreements between sophisticated parties. Along the way, they teach the reader to read and understand contracts, with an emphasis on how a decision maker—be it a judge, arbitrator, corporate executive, or senior partner—might later understand those same contracts.

Contracts and Commercial Transactions features:

• Actual agreements, formatted as whole documents, that support the exercise of contract reading and analysis
• Insight and advice from expert practitioners, from law firms such as Sidley Austin and Simpson Thacher and companies such as Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase , that emphasize the realities of legal practice from the perspective of “real-world” lawyers
• Explanations and analysis from esteemed academics, at law schools such as Chicago and NYU, that explain the nuances of legal matters that pertain to contractual documents
• Focus points that preface each contract highlight key aspects of the document
• Methodical and repeated exposure to provisions that teach the reader to recognize and understand contractual concepts
• A consistent emphasis on the “building block” provisions typically found in contracts—and their intersection with contract law
• Drafting tips integrated throughout the book
• A detailed Teacher’s Manual with additional negotiation and drafting exercises

*A Teacher's Manual may be available for this book. Teacher's Manuals are a professional courtesy offered to professors only. For more information or to request a copy, please contact Wolters Kluwer Law and Business at 800 -950 -5259 or legaledu@wolterskluwer.com.

Ch. 1. Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreements

Ch. 2. Employment Agreements

Ch. 3. Services Agreements

Ch. 4. Agreements for the Sale of Goods

Ch. 5. Lending Agreements

Ch. 6. Agreements for Merger and Acquisition

David Zarfes

David Zarfes

E-mail address: dzarfes@uchicago.edu

Education
LL.M., Tax, Georgetown University Law Center, 1992
B.A., English, 1982
M.A., English, University of Chicago, 1983
M.P.A., Public policy, Columbia University, 1987
J.D., Cardozo Law School, 1987

Background
David Zarfes was for many years executive vice president and general counsel of Paris-based Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGE&Y) and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He was responsible for the management and supervision of the CGE&Y legal departments in North, Central, and South America and, among other things, for overseeing (i) complex information technology transactions, (ii) joint venture and alliance agreements, (iii) new ventures and venture capital transactions, (iv) national and international outsourcing agreements, (v) major litigation matters, and (vi) corporate governance and general business matters. Prior to moving to Chicago in 2007, he practiced law with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where he specialized in corporate, information technology, and cross-border transactions. He has an extensive background in acquisitions and joint ventures, corporate governance, significant corporate and IT transactions, including in the area of IT consulting services, systems integration, technology development and design, and global outsourcing transactions, and he has taught classes in these areas at Columbia University Law School.

His book on contracts, Commercial Transactions (each with Prof. Michael Bloom) is forthcoming and to be published by Aspen Publishers.

Author Biography (pdf)

Michael Bloom

E-mail address: michaelbloom@uchicago.edu

Education
J.D., Yale Law School
B.A., University of Michigan

Background
Michael L. Bloom is a Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School. At the Law School, he teaches contracts, business, and transactional law courses, including Contracts and Commercial Transactions, Legal Issues in Contract Provisions, and Financial Accounting for Lawyers. In addition, he is a co-founder and faculty director of the Law School's Corporate Lab, which connects the law departments at major corporations with students at the Law School. The Lab allows students to work on cutting-edge projects and to learn about "real-world" legal issues from those in the trenches.

Before joining the Law School, Mr. Bloom practiced at Goldberg Kohn and Sidley Austin LLP, both in Chicago.

Mr. Bloom earned his J.D. from Yale Law School. While at Yale, he served as a Teaching Fellow and worked to help launch a community development bank. He earned his B.A. "with Highest Distinction" from the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the Bentley Society