As a business owner, it’s easy to want to sign off on every last document that comes across your desk. But scanning through contracts and agreements that affect your own business could cause you to have a narrow view — focusing too much on the little details and not enough on the important details.

Why you should be hiring independent counsel to review your business documents, contracts and agreements?

Owning a business could cause one to view a legal document through the lens of profit, loss, marketing, or other competing factors. Outside counsel review documents every day for a variety of clients and in a variety of situations.

The cost of foregoing a lawyer’s review of your business agreements can be astronomical in comparison to what it costs to have someone review the documents and discuss how the deal works before signing. A lawyer with a litigation background can identify how you might run into trouble down the road and help you negotiate those terms or plan to avoid the pitfalls in the first place.

What Types of Contracts Should Be Reviewed?

Almost any business contract can benefit from the review process with some of the most common contracts reviewed being:

• Commercial leases
• Client services agreements
• Employment contracts
• Independent contractor agreements
• Trade agreements
• Licensing agreements
• Terms of service
• Nondisclosure agreements
• Partnership agreements
• Promissory notes
• Separation agreements
• Vendor contracts

At the end of each contract lifecycle, a contract review should be conducted to determine the viability of any contract renewal. This is another opportunity for renegotiation and a point at which financial areas can be updated to further reflect changes that have occurred during the contracted period.

Please note that this article does not constitute express or implied legal advice, whether in whole or in part. If you require legal advice, please contact me at: [email protected]