Shoutout to the lawyer who told me to add a kill fee clause

I used to just roll with whatever the client sent over, but after a project got canceled halfway through last year, I was out almost $2,000. Added a 30% kill fee for canceled work to my standard contract, and it saved me when a big editorial job got axed after I'd already done the research. Anyone else have a specific clause that's saved their bacon?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora8136d ago

Tell that to @the_faith when a client ghosts after the first draft.

the_faith6d ago

Okay but is a kill fee clause really that big of a deal? Feels like making a mountain out of a molehill. Most small jobs just don't have that kind of drama. You do the work, you get paid, or you don't. Adding all that legal stuff seems like a hassle for a one page website or a simple logo. Maybe for huge projects, but for the rest of us it's just extra paperwork.

kimblack6d ago

A one page website is exactly where you need it! I had a client vanish after I built their whole site, just because they changed their mind. That was a full week of my time gone for nothing.