The Importance of Having an Attorney Review and Prepare Your Business Contracts

Business contracts are the rule of law between the people or businesses that enter into the contract.  To a certain extent, if you draft a business contract, then you get to make up your own rules and determine what the law is for the person signing the agreement.  If you have to go to court over a contract dispute, then the rule of the court is to enforce the contract as it is written.  That is why it is important to know what you're signing or to have an attorney draft your business contract for you.  

Do I Really Need an Attorney to Write or  Review my Contracts?

Attorneys are expensive.  Do you really need an attorney to draw up that contract or review the contract you've been given?  If cost is the primary concern, then you are much more likely to walk yourself into a bad deal.

You may be thinking that you don't need an attorney to review your contract.  It is written in English after all, and you understand English, so you can read and understand the contract yourself, right?  Although your contract may be written in English, it is chock full of legalese, which often times is actually written in a different language (Latin).  Business contracts are full of clauses and terms that have a special meaning under the law.  You simply don't know what you don't know, so a non-lawyer would have no idea what to even look for.  If there's any real money at stake under the contract, then you owe it to yourself  to have it looked over by a business contract attorney.  Business contract attorneys are not as expensive as you may think.  For some types of contracts, the price you might pay your own attorney to draft the contract could be comparable to the price to purchase a ready-made contract from an online legal company.

The Pitfalls of Using Contracts You Find or Purchase Online

You can find examples of most types of business contract for free online.  You can also find dozens of online legal form companies to purchase a contract.  You may even be able to customize your contract a little bit with some of the online legal form companies.  The problem is that a non-attorney deosn't know enough information to know if the contract they're getting is good or not.  When you purchase a form contract from an online legal form company, you are purchasing a product the quality of which is unknown from a company organized for the purpose of maximizing profit from people like you.  If you hire an actual contract attorney, then that attorney has a legal obligation to only take actions and perform work that benefits you (called 'fiduciary duty').  An attorney will make sure that your contract truly protects your interests and is actually tailored to the appropriate law.  You will have someone to actually talk to if you have questions.  If the value of the underlying contract is less than $1,000, then it may make more sense to use a contract that you found online.  If the value of the underlying contract is more than $1,000, then you probably owe it to yourself to either have an attorney write your contract or look over the one you've got to make sure that you understand what you're getting into and to advise you and protect your interests.

Ohio Business Contracts

If you're looking for a contract, then take the guess work out of whether you're getting a good contract or not and call an attorney.  The attorneys at Harris & Engler provide exceptional quality and cost effective pricing for business and individual contract needs in Ohio.  The law firm of Harris & Engler is located in Columbus, Ohio, and its business attorneys help individuals and businesses all across Ohio.