First contract, advice please

[PrestonPeter]

Newbie's first post,

Just about to start my first contract work and would appreciate some advice. Before signing the contract itself is it normal to get it looked at by a solicitor or do most people take the view that these things are 'pretty standard' and just read through it yourself before signing?

If solicitor, do you normally get each and every contract you start looked over? I want to make sure I'm covered, but don't want to spend a fortune on solicitor's fees un-necessarily. Maybe it's the sort of thing that should only take an hour or so for a solicitor to look over anyway?

Obviously I understand the final decision is mine to make, just would like other peoples opinion on what's usually done.

Thanks muchly.

[northernladuk]

Check out QDOS. Used to be about 240 quid or something for PI PL insurance as well as a few contract reviews. Pretty cheap and worth it. There is someone else that will do a contract check cheap but I forget their name.

I think you also need to read up on IR35 and understand the implications of your contract on it so you can at least attempt to negotiate it properly. Do a search or try the link to the right

[singhr]

PCG is your friend. Join and crib some contractor friendly contract templates, although most agencies will have their own and refuse/make it hard for you to deviate. If you are worried about IR35, there are some key clauses to look out for but HMRC will be more interested in your working arrangements than what it says on paper. Most contractors I know just hold their nose and jump in.

[PSK]

Congratulations on securing your first contract.

I've no evidenced basis for the following answer to your question but I doubt most contractors have a legal review. Many will have developed some understanding of contract and other legal areas from their work. Most engagements progress to completion without a problem and probably without any of the parties consulting the contract. That said, when problems arise, there appear to be several instances of contractors posting legal queries after agreeing the contract and some instances that appear to indicate a significant lack of understanding of the rights and responsibilities in the agreement they've made. In general (with some exceptions and putting aside Agency Regulations), the courts presume all parties understand what they've signed up to and the starting point will be to try to hold parties to what they've agreed. Very few disputes go to court but where there is a problem, what the contract says is relevant as the strength of each parties position influences how the dispute is resolved - court is expensive and most disputes don't go to court as if one party realises they have a weak case, it's usually better to give way rather than incur costs.

A good starting point is to realise the limits of your knowledge which you've done so well done. If you are signing up to an agent's or client's contract then read it and work out what you understand and what you don't. For the later, you could ask the agent (they may deceive so try and get their explanation in writing). For those areas you still don't understand, you could post here. Most disputes will probably be around relatively few areas - notice, quality/acceptance, payment, returning to the client without wanting to pay the agent's commission and so on plus IR35 which might not be a source of dispute with the client or agent but may be a headache for you. This 'do it yourself' approach is initially cheaper than having a legal review though can cause problems later where the contractor doesn't know what they don't know. If you are worried, you could do as you mention and have a review, either with the organisations mentioned above (I've no experience to judge how good a service they provide) or if you can get a recommendation for a good local commercial solicitor, ask them for a quote for a sit down chat where they can talk you through your first contract explaining the contract in plain English and advising your of the pitfalls and what isn't included - you might learn a lot that means you don't need to repeat this for your next contract). You might be surprised how cheap it is for an hour of a solicitor's time that will be both a contract review and a contract and contractor law training session if you get the right solicitor.

In my limited experience, some contracts seem recently to becoming legally much more unfriendly to the contractor, possibly the agencies are under more commercial pressure or they feel they can get away with more due to increased competitive pressure on the 'average' contractor or agents feel less able to dissuade some clients from less reasonable terms.

Good luck.

[Jason]

Newbie's first post,

Just about to start my first contract work and would appreciate some advice. Before signing the contract itself is it normal to get it looked at by a solicitor or do most people take the view that these things are 'pretty standard' and just read through it yourself before signing?

If solicitor, do you normally get each and every contract you start looked over? I want to make sure I'm covered, but don't want to spend a fortune on solicitor's fees un-necessarily. Maybe it's the sort of thing that should only take an hour or so for a solicitor to look over anyway?

Obviously I understand the final decision is mine to make, just would like other peoples opinion on what's usually done.

Thanks muchly.

At least for your first one, pay for it to be looked at by either your Accounts or someone like the PCG.

Max cost is a few hundred pounds, one day of your contract at max.

Max cost if you don't understand the contract, your entire livelyhood.

[jocor]

I would also get the first one looked at.

Mad not to and well worth the peace of mind.

[strawberrysmoothie]

I use bauer and cottrell. I think it's about £200 and they will review any contracts you get for about a year. I like them and they really helped me with a particularly nasty contract last summer.