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> “Starting work without a contract is like putting on a condom after taking a home pregnancy test,“ says Mike. Sure, contracts are a mechanism for people who

> “Starting work without a contract is like putting on a condom after taking a home pregnancy test,“ says Mike. Sure, contracts are a mechanism for people who don't trust each other to work together. But clear contracts only provide some leverage, if things go bad. And even with contracts that seem clear, there are still many ways to get screwed. As in, "I have no reachable assets, so fuck you." Over many years, working as a consultant, I rarely had more than verbal contracts. Often, just telephone conversations, and then emails to create records. And even so, I almost always got paid. Sometimes it took months, it's true. But really, my allies were typically the people I reported to. Although I never actually stated it clearly, clients that paid promptly (and paid at higher rates) got scheduling priority. Maybe that could have been part of my standard contract. But I'm not sure how useful that would have been. I mean, suing my clients would have been rather awkward, no?

Xylakant 8y ago
> Sure, contracts are a mechanism for people who don't trust each other to work together. “A contract is written in good times so that the bad times never come.” A written contract is the written summary of what you agreed upon so you can later return to it and say “This is what we did agree upon.” I have a lot of written contracts with people that I trust. Keep in mind that people that you trust and work with at a company sometimes go away. Promoted, fired, ill, dead. Companies get sold or go bankrupt, Management is replaced by some less amicable management. In all those cases your sympathetic sponsor may still be sympathetic, but no longer in a position to help you. A contract is. A contract should be fair and balanced. If either side regards the contract as a tool to screw over the other side you’ve already lost. A written contract necessarily is an imperfect tool, but it’s much better than a verbal contract because our human memories are much worse on keeping track of what was actually discussed and agreed upon. > I mean, suing my clients would have been rather awkward. Suing is the last last resort when everything else has failed. There are a lot of steps that escalate towards that. A written contract can help that you never end up there just by virtue of having a written set of agreements that you put on the table and point to. But last resort: yes, sue your clients. When you’ve reached that point, they’ll never be your clients again anyways. A lot of them will sue you too. And even there, a contract may be what saves your ass.
- mirimir 8y ago
  That's true. I guess that I'm biased by the fact that, in the few cases where things really went to hell, a contract wouldn't have helped.

Xylakant 8y ago

> Sure, contracts are a mechanism for people who don't trust each other to work together. “A contract is written in good times so that the bad times never come.” A written contract is the written summary of what you agreed upon so you can later return to it and say “This is what we did agree upon.” I have a lot of written contracts with people that I trust. Keep in mind that people that you trust and work with at a company sometimes go away. Promoted, fired, ill, dead. Companies get sold or go bankrupt, Management is replaced by some less amicable management. In all those cases your sympathetic sponsor may still be sympathetic, but no longer in a position to help you. A contract is. A contract should be fair and balanced. If either side regards the contract as a tool to screw over the other side you’ve already lost. A written contract necessarily is an imperfect tool, but it’s much better than a verbal contract because our human memories are much worse on keeping track of what was actually discussed and agreed upon. > I mean, suing my clients would have been rather awkward. Suing is the last last resort when everything else has failed. There are a lot of steps that escalate towards that. A written contract can help that you never end up there just by virtue of having a written set of agreements that you put on the table and point to. But last resort: yes, sue your clients. When you’ve reached that point, they’ll never be your clients again anyways. A lot of them will sue you too. And even there, a contract may be what saves your ass.

mirimir 8y ago
That's true. I guess that I'm biased by the fact that, in the few cases where things really went to hell, a contract wouldn't have helped.