If you've never hired a lawyer before, the idea of having a lawyer review a contract may seem expensive and intimidating — it shouldn’t be! When a client hires us to review a proposed contract for them, we go through 4 basic steps:
STEP 1: AN OPINION LETTER. When a client brings a contract to us for review, the first step is for us to prepare an opinion letter for the client. The opinion letter will lay out a bullet point list of both the items that we believe should be changed in the contract as well as items that the client should be aware of, including obligations that the contract imposes that may not be obvious. Depending on the length and complexity of the contract, this letter is usually inexpensive to produce.
STEP 2: DISCUSSION WITH THE CLIENT. Once the opinion letter has been delivered to the client (usually by email), we will have a brief discussion with the client to go over the important points in the letter and answer any questions the client may have.
STEP 3: COMMUNICATING PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE OTHER SIDE. Once the client understands the opinion letter, the client will make a decision as to which of the recommended changes to the contract the client would like to pursue. Depending on the situation (and the client’s budget) the client can either: (1) deliver the opinion letter to the party he or she is contracting with and ask that all of the changes be made; (2) copy and paste particular paragraphs of the letter that the client actually wants to use to negotiate the contract and deliver those paragraphs to the other party; or (3) have us work directly with the other party or the other party’s lawyer to communicate the proposed changes. Depending on the circumstances, we may actually insert the proposed changes and deliver a revised contract to the other party.
STEP 4: REVIEWING THE REVISED CONTRACT. If the other party is responsible for revising the contract, the last step is for us to review the revisions that we proposed to ensure that the final contract reads correctly.
If you are thinking, “This is a simple contract, I don’t want to pay to have it reviewed,” you may want to reconsider. The simpler the contract, the less expensive the review, and even simple contracts can have serious ramifications if drafted incorrectly. Remember, disputes over an ambiguous, unfavorable, or poorly drafted contract are much more costly than hiring a lawyer at the outset to make sure that such disputes are avoided with a good contract.
If you are about to enter into a contract and would like it reviewed by a lawyer before you sign, give us a call at 253.858.5434. We proudly represent clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.