"Lesson: Read the contract." I did a year of law school, then left because I was miserable and it was too much money to be miserable for. I did, however, take

"Lesson: Read the contract." I did a year of law school, then left because I was miserable and it was too much money to be miserable for. I did, however, take contracts, and I cannot stress this enough. Read the contract. Read it again. Anything that looks off, ask about. It might be innocent, standard, or something you don't need to worry about, but it might be important. As you mention, it's also a great signal about the intentions of the other party. Finally, anytime someone tells you something is "standard" in a contract, it's bullshit. "Standard" lease agreements (the ones you can get by Googling) regularly contain unenforceable language. The only standard elements a contract needs are: an offer, an acceptance, mutual assent to be legally bound by the terms, and consideration (the promise of an exchange of value for something else of value). Anything else in the contract doesn't have to be there.