Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Contracts: A guide to contract law for non-lawyers (FutureLearn)

Offered by College of Law,
Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Contracts: A guide to contract law for non-lawyers (FutureLearn)

How to effectively draft and negotiate commercial contracts. Effective contract negotiation is a crucial part of any business and the ability to draft effective, readable, non-ambiguous contracts is a valuable skill for everyone. Some common examples of commercial contracts include employment, supplies, leases, licenses, franchises, sales, license, real estate and partnership agreements.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

This is a practical course which focuses on developing the key knowledge and skill required by professionals when negotiating and drafting commercial contracts that involve parties, laws or businesses. It is important that professionals have the sufficient knowledge and skills to achieve their desired outcome from a commercial contract negotiation.

What topics will you cover?

  • Identify the purpose of the contract and understand parties’ expectations
  • Identify and critically discuss the specific skills needed for drafting and negotiating commercial contracts
  • Explore ways in which to draft and negotiate contracts that are readable, enforceable and achieve clients’ objectives
  • Elucidate possible issues, challenges and pitfalls in drafting commercial contracts
  • Explore the legal rationale and practical knowledge underpinning contractual clauses, and
  • Discuss ways to close the deal (win-win outcome)

Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Demonstrate a good understandings of commercial law contracts
  • Apply these understanding to problem-solving and decision-making in practice
  • Apply these understandings to critically analyse and evaluate your own professional practice, toward accountability and improvement
  • Identify and explain the key legal principles governing the formation of contracts
  • Draft readable documents, such as contracts, that integrate correct structure, clear language and risk management
  • Demonstrate effective negotiation techniques in commercial contracts

Who is the course for?
All professionals (non-lawyers) such as executives, managers or individuals who want to improve their drafting and negotiating skills when negotiating external contracts on behalf of themselves or their company.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (Coursera) Coursera
University of Geneva

Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (Coursera)

If you are a student, a professional, an academic, or policy/decision maker involved in water cooperation and diplomacy, this MOOC is addressed to you. It enhances your scientific knowledge and capacities to engage in water cooperation and diplomacy processes; it also gives you ammunition to contribute to the public debate and discourses on shared waters. Finally, it connects you with other professionals, students, decision and policy makers as well as academics from around the world, and offers you opportunities to exchanges views, experiences and knowledge with them.

Aug 17th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Contract Management: Building Relationships in Business (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Southampton

Contract Management: Building Relationships in Business (FutureLearn)

Learn to build relationships and manage contracts successfully with this free online course backed by UK government and IACCM. Contracts are fundamental to all business activities and relationships are fundamental to all contracts. This free online course will help you understand contract management processes; give you the confidence to develop new contracts; and help you build successful relationships to implement contracts effectively.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Negoziazione e comunicazione efficace (edX) EdX
University of Naples Federico II,FedericaX

Negoziazione e comunicazione efficace (edX)

Conosci le tecniche di negoziazione e impara a gestire il conflitto per poter migliorare il tuo modo di relazionarti con gli altri. Come gestire la comunicazione quando gli interessi confliggono? Come portare avanti efficacemente dei processi di negoziazione? Questo corso fornisce le basi teoriche che sottendono alla comprensione e alla messa in pratica delle principali strategie e dei più diffusi modelli di negoziazione e di gestione del conflitto.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Contract Law: From Trust to Promise to Contract (edX)

Contracts are a part of our everyday life, arising in collaboration, trust, promise and credit. How are contracts formed? What makes a contract enforceable? What happens when one party breaks a promise? Learn about contracts from Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried, one of the world’s leading authorities on contract law. Contracts are promises that the law will enforce. But when will the law refuse to honor a promise? What happens when one party does not hold to their part of the deal? This version of the course adds new units on Interpretation, Agency, Partnerships, Corporations, and Government Regulation.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Fundamentos de la Negociación con Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women (Coursera) Coursera
Goldman Sachs

Fundamentos de la Negociación con Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women (Coursera)

Este curso online gratuito es uno de los 10 cursos disponibles en la colección Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, diseñado para emprendedoras listas para llevar su negocio al siguiente nivel. Este curso examinará la negociación y explorará las herramientas que necesitas para negociar con confianza, a medida que buscas oportunidades para el crecimiento empresarial.

Aug 10th 2026
1 Week
Negociações de sucesso: estratégias e habilidades essenciais (em Português) (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Negociações de sucesso: estratégias e habilidades essenciais (em Português) (Coursera)

Todos nós negociamos diariamente. No nível pessoal, negociamos com amigos, família, proprietários do imóvel em que moramos, vendedores de carro, funcionários, entre outros. A negociação também é a chave para o sucesso nos negócios. Nenhuma empresa consegue sobreviver sem contratos lucrativos. Dentro de uma empresa, as habilidades de negociação podem levar a avanços na carreira.

Aug 3rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Negotiation Fundamentals (Coursera) Coursera
ESSEC Business School

Negotiation Fundamentals (Coursera)

This course gives you access to negotiation practical tools and best practices gathered by Professor Aurélien Colson & his team from assignments in more than seventy countries and in a wide set of sectors, be they services, industry, high tech, or public organizations. In an interactive manner, this course will help you, among other topics: get prepared for any negotiation; avoid traps; know how to prompt value-creating partnerships; structure an effective negotiation sequence; bargain in an efficient and respectful manner; overcome deadlocks; and much more!

Aug 10th 2026
4 Weeks
Business English: Planning & Negotiating (Coursera) Coursera
University of Washington

Business English: Planning & Negotiating (Coursera)

In this course, the context is hosting an event and finding an appropriate venue for it. You will learn language and strategies for successful negotiations culminating in a written announcement for an event. Course Learning Objectives: negotiate strategically in formal and informal settings; identify and resolve customer issues after a negotiation has taken place; evaluate and compare services and features of two venues; plan a business event using negotiation skills; write an announcement for a business event after selecting a venue.

Aug 3rd 2026
4 Weeks
Negotiation skills: Negotiate and resolve conflict (Coursera) Coursera
Macquarie University

Negotiation skills: Negotiate and resolve conflict (Coursera)

Modern organisations are characterised by increasingly higher levels of uncertainty, complexity and diversity. In our current globalised work environment, how can you manage the power and politics that persistently influence organisational decision-making? Being savvy about organisational politics and having the nous to negotiate and resolve conflict is a critical capability for managers at all levels. This course will develop your negotiation and conflict resolution skills – crucial to becoming a positive influence in your organisation.

Aug 10th 2026
5-12 Weeks
High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation (Coursera) Coursera
Northwestern University

High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation (Coursera)

Are leaders born or made? Learn the essential skills to develop and expand your leadership repertoire, design teams for collaboration, and craft win-win negotiation strategies. High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation focuses on leadership, teamwork, and negotiation. Students will engage in self-assessments to analyze their leadership style, develop team charters to optimize their groups, and develop a game plan for effective negotiation.

Aug 10th 2026
3 Weeks