Introduction: 0:00

• Laura Frederick, Founder and CEO of How to Contract and Managing Attorney at Laura Frederick Law, joins the podcast.
• Hosting ContractsCon, an in-person and virtual event in Las Vegas.
• Formerly working as Senior Commercial Counsel at energy and renewable companies like Tesla, SolarCity, and more. 
• Laura on working in Singapore and Hong Kong early in her legal career.

Why Laura chose contracts as her core practice area: 5:52

• Laura on coming into law from a humanities background.
• Finding contract language to be an exciting challenge.
• The flexibility of business documents.

Drafting contracts for energy and renewables: 10:17

• Laura on working in multiple industries at law firms.
• Looking for a 9-to-5 job during her third pregnancy.
• Getting a crash course on the business of energy.
• Dealing with contracts that go way beyond energy.

Laura’s favorite types of deals: 13:54

• Laura on equipment and manufacturing contracts.

Contract drafting tips and tricks: 15:39

• Laura on diving deep on legal concepts.
• Gaining operational insight.

Considering a more generalist role: 17:50

• Laura on realizing she doesn't want to be a general counsel.
• Leaning into the parts of your job that you love.
• The source of her passion for commercial contracts.
• Being driven by service and a love for words.

Common mistakes during contract drafting: 23:19

• Laura on saying the same thing multiple times.
• Big consequences for repetitive language.

How to negotiate more effectively: 25:10

• Laura on understanding your risks.
• Leveraging your bargaining power.

Tips for breaking a negotiating log jam: 27:59

• Laura on moving forward without pushing through. 
• Keeping it professional.
• Preserving the relationship between all parties.

Lessons from mentors: 33:03

• Laura on A-level effort for A-level work.
• Tempering your effort based on the importance of each deal.
• Deciding when not to negotiate a contract like an NDA.
• Finding the exceptions when NDAs need to be negotiated.

Founding How to Contract: 36:39

• Laura on anxiety and fear as drivers.
• A lack of good training for core contract skills.
• Launching her own law firm in 2019.
• Starting a training business after posting daily on LinkedIn.
• Relaying her experience to others before she retires.

Leaving Tesla to make the leap to business owner: 40:06

• Laura on finding safety in owning her own business.
• Understanding that job security is always false.
• Finding clients through LinkedIn.

Focusing on mental health: 44:19

• Laura on the importance of therapy.
• Challenging your systems of control.
• Finding the time to see a therapist.

Finding Laura’s businesses online: 51:10

• Reaching How to Contract at www.howtocontract.com.
• Learning more about ContractsCon at www.contractscon.com.
• Contacting Laura directly on LinkedIn. 

Rapid-fire questions: 54:08

• Laura on her favorite part of the day.
• What Laura wishes she’d known as a young lawyer.