Why Contracts You Get Off the Internet Are Not a Good Solution

Did you know that you can visit any number of online sites and find contracts, usually for a fee, that you can then use for your purposes? It can seem like a tempting way to save money. After all, a contract is a contract. Right? 

Not exactly. 

Contracts are highly-specialized documents that spell out the terms by which you agree to do business. Attempting to modify contract forms from the internet to meet the individualized needs of your business is almost always a bad idea. Before you try to use a contract you found online, read on to be sure that you understand how it can harm your business. 

Why Internet Contracts are a Bad Idea

Contracts that you get off the internet (whether you copy one someone else has posted and attempt to customize it, or you pay for a service that gives you access to forms) can lack vital information or even be non-binding for your purposes. 

When you have a skilled attorney complete, or at least review, potential contracts, you get more than just a form that might work. When using an attorney, you can expect a contract explicitly customized for your business needs and a thorough review to ensure that any clauses that are needed are included. 

Contracts work best when they represent a negotiated agreement between all parties. Boilerplate forms cannot adequately represent the details of the negotiated terms. Contracts are much more likely to be successful, meaning that they greatly reduce your risk of going to court over a dispute, when they accurately reflect the details of your negotiation. 

Things That Can Go Wrong with an Internet Contract

Internet forms come from various sources, and you have no way of knowing if they are adequate for your needs. Some of the most common mistakes in choosing internet forms include:

1. Overlooking Opportunities for Valuable Clauses

If something goes wrong, a boilerplate contract form rarely offers specific remedies to address the problem. Litigation for a failed contract is expensive, time-consuming, and fraught with anxiety. On the other hand, arbitration is a much more cost-effective measure to settle contractual disputes. 

Internet contracts may not require alternative dispute resolution strategies, such as arbitration. If the contract includes arbitration, the clause must follow state and federal law, or you won’t be able to enforce it. 

1. Agree to Terms You Didn’t Intend 

Contracts are laced with confusing legal terminology. Buried in that language can be terms or conditions that you never intended to be part of your agreement. Such terms can place a burden on your business that renders the contract costly or even impossible to fulfill. 

You may intend to have a contract that specifies you will do A, B, and C in a set amount of time for X amount of money. Instead, buried in the contract, you may find yourself responsible for A, B, C, and D, in the same timeframe and for the same money. 

2. Choosing the Wrong Form

The law is nuanced in ways that can be challenging for a layperson to understand. To further complicate the selection process, the titles of forms can be misleading. You may find yourself in a binding contract that is entirely inappropriate for your needs. Selecting the wrong form can result in a convoluted mess with few legal remedies and leave you at the mercy of the other party in the contract. 

3. Every State is Different

Forms off the internet are usually intended to be generic enough to work for MOST states, but they rarely encompass all the language required to make it legal in every state. Missing clauses or language can render your contract useless or even create a situation where you would have been better off with no written contract at all. 

Oklahoma law sets a standard of what constitutes a contract, and if any part is missing, the entire contract is void. Contracts must meet the statutory standard of consent, which has a narrow legal definition. Contract forms that originate in other states may not fit the Oklahoma statutory requirement and vice versa. 

4. The Inability to Tailor the Contract to Your Needs

A contract is a legally binding agreement to do or not do a specific thing. What that “thing” is can vary wildly depending on what the contract is intended to encompass. Missing specifications over deadlines, who is responsible for what in a project, or how a particular action should be carried out can cause confusion, misunderstandings, and, ultimately, a failed contract. 

Free contract forms cannot possibly cover all likely scenarios, leaving you exposed to the potential for a “default” suit. A boilerplate contract will offer little legal protection if problems arise in the execution of the contract. 

Create Contracts with Professional Help

Convenience and costs are the most common reasons people are tempted to use internet contract resources. Unfortunately, just one failed contract can erase any potential savings many times over. Using internet forms can lead to costly legal proceedings, plus pose a risk to the most crucial asset of your business, its reputation. 

Instead of downloading a contract off of the internet, get in touch with Daffern Law Firm. We’ll help you create strong, custom contracts that protect your business and reduce your chances of ending up in court.