Setting up legal policies and having solid contracts in place might feel like a total snoozefest in your business, but if you want to keep doing what you love WITHOUT getting sued, the legal side of things aren’t the things you want to skip.
Having certain legalities in place is the first line of defense that can truly STOP a lawsuit before it ever even starts.
Luckily for you, here at The Boutique Lawyer, we make it super easy for you to know what types of contracts, legal agreements and policies you need AND provide you with the tools for you to implement everything with ease.
Gone are the days of having to hire an expensive attorney to write all the legal documents for you or wasting your precious time searching on Google for what you need.
Everything is in one place for you here!
Now, if you’ve been in business for any amount of time you know there’s a lot of different moving pieces and it can be hard to know what exactly applies to you.
The same is true in the legal world, so to keep things simple for you, this blog post will cover four general ways to keep your business from getting sued.
At the end of this post, you’ll find a few industry specific resources in case you need a bit more guidance!
4 General Clauses and Policies to Keep Your Business From Getting Sued
- Include Arbitration Clauses in All Contracts
If you don’t feel comfortable using legal jargon in your everyday life, you might read the word “arbitration” and think, “what the HECK does that mean?!”
Let me explain!
An arbitration clause is a contractual agreement that stipulates that any disputes or disagreements arising from the contract will be resolved through arbitration rather than through traditional litigation in court.
Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution in which a third party, often referred to as an arbitrator, is appointed to hear the arguments and evidence presented by both parties and make a binding decision. The decision reached through arbitration is known as an arbitral award.
Arbitration clauses are commonly included in a variety of contracts, such as commercial agreements, employment contracts, construction contracts, and consumer agreements.
The main reason you want to include an arbitration clause in your contracts is because arbitration often offers a faster and more streamlined process compared to litigation, which can be subject to delays in court schedules and procedures.
As a business owner myself, I know you don’t have hours of spare time to spend in courtrooms, so this is a very easy way for you to avoid that scenario!
- Implement a Transparent Privacy Policy
As a lawyer that helps online business owners implement the correct contracts, legal agreements and policies into their business with ease, I can’t talk enough about the importance of having a transparent privacy policy on your website.
I go wayyy more in depth about privacy policies in THIS blog post, but essentially a privacy policy tells people what you do with their email addresses and other information that you collect on your website.
Without a transparent privacy policy on your website, you could potentially be fined up to $7500+ per visitor to your site, so save yourself from lost funds NOW by implementing a super simple policy like this!
- Include Indemnification Clauses in Your Contracts
Similar to the arbitration clause, you might see the word “indemnification” and have a lot of question marks pop up in your head. 🤔
You know I’ve got you!
An indemnification clause is a contractual agreement that outlines the obligations of one party to compensate or protect the other party from specified types of losses, damages, liabilities or expenses that may arise from a contract.
Essentially, this clause allows you to be very clear up front about who is responsible for paying if something goes wrong during the agreement.
An indemnification clause typically identifies the scope of indemnification, the triggering events that may give rise to indemnification and the extent of the indemnitor’s liability.
Overall, this clause is the means to which you can protect yourself from any financial harm or legal liability that may come up during a working relationship with the product or services you provide.
- Implement a Statement or Work and Terms of Purchases with Clients & Customers
Lastly, you want to implement a Statement of Work and Terms of Purchase so that your clients and customers have a very clear understanding of the product and service you’re providing with their purchase.
A Statement of Work outlines the specific scope of the project or services to be provided and it clearly defines the objectives, deliverables, timelines and any other relevant details to minimize confusion or misunderstandings.
By having a well-defined Statement of Work in a client’s contract, both parties can have a clear understanding of their respective roles, responsibilities and expectations.
Additionally, a Terms of Purchase Agreement outlines the specific terms and conditions of a transaction for either physical or digital products and covers policies that are a part of the purchase process, such as refunds, chargebacks or cancellations.
Having both of these clauses in your contracts and purchase agreements allows you to clearly set the rules and understandings for how someone can work with you and can protect you if a client or customer ever tries to claim otherwise.
Now you might be thinking… “Amber, this is great, but how the heck do I create these clauses and set up these agreements?!”
Well, as mentioned earlier I don’t want you to spend your precious time on Google figuring this out on your own, which is why ALL of our contract templates at The Boutique Lawyer are drafted with language to keep you out of the courtroom and remain in your zone of genius!
In our contract shop, you can use the search function to find the contracts you specifically need based on the info I just gave you above!
But if you’re in search of some industry specific options, let me help you out:
- Copywriting
- Coaching
- Brand and Website Designer
- Virtual Assistant and other freelancers
- Social Media Managers
- Health and Wellness Professionals
Don’t see your industry? Send me a message to see what contract would be the best fit for you!
