You Can Pay Me Now or You Can Pay Me Later

A brief legal consultation before signing a contract can save money and headaches later.

Spending a few hundred dollars for an attorney to review a proposed agreement of any sort is a good business practice as it  can save thousands of dollars and headaches in the long run before the transaction and the online relationship have soured.

Many clients come to me after they have been sued over a standard form or “do it yourself” agreement used in a  deal gone sour. The lawsuit  got filed because the parties’ true intentions were not properly specified in the contract, resulting in uncertainty and ambiguity that create conflict.

Even a  one-hour consultation and review by a lawyer of a proposed contract may reveal many pitfalls, including ambiguities in the language used, omissions of vital clauses like an attorneys’ fees provision, lack of precise definitions for key concepts and terms. unanticipated consequences of certain included clauses, and the undesirability of keeping the agreement short but overly simple, rather than lengthy and comprehensive.

In fact, the best practice is for each party to the agreement to consult with his own attorney for the review as each party’s interests will inevitably conflict.  As the old Fram Oil Filter commercial used to say, “you can pay me now or you can pay me later.”  Usually, now is cheaper than later.  And, conflict is avoided, preserving the relationship and keeping the transaction going in the right direction.
Image and slogan copyright Fram/Honeywell International Inc