That free contract template I grabbed off a forum cost me $1200 in lost work

Three months ago I found a contract template someone posted on a legal forum and thought it looked solid. I used it for two new jobs without a lawyer looking at it first. One client took my logo files and ran without paying the final $1200. When I tried to enforce the contract, I found out it didn't have a proper jurisdiction clause and the guy was in a different state. The template also lacked a clear kill fee structure and said nothing about intellectual property transfer timing. My whole mess could have been avoided if I spent $300 on a real lawyer to write me something custom. My buddy runs a small print shop three blocks over and he warned me about free templates but I figured I was being cheap. Now I'm wondering who else has been burned by free legal forms from the internet and what did you do to fix it?

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1 Comment

aliceharris1h ago

Did you check if the template had a hidden licensing clause that gave the forum owner rights to your contracts?