The meaning of legal opinion letters delivered to third parties in business transactions ("closing opinions") and the work lawyers are expected to do to support them are based on the customary practice of lawyers who regularly give, and who regularly advise recipients regarding, opinions of the kind involved. The leading sources of guidance on what constitutes customary practice on a national level are the reports on closing opinions issued by the TriBar Opinion Committee and committees of the ABA Section of Business Law whose reports are included in this volume. Those committees consist of lawyers from across the country whose practices cover a wide range of business transactions and practice settings. Since 1993, the ABA has published collections of reports prepared by the TriBar Opinion Committee in book form. The 2005 edition added reports of the Committee on Legal Opinions of the ABA Section of Business Law. The 2009 edition combines current reports of those committees with other noteworthy ABA section reports on closing opinions. All reports are presented as they appeared in The Business Lawyer. Bound in a convenient, portable volume, these influential reports simplify and clarify the scope and content of legal opinions in third-party transactions. Having this handy, one-volume tool dramatically reduces the time and effort needed to negotiate and prepare legal opinions, as well as helps to reduce the legal exposure of the lawyers who give them.