In the not-so-distant past, an employment agreement between a university president and a governing board was often nothing more than a handshake. Today, formal contracts are requirements for presidents, with boards and presidents typically relying on lawyers to extensively document terms of employment, salary and benefits, and, perhaps most importantly, terms of separation. The value of a well-written presidential contract is most apparent when a board dismisses a president, says Howard S. Ende, a former general counsel for Princeton University, who is with the Princeton office of the firm Drinker Biddle & Reath. In this article, Mr. Ende reviewed two presidential contracts for The Chronicle: Mr. Ladner's contract, and the employment agreement held by Robert M. Gates, president of Texas A&M University at College Station. Here, Mr. Ende shares his views on both contracts and points to issues covered by Mr. Ladner's contract that were left open in that of Mr. Gates.