A lawyer friend told me to always include a kill fee in my contracts... he was right

Last spring I was working with a small startup in Austin on a website design. The client seemed great at first, super responsive. But about 3 weeks in they just stopped answering emails and calls. I was already 15 hours deep into the work, maybe $1,200 worth of my time. I had a standard contract but no kill fee clause. So I was stuck with no payment and no way to get it. My lawyer buddy Mark had warned me about this exact situation over coffee at Thunderbird. He said a kill fee protects you when a project dies halfway through. Now I put a 50% kill fee in every contract for design work under $5,000. Has anyone else learned this the hard way or found a good way to word it?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_johnson3217d ago

Did you put the kill fee clause in after you signed the original contract or did you have to redo the whole thing with the new language? I'm curious because I've been in a similar spot where I realized halfway through a project that I needed some kind of protection but my lawyer buddy told me it's all about the upfront stuff. He said you can't just tack it on later without the client agreeing to a whole new contract and that sounds like a headache. Also, what percentage do you find works best without scaring off good clients? I feel like 50% is fair but some people might balk at that number even though it's just common sense.

the_mary17d agoMost Upvoted

Totally agree, @skyler_johnson32. I tried adding a kill fee clause mid-project once and it was a mess, ended up having to redo the whole contract. Keep it upfront.

fisher.jessica17d ago

Ditto on the mess part @the_mary, I tried backdating a clause once and the client actually laughed at me. Learned the hard way that anything added later just looks sketchy no matter how good the relationship is. Keep it in from the start or don't bother.