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Across 30 years in law firms and in-house, Laura Frederick built her niche: contracts. Today, she runs How to Contract, helping lawyers sharpen real-world skills. Zak Biggs spoke with her about education gaps, the hill she’ll die on, and why memes work.

ZB: You've built your career around contracting. What made you want to train other lawyers on this?

LF: On a personal level, I'd accumulated 30 years of hard-earned knowledge and didn't want it to disappear when I retired. But the bigger issue is that the training pipeline has broken down. Law firms and companies used to invest in training junior lawyers. That's largely gone.

People are landing in roles where they're expected to perform skills nobody ever taught them, and that creates real anxiety. My goal is to help lawyers gain confidence and reduce that stress. It's a life improvement path, not just a skills course.

ZB: What's a hill you'll die on when it comes to contracts?

LF: There is no perfect contract provision. So many lawyers waste energy searching for the holy grail clause — the airtight template that solves everything. But every provision was written with a specific transaction and risk profile in mind. Drop it into a different deal and it may not serve you. I've even seen lawyers build something so airtight the sword gets turned against them when circumstances shift.

Let go of perfection and focus on what's reasonable for the context in front of you.

ZB: You wrote about a breakthrough that came after you stopped "holding the beach ball underwater." What does that analogy mean to you?

LF: It means putting all your energy into maintaining a calm exterior while you're falling apart inside. It's incredibly common in law, where you're expected to be the person with the answers.

For years, I kept the plates spinning while my marriage was failing. I stayed far longer than I should have because I couldn't face the hard thing. What I learned is that all the energy you spend keeping up appearances is energy you can use to fix your life. Once I dealt with the truth I'd been avoiding, I found a peace I hadn't had before.

ZB: You've leaned into memes in a big way. Why do you think they resonate so much with the legal community?

LF: The best memes surface something that exists in everyone's experience but that nobody's named yet. When I post about the ‘Will vs. Shall’ debate, for example, lawyers pile into the comments because it's a collective frustration with no proper outlet. People feel seen and find community.

ZB: What's your favourite meme you've shared?

LF: The ones that hit a little too close to home, like this one.