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This incident may yet provide you with the one of the most important business lessons ever, and at relatively low cost to you: have a lawyer read over EVERY agr

This incident may yet provide you with the one of the most important business lessons ever, and at relatively low cost to you: have a lawyer read over EVERY agreement you sign in a professional capacity. It doesn't matter how much you trust the other party, either. Mistakes happen, ambiguous agreements are written. In fact it's entirely possible that the document contains clauses the other party doesn't want either, which have simply been overlooked in boilerplate (I have experienced this first-hand). Look at agreements as though you were an attacker trying to compromise a system. One example (which I read about on HN a few years ago): a developer signs an employment contract that grants complete ownership of all intellectual property he creates, including on his own time, to his employer. That's fine because he knows and trusts the employer. Then the company is bought by a bad actor, and that bad actor immediately lays claim to his personal projects as well as his paid work.

stephenbez 13y ago
I see this recommendation repeated often. How do you find a laywer to read over the agreement? How much do they usually cost? How can a student afford one?
- duncan_bayne 13y ago
  Re. the first question: http://bit.ly/1idSHvU http://bit.ly/1idSHvU ;) In terms of cost, it really depends upon where you live, and what services you require (essentially, how far up the lawyer food chain you need to go). I'd budget up to a grand to review an employment contract, for example. As for how a student could afford one.... Maybe save the cash in advance, if you can, if you're going into a deal like this? Ask for help from friends and / or family? Look around for organisations offering legal assistance to students (e.g. http://www.lslap.bc.ca/ http://www.lslap.bc.ca/)?
  - stephenbez 13y ago
    We expect a student to save up a grand in order to pay for a contract review, when this is for a class and the student has earned no money from it and is likely poor? The organization offering legal assistance to students that you linked to explicitly says they can't assist in this case (no Business and Commercial Law). Like I expected it seems like this advice is not practical for the vast majority of students.
    - duncan_bayne 13y ago
      > Like I expected it seems like this advice is not practical for the vast majority of students. A grand is, what, three weeks work at minimum wage in the USA? So yeah, saving in advance would totally be possible in many cases. Also, bear in mind I said "in a professional capacity". It may well be that students can't afford legal review. The lesson (get professional review when you're a professional) still stands though, with the proof provided by what happens when you don't, as a student.
duncan_bayne 13y ago
Oh, also: treat any pressure to expedite the process ("it's normal for people to sign on the spot", "what's the matter, don't you trust me?", "this is industry best practice") as a massive, MASSIVE warning sign that something is wrong. No trustworthy, experienced professional would expect you to do anything other than go away and get your own lawyer to review a contract before signing it.

stephenbez 13y ago

I see this recommendation repeated often. How do you find a laywer to read over the agreement? How much do they usually cost? How can a student afford one?

duncan_bayne 13y ago
Re. the first question: http://bit.ly/1idSHvU http://bit.ly/1idSHvU ;) In terms of cost, it really depends upon where you live, and what services you require (essentially, how far up the lawyer food chain you need to go). I'd budget up to a grand to review an employment contract, for example. As for how a student could afford one.... Maybe save the cash in advance, if you can, if you're going into a deal like this? Ask for help from friends and / or family? Look around for organisations offering legal assistance to students (e.g. http://www.lslap.bc.ca/ http://www.lslap.bc.ca/)?
- stephenbez 13y ago
  We expect a student to save up a grand in order to pay for a contract review, when this is for a class and the student has earned no money from it and is likely poor? The organization offering legal assistance to students that you linked to explicitly says they can't assist in this case (no Business and Commercial Law). Like I expected it seems like this advice is not practical for the vast majority of students.
  - duncan_bayne 13y ago
    > Like I expected it seems like this advice is not practical for the vast majority of students. A grand is, what, three weeks work at minimum wage in the USA? So yeah, saving in advance would totally be possible in many cases. Also, bear in mind I said "in a professional capacity". It may well be that students can't afford legal review. The lesson (get professional review when you're a professional) still stands though, with the proof provided by what happens when you don't, as a student.

duncan_bayne 13y ago

Oh, also: treat any pressure to expedite the process ("it's normal for people to sign on the spot", "what's the matter, don't you trust me?", "this is industry best practice") as a massive, MASSIVE warning sign that something is wrong. No trustworthy, experienced professional would expect you to do anything other than go away and get your own lawyer to review a contract before signing it.