Before I post a thread asking for a writer to write a terms of service for me, I was curious if writers here even do that? It's for a relatively small site, so it really won't have to be legally binding, but just a brief explanation of the terms which the user will have to agree to. I'm selling a product, so it will be related to what they can do with it, etc. I'm just curious if people on this forum would be able to help me with this, or if I would have to go elsewhere (possibly a legal copywriter). Thanks, Andrew
Well, all terms of service need to be legally binding if you're asking users to agree to anything, no matter how big or small a site is. My general rule is that I won't write TOS, privacy policies, etc., b/c that stuff should be run by a lawyer before publishing. Some writers will, but they probably have no idea what they're doing, so they'll just copy and make a few edits from another site's TOS (which is copyright infringement). You could see if there are templates out there that were drafted by someone with a legal background, but I'd suggest hiring a legal copywriter as you mentioned, or at least someone in a related field to be safer. I know we have a writer around here who was an investigator, and they might be able to help out with legal-oriented writing (or refer you to a lawyer who could), and I know we have a few lawyers poking around the forums who you might be able to hire to help - I'd check the legal issues area here to find them.
I agree with jhmattern. If you want to hire someone, hire someone with a good legal background. However, I understand if you're just opposed to getting a lawyer involved because you're absolutely convinced it's overkill. In that case, write your own TOS and hire a copywriter to proofread it. If the agreement is that they are only proofreading it for grammatical improvement, many writers would take that job. Try a couple of lawyers first, though. I have occasionally been surprised at how low legal fees were for some routine things.
I'd hire a lawyer to whip up something. They'll most likely charge you minimally and give you their own boilerplate with a couple customizations. While most writers will copy the ToS from other companies, state laws do vary. For instance, certain clauses that you often see are fine in some states, but not in others. Contract law is very fascinating. In the end, you're best served by hiring a local attorney. At the very least, contact a couple to see what the cost will be.
I am considering hiring LegalZoom if they draft Terms of Services. I've look through their Legal Forms section and did not see a Terms of Service, but would that be the same thing as an agreement (for example, "Assignment of Agreement")?