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rezzy
01-29-2009, 10:48 AM
Hello all,

I am setting the framework for my web site designing business. One question I had pertained to contracts needed for clients.

Do fellow business owners use contracts when bringing on a client? If so, did you draw it up or use a lawyer?

I want to make sure that I am clear legally if someone gets sue happy.

Also, how should I structure my business? LLC? Sole Proprietor?

BillR
01-29-2009, 11:20 AM
Okay - first of all - you can ALWAYS be sued.

Second, budget some money to get a lawyer to review a boilerplate contract of yours. I would suggest looking into some pre-paid legal services for this and/or downloading contracts off the internet from "per document" legal services.

You need to address a number of things in those contracts, such as billing, ownership of intellectual property, non-disclosure rules, etc.

I've spent money on lawyers a bunch of times. I have never regretted it.

Business Attorney
01-29-2009, 11:49 AM
I'm a little biased, of course, but I agree you should have a lawyer draw up your standard contract. Do the math. Even if it costs $1,000, and you only use it once a week for the next two years, that means it has cost you $10 per client engagement.

You can educate yourself by downloading and reviewing forms from the Internet, but I find it is generally NOT cost effective for a client to give me a proposed draft to work from on something like this. If they do that, I have to look at a form I am not familiar with and compare it to a form that I am comfortable with to see where the holes are, what sections are poorly written, etc... If you get an attorney with experience in the area (which should be your goal), he or she will almost always have a better starting point than a random form you have found.

rezzy
01-30-2009, 01:19 PM
what does a normal contract draw up cost? Is $1,000 standard or a random number pulled from the air?

How do I go about finding the right lawyer, in my area?

Business Attorney
01-30-2009, 02:35 PM
The $1,000 figure was pulled out of thin air, just to illustrate my point. Depending upon your needs, I suspect it would not cost even that much. If someone has experience in working with other web designers, he or she should already be familiar with the issues and have a good contract to work from. If someone doesn't have the necessary experience and wants to learn on your dime, you should probably keep looking.

As for finding a lawyer, I wrote an article on my website on how to find and select a business lawyer (http://www.illinoisbusinessattorney.com/articles/selecting_business_attorney.html) that gives some tips about the process.

rezzy
01-30-2009, 02:47 PM
I have heard about "Legal Zoom", not specifically for this, but just to draw up some legal documents.

Forming a LLC, wills, etc.

How reliable is this and other sites in drawing up legal documents?

Business Attorney
01-30-2009, 11:36 PM
I have no experience with Legal Zoom but given their business model, they are best suited for generating forms based on a simple Q & A format. If you are going into business, you should really have a lawyer that you can talk to on those rare occasions when you need to. You can't talk to a website that generates forms based on simple questions and answers and which clearly states on its home page:


LegalZoom's Legal Document Service is not a law firm and is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm. LegalZoom cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction.

A service like Legal Zoom certainly has a place if you understand what you are doing, know what you want, and just need to generate the document. But as they say themselves, it "is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm."

Evan
01-31-2009, 09:39 AM
Services, such as LegalZoom, can provide great templates; but certainly an attorney would be your best bet. There may be a few specific situations they are able to think of that the "template" they sell you won't.

If you decide to incorporate or form an LLC, the process is relatively simple. Seeing as you're not a Fortune 500 company with a 40-page customized Articles of Incorporation, the state template generally works. The only thing that you would definitely want assistance with is setting up some type of shareholder agreement (corp) or operating agreement (LLC).

rezzy
01-31-2009, 09:58 AM
I think that sounds like a fairly good statement. I will have a look at some lawyers and contact them in regards to setting this all up.