Contract templates are a great tool for companies who want to save money on going to a lawyer to design individual contracts. Most of the time companies will find they can use templates -  but there are some circumstances where going to a lawyer will be more efficient and get a better outcome. These are situations like:

• A company wants everything done for them.

Sometimes it’s simply too difficult to find the time to do the personalisation and addendums to a template contract or agreement. Or a company may not feel confident they have the skills to make sure their changes do what they need to do. This is especially the case for businesses that work in very niche industries where there is a lot of specialist language that needs to be included in the contract. Dealing with a specialist lawyer can ensure that the right terms are in the right place and allow a business complete confidence that they have a contract which will suit their needs.

• There is no established framework between customer and supplier.

A business knows what it wants, but is not quite sure how to get it. A big project is underway that requires multiple suppliers, each of which are delivering different but interdependent products and may or may not be related to one another. A lawyer can help establish a framework between these suppliers and the customer so that the business can easily visualise and understand the relationship between different parts of the project. Once the structure has been set up properly the customer can more easily deal with the multiple suppliers and interlocking contracts.

• A company needs changes or additions drafted for them.

A small supplier is dealing with an international company, who already have their own standard agreements and contracts. When faced with an often long and involved contract many companies will not have the expertise to add clauses into the document to make sure that they are happy with the agreement. A lawyer will be able to draft changes to a set document and ensure that the smaller company gets a fair deal. This puts them in a stronger position to negotiate and allows for a stronger and more useful agreement.

IT Contract Templates are excellent for companies looking to build up the number of agreements they have to use in different situations, allowing them to be proactive at the negotiating table rather than reactive. While every company can get a benefit from using templates and checklists to assist in the negotiating process, when advice and specifics are needed, consulting a lawyer is the next step.