外贸英语合同

1、写好合同的50招仲英）Before You Write the First Word第一部分：在动笔之前1. Ask your clie nt to list the deal poin ts. This can be in the form of a list, outl ineor n arrati on. Doi ng this will help the clie nt focus on the terms of the agreeme nt.1. 要求你的客户列出合同交易的要点，也可以说是合同的清单、目录或概述。这一招首 先帮助你的客户弄清合同的重点所在。2. En gage you

2、r clie nt in "what if" seen arios.A goodcon tractwill an ticipatemany possible factual situationsand express the parties' understandingin casethose facts arise. Talk ing to your clie nt about this will gen erate many issues you may not otherwise con sider.2. 让你的客户提供一些假设可能发生的情况。好的合同不仅能够

3、预见到许多可能发生的情况，而且还能清楚地描述出发生这些情况后合同双方的立场。和客户聊这些情况将有助于你发现一些你可能没有考虑到的问题。3. Ask your clie nt for a similar con tract.Freque ntly,clie nts have had similartran sact ions in the past or they have access to con tracts for similar tran sact ions.3. 请求你的客户提供类似的合同。通常情况下，客户都保留着过去的交易记录或者是类 似合同。4. Search your offi

4、ce computer or the Internet for a similar form. Many timesyou can find a similar form on your computer. It may be one you preparedforanother 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 av

5、oids the errors of typ ing.4. 在办公室的电脑中或是在因特网上搜索类似的合同范本。通常你会在你的电脑上找到你想要的东西，这些类似的合同范本要么是你给其他客户准备的，要么是你和其他的律师共同协商起草的。使用这些旧合同可以为你节省时间和避免打印错误，不过，用这些合同范本时别忘了替换掉老客户的名字。5. Obtai n forms in books or CD-ROM. Typical forms of con tracts can be foundin form books, such as West's Legal Forms (a n ati on wide

6、 set) and Florida Jur Forms,as well as in treatises and Florida Bar CLE publications. These can be used as thestart ing point for drafting the con tractor as checklists of typical provisi ons andwordi ng to in clude in the con tract. Many treatises and form books now come with forms on disk or CD-RO

7、M.5. 从书中或者是光盘上获取合同范本。典型的合同范本在一些范例书中都可能找到：比如,西方法律文书(全国版)佛罗里达州文书期刊，另外，在有些论文和佛罗里达州律师协会的法律继续教育出版物中也可以找到一些。起草合同时，你可以把这些范本当做原始资料，利用其中某些典型的条款和措词。更为方便的是，许多论文和书中的合同范本都有电子文本储存在磁盘或光盘中。6. Don't let your client sign a letter of intent without this wording. Sometimesclie nts are an xious to sig n someth ing t

8、o show good faith before the con tract 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 con tract, but that it is merely an outl ine of possible terms for discussi on purposes. See Appe ndix C.6. 如果没有特别申明，

9、不要让你的客户在意向书上签字。有时候，在合同未准备好之前，客户为了表示诚意，往往急于签署某些东西， 当然，在这种情况下，如果客户急于签署的是有特别申明的意向书，这也是可以的，但一定要注明：本意向书并非合同，只是双方为了更好地沟通协商，而拟定的对未来条款的概述。类似意向书的范例见附录C。Writ ing that First Word第二部分：开始起草合同7. Start with a simple, gen eric con tract form. The form in Appe ndix A is such a form. It provides a solid start ing poi

10、nt for the structure of the con tract. Like a house, a con tract must have a good, solid foun dati on.7. 从简单、典型的合同入手。附录A就是一个简单、典型的合同，它提供了一个合同的基本支架。像房子一样，一个合同必须有一个牢固的根基。8. State the correct legal names of the parties in the first paragraph. As obvious as this is, it is one of the most com mon problem

11、s in con tracts. For individuals, include full first and last name, and middle initials if available, and other ide ntify ing in formati on, if appropriate, such as Jr., M.D., etc. For corporati ons,check with the Secretary of State where in corporated.8. 在合同的第一段要写清楚双方的名称。，这是个简单而又不得不引起重视的问题。如果是个人，要写

12、清姓和名，中间有大写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，为避免弄错，写名称时可以到公司注册地的相应机构去核对一下。9. Ide ntify the parties by n ick names. Giving each party a nickn ame in the first paragraph will make the con tract easier to read. For example, James W. Marti n would be nickn amed "Mart in."9. 确定合同双方的别称(简称)。为便于阅

13、读，一般要在合同的第一段为双方弄一个别 称，如：将詹姆士 .马丁简写为"马丁"。10. Be careful whe n using legal terms for nickn ames. Do not use "Con tractor" as a nickn ame uni ess that party is legally a con tractor. Do not use "Age nt" uni ess you intend for that party to be an age nt, and if you do, the

14、n you better specifythe scope of authority and other age ncy issues to avoid future disagreeme nts.10. 使用法定术语作为双方当事人的别称时，要小心。除非一方当事人在法定上就是承 包人，否则不要将”承包人"作为其别称。同样，除非你想让一方当事人成为法定上的代理人， 否则不要称其为”代理人"，如果坚持要用，最好明确一下代理范围并找到其他可以避免将来 争执的方案。11. In clude a bla nk for the date in the first paragraph.

15、Putt ing the date in the first paragraph makes it easy to find after the con tract is sig ned. It also makes it easy to describe the con tract in other docume nts in a precise way, such as the "December 20, 2000, Co ntract for Sale of Real Estate."11. 在合同的第一段要为书写签约时间留下空格。把签约时间放在第一段，当合同签署后，

16、你就能够很容易地找到它，而且，这样做还可以给你在其他相关文件中准确地描述这个合同提供帮助，范例如：不动产买卖合同，订立于2000年12月20日12. Include to provide background.Recitals are the "whereas" clauses thatprecede the body of a con tract. They provide a simple way to bring the con tract's reader (party, judge or jury) up to speed on what the con

17、tract is about,who the parties are, why they are sig ning a con tract, etc. The first paragraph inthe body of the con tract can in corporate the recitals by reference and state that they are true and correct. This will avoid a later argume nt as to whether or not the recitals are a legally binding p

18、art of the con tract.12. 书写引述语。引述语是指那些放在合同主体前面的"鉴于"条款。书写此类条款的目的是为了让读者（通常指合同双方，法官，陪审团）很快地了解到合同的主要内容是什么，合 同双方是谁，以及他们为什么签订合同，等等。当然，合同主体的第一段也可以加上引述语并陈述其是真实准确的，如果这样做了，合同双方将来就不会争执：引述语作为合同的一部 分是否具有法律效力？13. Outl ine the con tract by writ ing out and un derl ining paragraph headi ngs in their logic

19、al order. The paragraphs should flow in logical, orga ni zed fashi on .It is not n ecessary to write them all at on ce; you can write them as you think of them. Try to group related con cepts in the same paragraphs or in adjace nt paragraphs. For example, write an employme nt con tract's in itia

20、l paragraph headi ngs like this: Recitals.Employme nt.Duties.Term.Compe nsati on.13. 按逻辑顺序列出合同段落的标题词.合同的段落是按一定的逻辑顺序组织起来的，当然，你并不需要一下子列出所有段落的标题词，想到多少就写多少，不过，这些标题词要力求总结出每个段落或相关段落的内容。比如：撰写劳动合同时列出的标题词就像下面这些：引述语 聘用 职责 期限 赔偿14. Complete each paragraph by writi ng the con tract terms that apply to that para

21、graph. This is simple. You lear ned this in eleme ntary school. Just expla in inwords what the parties agree to do or not do paragraph by paragraph.14. 在撰写每一段时要注意内容集中，不要东拉西扯，是的，这很简单，你可能上小学时就学过，但我还是要提醒你，要集中火力，一段一段地分别说明合同双方同意做什么，不同意做什么。15. Keep a pad at hand to remember clauses to add. It is no rmal t

22、o think of additi onal clauses, word ing and issues while writi ng a con tract. Jot these dow n on a pad as you write; they are easily forgotte n. Also keep your clie nt's outli ne and other forms in front of you as you write, and check off items as you write them.15. 放一个便笺簿在手边，以便记下需要添加的条款。在书写合同

23、的同时，你可能随时会想到一些需要添加条款、措词和问题，要尽快记在便笺簿上， 因为他们太容易忘了。 另外，你最好将客户列出的要点和一些类似的合同范本也放在眼前，以便在书写过程中随时查对。16. Repeat yourself only when repetition is necessary to improve clarity.Ambiguityis created bysaying the samething more than once; it is almostimpossibleto say ittwicewithout creatingambiguity.Onlyif the con

24、cept is adifficult one should you write it in more tha n one way .In additi on, if you use anexample to clarify a difficult concept or formula, be sure that all possible meanings are con sidered and that the example is accurate and con siste nt withthe con cept as worded.16. 除非是为了更清晰地说明问题，否则不要在合同中重复

25、陈述某个内容。将一个事实来回地说很容易让人模棱两可。如果你将一个概念重复地解释，那理解起来就更有困难。另外，如果你想通过一个例子来阐明一个难以理解的概念或规则时，一定要考虑到其所有的含义、这个例子的准确性以及它和概念的相符性。What to Watch Out for When Writi ng第三部分：撰写时的注意事项17. Title it "C on tract." Do not leave this one to cha nee. If your clie nt wants acon tract, call it a con tract. A judge now s

26、itti ng on the federal bench once ruled that a docume nt en titled "Proposal" was not a con tract even though sig ned by both parties. The less on lear nedis, "Say what you mean." If you intend thedocume nt to be a legally binding con tract, use the word "Con tract "in

27、the title.17. 标题上注明"合同"两字。不要为碰运气而忽略这个。如果你的客户需要合同，就要注明是合同。一个仍在联邦法院里任职的法官就曾经裁定：有双方签字，但标有"建议书"的文件并非合同。这给我们的教训就是，你怎么想，就应该怎么说。如果你想让你的文件成为具有法律效力的合同，就要在标题中注明"合同"字样。18. Write in short sentences. Short sentencesare easier to understandthanlong on es.18. 写短句子，因为短句子比长句子让人更容易理解。19.

28、 Write in activetense, rather than passive. Active tense sentences areshorter and use words more efficiently, and their meaning is more apparent. Example of active: "Sellers shall sell the Property to Buyer." Example of passive: "TheProperty shall be sold to Buyer by Seller."19.

29、用主动语态而不用被动语态。相对而言，主动语态的句子更简短，措词更精练，表达更明白。还是让我们来来看一个例子吧，主动语态的句子：卖方将把此物卖给买方；被动语态的句子：此物将被卖方卖给买方。20. Don't use the word "biweekly." It has two meanings: twice a week and every other week. The same applies to "bim on thly." In stead, write "every other week" or "twi

30、ce a week."20. 不要用“双周”之类的词，因为这有可能产生歧义-是两周还是每隔一周？类似的词还有"双月"，所以最好这样写："两周"或"每隔一周”。21. Don't say things like "active termites and orga ni sms". Avoid ambiguity bywriting either "active termites and active organisms"or "organisms and activetermit

31、es." When addi ng a modifier like "active" before a compo und of nouns like"termites and organisms", be sure to clarify whether you intend the modifier to apply to both nouns or just the first one. If you intend it to apply to both, use parallel con struct ion and write the

32、modifier in front of each noun. If you intend it to apply to just one noun, place that one noun at the end of the list and the modifier directly in front of it.21. 不要说"活动着的白蚁和有机体"之类的话，为了避免模棱两可，最好这样写：“活动着的白蚁和活动着的有机体”或是“白蚁和活动着的有机体”。当一组名词（如"白蚁和有机体"）前有一个修饰语（如"活动着的”）时，你一定要弄清楚这个修饰

33、语是修饰两个名词还是仅仅修饰第一个名词。如果是修饰两个词，可以用排比的手法分别在这两个词之前加上修饰语，如果你只想修饰一个名词，那么你就应该把这个词放在这组词的最后，然后在它的前面加上修饰语。22. Don't say "Lessor" and "Lessee." These are bad nicknamesfor a leasebecause they are easily reversed or mistyped. Use "La ndlord" and "Te nan t' 'in stead

34、.The same applies to lie nor and lie nee, mortgagor and mortgagee, gran tor andgra ntee, lice nsor and lice nsee, party A and party B. This is where you can use your creativity to come up with a differe nt nickn ame for a party, as long as you use it con siste ntly throughout the con tract.22. 不要说“出

35、租人”和“承租人”。这对一个租赁合同来说是些不好的别称，因为他们 容易被颠倒或者出现打印错误。可以用“房东”和“房客”来代替他们。同样，在合同中也 不要说留置权人和留置人，抵押权人和抵押人，保证人和被保证人，许可人和被许可人，当 事人A和当事人B.到底怎么说，这就要看你驾驭语言的能力了，不过，要把握的一条原 则，即在整个合同中，对合同一方只能用一个别称。23. Watch out whe n using "here in." Does "wherever used here in" mean any where in the con tract or a

36、ny where in the paragraph? Clarify this ambiguity if itmatters.23. 使用术语“本文（herein，也可译为”“在这里”）时要当心。为了避免含糊不清，使用“本文”时最好特别申明一下“本文”是指整个合同，还是指其所在的某一段落。24. Write nu mbers as both words and nu merals: ten （10）. This will reduce the cha nee for errors.24. 写数目时要文字和阿拉伯数字并用，如：拾（ 10）。这将减少一些不经意的错误。25. When you wr

37、ite "in clud ing" con sider addi ng "but not limited to." Uni ess you intend the list to be all-i nclusive, you had better clarify your intent that it is merely an example.25. 如果你想用 咆括"这个词，就要考虑在其后加上"但不限于."的分句。除非你能够列出所有被包括的项，否则最好用"但不限于."的分句，来说明你只是想举个例子。26.

38、 Don't rely on the rules of grammar. The rules of grammar that you lear nedin school are not universal. The judge or jury interpreting the meaning of your con tract may have lear ned differe nt rules. Write the con tract so that no matter what rules they lear ned, the con tract is clear and un a

39、mbiguous. Follow this test for clear writi ng:Remove all periods and commas,the n read it.Choos ing the rightwords and placingthem in the right place makes the writingclear withoutpun ctuatio n.26. 不要依赖于语法规则。那些你在学校里得到的语法规则并不是放之四海而皆准的东西，因为有权力来解释此合同的法官或陪审团成员学的语法规则可能和你学的不一样，但不管学的是什么规则，撰写合同都要遵循一个基本原则：简洁

40、、 明确。检测你写的东西是否达到这个要求有个好办法，那就是去掉所有的句号和逗号，然后去读它。在没有标点符号的情况下，选择正确的词语放在正确的位置上，这将使你写出来的东西更简明，更流畅。27. Don't be creative with words. Con tract writi ng is not creative writi ng and isnot meant to provoke reflective thoughts or controversiesabout nuances ofmeaning. Con tract writi ng is clear, direct an

41、d precise.Therefore, use com monwords and com mon meanin gs. Write for the com monman and the com mon woma n.27. 不要创造词语。合同文书不是创造性的作品，也就不能因为意思的细微差别而引起思考或争论。合同文书应该是清晰、直接而准确的。因此，要使用普通的词语，表达普通的意思，为普通人撰写合同。28. Be con siste nt in using words. If you refer to the subject matter of a salescon tract as "

42、;goods" use that term throughout the con tract; do not alter nately callthem "goods" and "items." Maintainingconsistencyis more important thanavoidingrepetition.Don't worry about puttingthe reader to sleep; worry aboutthe oppos ing lawyer a year from now hun ti ng for am

43、biguities to get your con tract into court.28. 用词一致。在一份销售合同中，如果你想用“货物”来指整个合同的标的物，就不要时而称它们为“货物”，时而又改称它们为“产品”。保持用词一致性比避免重复更加重要。 不要担心这会让读者打瞌睡；你应该提防的是对方律师会因为含糊不清的合同而将你告上法 庭。29. Be consistent in grammar and punctuation. The rules of grammar and pun ctuati on you lear ned may differ from others, but you h

44、ad better be con siste ntin your use of them. Be aware of such thi ngs as where you put ending quote marks, whether you place commas after years and states, and similar variati ons in style.29. 在文法和标点符号上保持一致。你可能学过许多不同类的文法和标点符号规则，但在使用它们时最好保持一致。要特别注意句末的引号、时间和地点之后的逗号以及文风的相 似性。30. Con sider in cludi ng

45、choice of law, venue select ion, and attor neys fee clauses. If your con tract gets litigated, you might as well give your clie nt some "am mun iti on" for the fight. Examples of these clauses appear in Appe ndices A andC.30. 可以在合同中加入准据法、审判地、律师费等条款。有了这些条款，一旦合同引起诉讼，你就已经为了你的客户打这场诉讼战准备了一些“弹药”

46、。类似的条款见附录 A和B。Write for the Judge and Jury第四部分：要为法官和陪审团考虑31. Assume the reader is a kno wledgeable layma n. If your writ ing is so clearthat a layma n could un dersta nd it, the n it is less likely it will end up in court.31. 要假设合同的读者是一个受过教育的外行，如果你书写的合同简明得连一个外行都能理解，那么即使到了法庭上”你也不用害怕。32. Define a word

47、 by capitalizingit and putting it in quotes.Capitalizingaword in dicates that you intend it to have a special meaning. The followi ng are twosample clauses for defi ning terms:Wherever used in this con tract, the word "Goods" shall mean the goods thatBuyer has agreed to purchase from Selle

48、r un der this con tract.Buyer hereby agreesto purchase from Seller ten （10） frying pans, here in after called the "Goods."32. 强调一个合同术语可以这样做：加上双引号并将其开头的字母大写。将一个词语的开头字母大写表明你想让它有一个特别的意思。下面有两个定义术语的例子：一. 本合同中使用的“货物”（"Goods"）是指买方已经同意向卖方购买的货物；二. 本合同中买方同意向卖方购买的拾（10）只平底锅，即下文中的“货物”（"G

49、oods"）。33. Define words whe n first used. In stead of writi ng a sect ion of defi niti ons atthe beg inning or end of a con tract, con sider defi ning terms and con cepts as they first appear in the con tract. This will make it easier for the reader to follow.33. 第一次使用某个术语时就要下定义。定义合同术语不是在合同的开头，

50、也不是在合 同的结尾，而是在这个术语第一次出现的时候，这样做，有利于读者更好地理解合同。34. Explain tech ni cal terms and con cepts. Remember that the parties might un dersta nd tech ni cal jarg on, but the judge and jury who in terpret and apply the con tract do not. Therefore, explain the con tract's terms and con cepts within the con t

51、ract itself. Let the con tract speak for itself from with in its four corn ers.34. 勤于解释合同中的术语和概念。要记住合同双方的当事人可能会理解合同中某些专 用术语，但法官和陪审团却可能一无所知。所以撰写合同时要让合同自己为自己释义。Keep Your Clie nt In formed While You Write第五部分：书写时要常和你的客户沟通35. All con tracts should come with a cover letter. This gives you a place to in s

52、truct your clie nt on how to use and sig n the con tract.35. 所有的合同都应该有一封说明书-用来告诉你的客户如何使用和签署合同。36. Tell your clie nt the ideas that come as you write. Many ideas will occur toyou as you write: things that could go wrong with the deal, things that might happe n in the future, things that happe ned in

53、the past, ways to structure things better. Write these in your letter to the clie nt.36. 告诉客户你在撰写过程中的一些想法。比如：哪些事情可能会随着交易变得很遭，哪些事可能会在将来发生，哪些事情已经发生了，哪些可以让事情朝好的方向发展的方法.你最好在给客户的说明书中都将这些都写上。37. Inform your clie nt of the risks. Writi ng a letter to the clie nt as you write the con tract is the perfect wa

54、y to inform the clie nt of the risks and rewards of en teri nginto the con tract.Freque ntly, problems do not become appare nt un til time isspe nt trying to word a con tract.37. 告诉客户合同的风险所在。在撰写合同时，你最好向客户说订立合同需要承担的风 险和能够得到的利益。通常情况下，只要你花时间来起草合同，你就会发现真正的风险在哪 里。What To Do After the First Draft Is Writt

55、e n第六部分：完成初稿后做什么38. Check spell ing, paragraph nu mberi ng,andcross referen cesbothmanually andwith yourword processor's spellingandgrammar checker. Thisalmost goes without say ing today, especially si nee Microsoft Word now checks your spelli ng and grammar as you type. (Unfortun ately it also

56、cha nges "per stirpes" to "per stupid" if you fail to watch it closely.) And now there are even computer programs that checkcon tractdocume ntsfor un defi nedterms. DealProof ispackaged with Corel WordPerfect for law offices, and DocProofReader is available for dow nl oad for MS

57、Word 97 and 2000.样的工作你似乎不要费多少精力（但机器有时也不可靠，如果你不看仔细，它就会把38. 核实合同的拼写情况、段落序号以及上下文的注解，你可以自己手动来做，也可以用 文字编辑软件中的拼写和语法检查功能来完成，特别是自从有了微软的 word软件后，做这"perstirpes"改变为"per stupid"）。现在，这类专业的软件甚至可以帮你检测到合同中没有释义 的术语，如：Corel公司专门为法律办公开发的文字处理软件包中的DealProof 软件，还有可供word97和word2000 下载安装的 DocProofReader

58、软件。39. Let your secretary or paralegal read it. Not only will your staff freque ntlyfind spelli ng and grammar errors missed by your word processor's spell checker,but they will find inconsistencies and confusing areas that you missed when draft ing.39. 让你的秘书或者助手阅读你草拟的合同。你的同事不仅能通过文字处理软件来帮你检查到你没有

59、查到的拼写和语法错误，而且他们还能发现你起草时没有察觉到的矛盾和混淆之处。40. Stamp "Draft #1 6/22/2000" on it. This may be the first of ma ny drafts, soavoid 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 precl

60、ude the possibility of an impatie nt clie nt sig ning a draft rather tha n wait ing for the final version.40. 在合同上注明“第一稿于200年6月22日”，第一稿完成后，可能还要草拟几个版本，为了避免他们之间相互混淆，最好在每份草稿首页的顶部注上序号和起草时间。另外， 在每一个版本的封面上注明“草稿”字样，也能够避免你那急躁的客户不等到最后的定稿文本就急于签字。41. Let your clie nt read it. Letti ng the clie nt in on readi ng the first draft assuresthat your draft ing will stay in tune with the clie nt's wishes.41. 让你的客户读你草拟的合同。你的客户读第一稿，可以确保你的起草的