How to Use Recitals in Contracts

Mike Whelan
Chief Community Officer

“Whereas… heretofore… Be It Witnessed That…”

Why do Recitals sections look the way they do? Can you improve your contracts with Recitals that are a little less Latin and a little more legible story?

According to Sonya Shaykhoun, author of our latest ebook “How to Use Recitals in a Contract,” you definitely should.

While the Recitals section is often overlooked gibberish bordering on Shakespearean prose, it serves an important purpose. You can ground a deal in an agreed history and that can have substantive legal impact.

In this ebook, Shaykhoun shares insights about:

  • Using Recitals to establish a deal story;
  • Frameworks for what you should include in Recitals versus the body of the contract; and
  • The legal effect of Recitals.

Don’t turn the earliest section of your contract into a dull trudge through archaic language. Make it plain and useful. 

Download your ebook to learn how.

 


How to Use Recitals in Contracts ebook


Tags: Contract Drafting, recitals

Contributors

Mike Whelan
Chief Community Officer

You may also like

Your Legal Ops AI Toolkit 

This Legal Ops AI Toolkit offers structure, clarity, and action. It's designed to help legal operations teams assess, implement, and maximize the core AI capabilities available through Law Insider and beyond, without needing to wade through endless documentation or guesswork.

Your Legal AI Playbook Creation Guide

Contract review has traditionally been slow and reactive—but that’s changing. Legal AI is now a real, practical tool that helps teams move faster, reduce risk, and work more proactively. This guide shows how to use our Word add-in and your playbook to turn contract analysis into a streamlined, AI-powered workflow.