forms & example documents - antonin scalia law school · bloomberg law . 22 example documents ....
TRANSCRIPT
Forms & Example Documents George Mason University Law Library, Spring 2015
2
Forms and Legal Drafting
Why do you use forms? You need to follow the prescription of a regulating agency
that requires you to use particular agency forms (e.g. IRS form 1040)
You are tasked with drawing up a legal document and need a model to follow
Find examples to adapt to your client’s needs
It is still your job to research and know the law, to know what your client needs, and to modify forms accordingly.
3
Variety of Sources for Forms
Published form books
State CLE Materials
Online - Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, other commercial databases
Forms prepared by government agencies
In-house databases
Internet Be careful with internet forms. Assess whether they are reliable.
Project 3 – Forming an LLC 4
Virginia LLC
Virginia Statutes (Code of Virginia) Title 13.1 Chapter 12 Sections 13.1-1000 to 13.1-1080
Regulated by Virginia State Corporation Commission Provides forms Collects fees Maintains database of registered businesses
Explanation on forming a Virginia LLC Verify by doing your own legal research
5
Virginia State Corporation Commission
The forms you need.
Other states
Check on filing requirements for doing business in New York Oregon
An LLC formed in another state is considered a “foreign” LLC
Usually, just Google: [state] secretary of state, then
look for the Businesses section of the website
7
Registered Agents
Registered Agent An individual or business authorized to accept service
of process for an entity within a particular jurisdiction.
Now an industry of Registered Agents
Hire a Registered Agent company to accept service in a particular jurisdiction.
E.g., CT Corp.
10
From Virginia Legal Forms Library (Gale) from List of Law Related Databases This Virginia Legal Forms database is available in the library and from off campus, too.
Virginia Forms & Examples 11
12
Form books 13
14
Law Library – Form Books
The best ones are on Reserve at the Circulation Desk
Library’s Research Guides - Forms and Drafting Resources http://www.law.gmu.edu/library/guides/research/law-library-research-
guideforms
GMU Library Catalog – http://www.law.gmu.edu/library
Simple Keyword search – e.g., virginia AND forms Limit to Mason Collections
Also see the Handout we have given you. Handy for Operating Agreements in VA
Westlaw & Lexis - Forms 15
WLNext – Advanced Search
To search the forms using a template, click on the Advanced search button
Editable Forms 18
OR “Easy Edit” Word document 19
LexisAdvance – Forms 20
Lexis has its own Forms & Treatises with forms. Limit to Category: Forms.
Download & Edit 21
Download and save. Be sure to clean up the Header and Footer.
From Bloomberg Law www.bloomberglaw.com
Example Documents 22
Forms v. Example Documents
Theoretical Written by expert for
hypothetical, standard situations
May have analytical commentary
Editable Fill in the blank
Real-life These are documents
that were actually used in real deals
No analytical commentary
Not editable Can only be used for
ideas to incorporate
Forms Example Documents
23
24 Search Document and Clause Libraries
Many other helpful transactional resources.
25
Can browse and select document
types.
Many specialized options available to limit the results.
Review the documents 26
These aren’t editable, but they are real documents that were executed in real life deals.
You can see who were the law firms and lawyers who worked on the deal.
Clauses - examples 27
You can also use the Clauses tab to search for specific clauses.
Optional CALI Lesson
Researching and Working with Transactional Forms http://www.cali.org/lessons/web/lr103/
28