Kind of a weird thing to post in the Dope, but I know we have some exemplary Doper attorneys. I need to write a very basic contract and have it vetted by an attorney. Anyone up for a smidgen of non-pro-bono work in this area? ( email me if you can )
And, if not, here’s my OP: How hard is it to write a contract all by my little old lonesome that would have a shred of chance of standing up in court if challenged? If I just say, " You are you, I am me, you hire me to provide X, at Y fee, for Z days, with A Expenses ", and both parties sign, is that gonna be ironclad? Or, do I need to have it drawn up in language that is bulletproof? I’m in New York State, but I would guess this query applies to someone writing their own contract anywhere.
Standard “I need legal advice” advice: Most local bar assocations run a lawyer referal service. Typically you call 'em up, describe what kind of legal service you need, and they’ll hook you up with an attorney who does that kind of thing and who will consult with you for a half-hour for a modest (~$30) fee.
Fairly easy, actually. It really comes down to spelling out all the exceptions you can think of. Like what happens if one of you doesn’t follow through? Are there any pre-existing resources that stay owned by their current owners after the contract is over? What responsiblities do each party have to each other after everythings completed? Etc.
If nothing else, you can write it and have a lawyer add his two cents; that’ll save you some money.
If you write it and post it, I (and I’m sure others) would be happy to critique it.
You can pretty easily write your own contract that will stand up in court.
The trick is to write a contract that imagines all the likely issues of contention that will arise between the parties over the agreed-upon transaction, and resolves them to the satisfaction of both parties. This often requires a knowledge of what the law would require should you not deal with those issues in the contract. That’s why it’s almost always preferrable to have a lawyer write a contract.
For example: my friend is an artist (sculptor). She recently did a job on commission for a university. They sent her a form contract that basically said, “You deliver the statue, and we will pay you on X date.” Had they signed that version, it would’ve been enforceable. But it’s a lousy contract. It didn’t describe what the statue should look like. It didn’t discuss how they would resolve the issue if the university didn’t like the finished product. It didn’t deal with who would assume liability if, once installed, a piece of the statue broke off and konked some kid over the head. Being a lawyer who’s worked in litigation, I could pick out these “trouble spots.” I also knew how the law would deal with them if the contract didn’t (and it wasn’t a pretty picture). So I wrote a contract for them that worked out those issues and more.
I’ve written contracts for friends for free. Know any lawyers personally? Ask them. If not, do the lawyer referral service thing. It can be surprisingly inexpensive, and worth it for the peace of mind. It only took me about 3-4 hours to write a very comprehensive contract to cover the transaction I discussed above.