On-Line Legal Forms; Are They Really Worth the Risk?
A few days ago I was talking to a friend whose business is struggling badly. I knew that he had been talking to a new, potential customer and that the work he hoped to get would pretty much determine whether or not his company would survive. Turns out he was about to sign a contract. Money for him is tight, so, in light of our longstanding relationship, I offered to take a few minutes to look at the contract for him. In doing so I was struck by a number of things that concerned me, not the least of which was a clause that would prohibit him from rendering similar services to any other customer in that particular industry segment. Problem is, that industry segment makes up the bulk of my friend’s business.
I pointed out the ramifications of this clause in an email, assuming that this was something that his new, potential customer was insisting upon and that it was probably not negotiable. That email prompted a quick return phone call. Turns out that the contract was prepared not by the potential customer, but by my friend. The clause was merely part of a contract template he had found on the internet; he had no idea that it was there. Once I pointed it out to him he agreed that he wasn’t all that clear about what it meant or its implications. He does now. Since the new work would not be sufficient in and of itself to sustain his business, he stood to lose everything. At a minimum, he would have certainly found himself embroiled in costly litigation.
My point? There are a whole lot of people out there making a whole lot of money trying to convince you that all you need is a “one-size-fits-all”, generic template for every conceivable legal situation, and that you can easily find them on the internet. After all “who needs a lawyer” anyway? I’ve seen situations like this many times in my career and I have seen a lot of people hurt. In every situation the fees I would have charged had I gotten involved at the outset pale in comparison to the fees that were later incurred in an effort to try to straighten things out after the damage was done. The timing was fortuitous on this one and I was able to help keep a friend from potentially losing his business. It’s been a good day.
Duane L. Reynolds