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| Common Draft | |
|---|---|
| Name | Common Draft |
| Formation | 1995 |
| Founder | Linda W. Fried, Jonathan H. Adler |
| Type | Nonprofit legal resource |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
| Services | Model legal forms, plain-language guides |
| Website | (omitted) |
Common Draft
Common Draft is a project that provided plain-language legal forms and explanatory materials for use in interpersonal agreements, estate planning, and transactional law. Founded in the mid-1990s, it sought to bridge technical legal drafting used in United States practice with accessible documents usable by laypeople, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses. The project intersected with movements in legal reform and access to justice promoted by institutions such as American Bar Association, Legal Services Corporation, Harvard Law School clinics, and public-interest groups.
Common Draft originated in the context of 1990s efforts to increase access to legal resources outside traditional firms and courts. Early supporters and collaborators included clinicians and scholars from Columbia Law School, New York University School of Law, and community organizations in New York City and San Francisco. The initiative paralleled digital-access projects like those at Creative Commons and the rise of online legal information provided by entities such as FindLaw and Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute. Influences cited by founders included precedent from American Law Institute publications, model codes such as the Uniform Commercial Code, and plain-language campaigns associated with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
The core purpose was to produce model agreements, explanatory clauses, and drafting notes that demystified documents used in transactions, caregiving arrangements, and wills. Examples of content included templates for durable powers of attorney, advance directives, cohabitation agreements, and simple trusts, with commentary grounded in case law from courts like the New York Court of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court. Documents were annotated with references to statutory frameworks such as the Uniform Probate Code, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, and state statutes in jurisdictions like California, Texas, and Florida. Common Draft also provided plain-English guidance reflecting practices promoted by bar associations such as the New York State Bar Association and organizations like National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Materials were explicitly offered as templates, not substitute for jurisdiction-specific legal advice, and included caveats about enforceability under statutes and case law in forums such as United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit or state courts. Users were advised to adapt forms to local rules—e.g., execution formalities under the laws of Pennsylvania or witness requirements in Massachusetts. Institutions employing the templates included clinics at Georgetown University Law Center, pro bono projects coordinated with Pro Bono Net, and nonprofit service providers funded by grants from entities such as the Ford Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Courts, bar associations, and law reform commissions sometimes cited plain-language drafting principles in administrative opinions and reports, including materials from the Federal Judicial Center.
Adoption occurred among grassroots organizations, small businesses, and legal-aid providers seeking low-cost drafting tools. Implementation strategies ranged from direct download and fill-in use by individuals in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles to incorporation into legal-education programs at institutions including Yale Law School and Stanford Law School. Some state courts and clerks' offices referenced plain-language templates in self-help centers alongside materials from LegalZoom and Nolo Press. International interest led practitioners in jurisdictions such as United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada to adapt templates to local instruments like the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and provincial statutes in Ontario.
Critics questioned whether simplified templates might encourage DIY lawyering that overlooked jurisdictional nuance, procedural rules in venues like the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, or substantive doctrine shaped by decisions from tribunals such as the Supreme Court of Canada. Scholars at institutions such as University of Chicago Law School and Georgetown University debated the balance between accessibility and professional responsibility under rules promulgated by bodies like the American Bar Association and state ethics committees. Others raised concerns about uniform templates in contexts touched by statutes like the Employee Retirement Income Security Act or regulatory regimes overseen by agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission.
Common Draft influenced a generation of plain-language drafting advocacy and the proliferation of open-source legal templates used by platforms and nonprofit initiatives. Its emphasis on annotated templates and cross-references to statutes and case law informed projects at Public.Resource.Org, Open Knowledge Foundation, and law clinic curricula at universities such as University of Michigan Law School and Boston University School of Law. Elements of its approach appear in modern document automation and legal-tech offerings from startups and firms with roots in legal-reform movements associated with organizations like Code for America and accelerator programs at Stanford University. The legacy persists in continuing debates among bar associations, courts, and legal educators over how best to marry accessibility with doctrinal precision.
Category:Legal resources