I am almost done writing up my contract for my new company, and I was wondering if there were any free (or inexpensive) ways to make sure I've got all the loops covered. Thanks, Madman
The only person you should listen to is an attorney - and you really can't expect them to work for free. No one likes paying legal fees, but it's going to be very cheap insurance to have a local attorney look over what you have written. Be up front with them with your budget, and you'll also have better luck with a single-attorney office as a firm won't touch something like this. You need a local attorney as laws vary by state, and you might have something in your contract worded in a way that isn't even legally enforceable. If it is a short contract, it should only take an hour or two to review.
It's really going to depend on the wording. If you don't have any legal experience, it would probably be easier to write down what you want and have them draft up something themselves rather than trying to modify something you have pieced together. An attorney will have boiler plate language that they can put together rather quickly - probably faster than trying to rewrite what you have put together. I would think you could have something put together for under $1000 (it really depends on what you want). If you ever have a problem, you are going to regret it if you don't use an attorney. It will wind up costing you a lot more in the long run. I've entered into hundreds of contracts - some were a single page, others ran over a hundred pages. Any type of litigation is going to vastly more expensive that drafting the agreement. A court case can easily run into six figures and a poorly drafted agreement makes the likelihood of legal problems much greater. By drafting the agreement yourself, the court is going to hold you responsible and side with the other party if there are unclear portions tor sections of the agreement that conflict. You might want to have an arbitration clause, venue, prevailing party, etc.