4 ms·

Everyone else is making this sound like a dumb question but it's not. I once got asked to sign a stupid contact. I was pretty sure it was not enforceable, and

Everyone else is making this sound like a dumb question but it's not. I once got asked to sign a stupid contact. I was pretty sure it was not enforceable, and if I didn't sign I'd be fired and make an annoying enemy. Me and 3 other guys piled in and hired a lawyer for like an hour to have him look it over and tell us if we should sign it or quit. In the end, my split was $200 or so, and I didn't really learn anything that googling hadn't already told me. I signed it and then quit on my own terms a couple months later. Not many people these days, even devs, who will just chuck around money like this for far too little marginal benefit over (as someone else in a comment said) "asking randos on the internet".

fragmede 4y ago
How do the other 3 people feel about it? Because that sounds like $200 well spent! Try asking "randos on the Internet" if a non-compete clause in a contract is valid, and if you're lucky, someone will ask you where you're located, which impacts whether or not the clause is legally enforceable. If not, someone will spout off the answer as it affects them, which is great, except if you're in a different state that advice may be dangerously wrong. In this case, the $200 didn't reveal anything drastically different, but at the end of the day, for anything complex, I'd much rather spend my share of $1,000 to make sure I'm not about to get the short end of the stick. If you've gotten the really short end of the stick before, you'll see why $200 is cheap.
- ye-olde-sysrq 4y ago
  Similarly. I mean, I knew it would be $200 or so, and I ended up going ahead and doing it. So what I actually ended up doing was in line with your sentiment "$200 is cheap compared to getting fucked". And if presented with the same scenario again, I'd probably do it again, though probably with some chagrin. But my point is, $200 isn't a ton but it's not nothing, and if you're already potentially going to be fucked, the probability of $200 being in the "not nothing" category is probably higher. And if it wasn't something a few other people were stuck with too, it'd have been quite a bit more. (Hard to figure the exact bill because one of us decided to talk to him for a lot longer to check on some specific things, so we just venmo'd him for what he thought our % of it was). So - I guess what I mean is - even for fairly privileged people, "just check with a lawyer" is not something you "just" do. And I find it super annoying that assholes (like LinkedIn for OP, and the person who was forcing me to sign the contract) can just write shit down and throw it at you and then you're supposed to spend $500+ to check them on their bullshit or you're the one in hot water. (Though, that said, OP's example isn't perfect because using the LI logo probably should've been a "hmm wait a sec" moment for him. But also if all LI emailed him about was "stop using the logo" then he similarly probably wouldn't be feeling the need to seek legal counsel).
  - s17n 4y ago
    Hiring a lawyer isn't magically going to make your problems go away, and it might not even be that useful, and it will definitely be painfully expensive, but the fact remains that (as you just concluded) it's still the right decision in situations like there. OP is facing a situation that could potentially end his business, he needs to hire a lawyer.
  - fragmede 4y ago
    If you want to bring up privilege, privileged people have networks of friends that are also privileged, so the chance of having high powered lawyers (and doctors) friend is quite high. So "just check with a lawyer" becomes "let me email Jerry that I've known for 10 years". Jerry's not going to do a ton of work for free, but he could take 20 mins to read it over and say very directly in which ways you could get fucked over and advise either actually spending time on a lawyer if it's important, or advise against it, in ways a professional connection would not.

fragmede 4y ago

How do the other 3 people feel about it? Because that sounds like $200 well spent! Try asking "randos on the Internet" if a non-compete clause in a contract is valid, and if you're lucky, someone will ask you where you're located, which impacts whether or not the clause is legally enforceable. If not, someone will spout off the answer as it affects them, which is great, except if you're in a different state that advice may be dangerously wrong. In this case, the $200 didn't reveal anything drastically different, but at the end of the day, for anything complex, I'd much rather spend my share of $1,000 to make sure I'm not about to get the short end of the stick. If you've gotten the really short end of the stick before, you'll see why $200 is cheap.

ye-olde-sysrq 4y ago
Similarly. I mean, I knew it would be $200 or so, and I ended up going ahead and doing it. So what I actually ended up doing was in line with your sentiment "$200 is cheap compared to getting fucked". And if presented with the same scenario again, I'd probably do it again, though probably with some chagrin. But my point is, $200 isn't a ton but it's not nothing, and if you're already potentially going to be fucked, the probability of $200 being in the "not nothing" category is probably higher. And if it wasn't something a few other people were stuck with too, it'd have been quite a bit more. (Hard to figure the exact bill because one of us decided to talk to him for a lot longer to check on some specific things, so we just venmo'd him for what he thought our % of it was). So - I guess what I mean is - even for fairly privileged people, "just check with a lawyer" is not something you "just" do. And I find it super annoying that assholes (like LinkedIn for OP, and the person who was forcing me to sign the contract) can just write shit down and throw it at you and then you're supposed to spend $500+ to check them on their bullshit or you're the one in hot water. (Though, that said, OP's example isn't perfect because using the LI logo probably should've been a "hmm wait a sec" moment for him. But also if all LI emailed him about was "stop using the logo" then he similarly probably wouldn't be feeling the need to seek legal counsel).
- s17n 4y ago
  Hiring a lawyer isn't magically going to make your problems go away, and it might not even be that useful, and it will definitely be painfully expensive, but the fact remains that (as you just concluded) it's still the right decision in situations like there. OP is facing a situation that could potentially end his business, he needs to hire a lawyer.
- fragmede 4y ago
  If you want to bring up privilege, privileged people have networks of friends that are also privileged, so the chance of having high powered lawyers (and doctors) friend is quite high. So "just check with a lawyer" becomes "let me email Jerry that I've known for 10 years". Jerry's not going to do a ton of work for free, but he could take 20 mins to read it over and say very directly in which ways you could get fucked over and advise either actually spending time on a lawyer if it's important, or advise against it, in ways a professional connection would not.