Should I Hire a Lawyer Before Signing My First Business Contract?

If you’re about to sign your first business contract in Las Vegas, NV, pause a moment. Before you put your name on that paper, take a moment to search “contract lawyer near me” and get at least a short review. That review could spare you years of expensive cleanup if something goes wrong.

How a “Contract Lawyer Near Me” in Las Vegas, NV Can Help

This document decides who pays, who owns the work, how long you are bound, and where you must fight if the other side doesn’t fulfill their agreement, and once you sign, your leverage shrinks. It’s important to get this right.

Specific Nevada Issues

Nevada has some contract writing rules that can catch first-time signers off guard. A sale of goods priced at $500 or more, for example, is not enforceable unless there is a signed record showing that a sale was made. An agreement that, by its own terms, cannot be performed within one year is void unless it is in writing and subscribed by the person you would try to hold to it.

Your Disadvantage

Landlords, software vendors, franchisors, and larger customers send their “standard” contracts first, and that paper always allocates risk away from them. Indemnity language may require you to pay their legal bills if a third party sues, for example, and even for harm they caused.

All these clauses sit in sentences you will tend to skim because they’re often deliberately written to be obscure. And lest you think this is an exaggeration, World Commerce & Contracting has measured what sloppy contracting costs and found that it drains value equal to nearly 9% of annual revenue, on average.

Hiring Can Be Tricky

Calling someone an independent contractor in an agreement does not settle the question for the IRS. The IRS looks at control: who directs how the work is done, not only what must be delivered. The Department of Labor applies an economic-reality test under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you treat a worker as a contractor and the law later treats that person as an employee, you can owe back wages, employment taxes, and penalties.

And whomever you employ, you have to make sure it’s clear who owns anything they produce and what they’re allowed to do with information they discover about your company. The contract needs to protect you and clearly cover scope, payment, ownership of work product, and confidentiality.

Templates Are a False Economy

Templates are cheaper than hiring a lawyer only if nothing goes wrong. A generic form does not know about Nevada’s writing statutes, does not know whether your entity is an LLC, can’t tell you that you signed in your personal name instead of the company’s (which can destroy the liability shield you formed the company to create), and won’t catch a conflict between the statement of work and the master terms.

Do not sign first and hope the terms will be kind later. Contact us now at the Hutchings Law Group, serving small businesses in Las Vegas and greater Nevada, so we can read through your contract before the signature line becomes your problem.

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