Commercial Online Sources
These sources include sample forms and contracts on a wide variety of subjects. Many of these sources are also available in print in the Law Library.
| Bloomberg Law | Lexis Advance | Westlaw | |
|---|---|---|---|
| checklists & overviews |
Practical Guidance (includes forms) |
Lexis Practical Guidance Note: Bloomberg and Westlaw include some forms in |
Practical Law (includes forms) (left column of main menu or
|
| discussion of law, possibly in-depth | Treatises | Treatises | Treatises |
| model forms | Practical Guidance (includes forms) | Sample Forms |
Practical Law (includes forms) |
| documents that have been used in practice | Transactional Intelligence Center: precedent search | EDGAR Precedent Agreements |
Bloomberg Law
- Precedent Database [Bloomberg Law]Contains more than 800,000 agreements, letters, and other transactional documents, drawn from EDGAR.
(Formerly "Dealmaker Documents") - Draft Analyzer [Bloomberg Law]Check your drafting skills copying text into the Draft Analyzer, which "uses an algorithm to show you the developing consensus among drafters based on its analysis of each paragraph from virtually every agreement and organizational document filed as an EDGAR exhibit."
- Bloomberg Law Training Videos
Videos include basics (navigation, search connectors), primary law (statutes, cases), and secondary sources. Four videos cover Bloomberg Law's transactional resources. - Bloomberg BNA Sample FormsSample forms, often from Bloomberg BNA Portfolios
- ALI-ABA Forms LibraryForms from the American Law Institute–American Bar Association
Lexis Advance
- Rabkin and Johnson's Current Legal Forms with Tax Analysis [Lexis]Updated quarterly.
- Warren's Forms of Agreements [Lexis]Contains forms on a wide variety of topics.
You can find additional sources of forms by browsing Lexis Advance by category, then by forms.
- Use Practical Guidance to Expand Your Knowledge & Draft More Effectively [Lexis]A 5 minute video that describes how to access and use transactional sources on Lexis.
Westlaw
- Form Finder [Westlaw]Thousands of litigation and transactional forms, from all U.S. jurisdictions (federal and state) and across all topics..
- AmJur Legal Forms 2d [Westlaw]Contains "more than 22,000 business and legal forms, enhanced with drafting guides, checklists, practice aids, and notes on use." Updated annually.
- Nichols Cyclopedia of Legal Forms Annotated [Westlaw]Contains "more than 230 transactional legal chapters with related analysis."
- Practical Law [Westlaw]Contains a large collection of checklists, clauses, documents, practice notes (explanations and how-to guides), and toolkits for topics like antitrust, bankruptcy, commercial transactions, corporate governance, employee benefits and executive compensation, estate planning, intellectual property, international arbitration, labor and employment, litigation, real estate, and tax.
- Introduction to Practical Law (Westlaw)Interactive tutorial for Practical Law, a service within Westlaw with practice guides, checklists, sample documents, and more.
- Sample Agreements [Westlaw]Contains more than "a million executed business agreements with language, clauses, and provisions drafted by leading law firms and in-house counsel." Topics include:
- West's Legal Forms [Westlaw]Contains thousands for forms and commentary on topics such as agents and independent contractors, alternative dispute resolution, business organizations, commercial transactions,
- Williston on Contracts: Forms [Westlaw]Contains "forms to guide the drafting of agreements and pleading in all areas of contract law."
A Note About EDGAR
EDGAR is the SEC's database of filings from publicly traded companies. It's available free from the SEC, and is also available (with perhaps easier interfaces) on commercial systems.
Bloomberg Law (in Transactional Precedent Database) and Westlaw (in Sample Agreements) both draw from EDGAR filings—specifically contracts filed as Exhibit 10, Material Contracts. This gives researchers access to a variety of real-world contracts. The set of contracts found in EDGAR is very large, but it is limited:
- Only publicly traded companies must file.
- The companies only include material contracts.
From the SEC's EDGAR guide:
What types of “material contracts” must an issuer file as Exhibit 10 to a registration statement or periodic report?Items 601(b)(10) of Regulation S-K and Regulation S-B describe what constitutes a material contract. Examples of material contracts include:
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Searching EDGAR Material Contracts
How to get to EDGAR search:
- Browse All Content > Corporate & Transactional > EDGAR Search, or
- Law School Success box > Upper Level Resources > Excel in Your Internship, Externship or Clinic box > EDGAR Search (under Transactional Resources)
In search template
- Choose Exhibits Only.
- Choose Ex. 10. Material contracts
- Consider using Exhibit Title, but be aware that some filers do not provide titles.
Sample searches:
- Exhibits Only, Ex. 10, Exhibit Title: "stock option", Keywords: vest!, Filing Date: last 12 months
- Exhibits Only, Ex. 10, Exhibit Title: non-disclosure or nondisclosure, Company Location: washington
- Exhibits Only, Ex. 10, Exhibit Title: non-competition or noncompetition or "not to compete", Keywords: incorporat! w/2 reference
Free website presents EDGAR material contracts and separate collection of clauses. It lacks the bells and whistles of the high-priced databases, but it's free!
How to get to EDGAR search: type edgar in search bar. Choose SEC EDGAR Filings, Combined.
Search tip: in template's Form box, enter exhibit 10.
Sample search:
- form("exhibit 10") and (incorporat! w/3 reference) and (employee and manual) and date after 01/01/2015.
How to get to EDGAR search: type edgar in the search bar. Choose EDGAR Filings & Disclosures. (Note you could also go to EDGAR Precedent Agreements - Clause Search.)
In search template:
- Choose Exhibit 10.
- Select any options in other fields.
Sample search:
- Exhibit 10, Industry: Manufacturing, Location of Headquarters: United States (Washington), "stock option" & incorporat! w/3 reference