Do You Need a Solicitor to Write a Contract?
No, technically, you do not need a solicitor to write a contract. In fact, a contract doesn’t even need to be in writing to be legally binding, it could be spoken. Providing you have all the necessary compartments, a contract can be drafted by yourself.
What Are the Fundamentals of a Contract?
For a contract to be legally binding, it must have some fundamental elements. These include:
1. Offer
An offer is a clear expression of interest by one party to enter into a binding agreement with another party based on specific terms and conditions. Therefore, an offer outlines the terms by which a party is willing to be bound. The offer can be modified or cancelled before the other party accepts it.
2. Acceptance
An acceptance is where the party agrees to the terms and conditions of the offer made by another party. An acceptance can be made expressly, in writing, or impliedly, for instance, by action. An acceptance must be an agreement to the exact terms of an offer. It is no longer an acceptance but a counteroffer if even the slightest change is made to an offer.
3. Consideration
Consideration is a price, a promise, or anything of value exchanged between parties who intend to enter into a contract. Consideration can be in the form of money, goods, property, services, or anything at all that has economic value. It could also be a promise to do or not do something. For instance, a promise not to file a claim against another person in exchange for a monetary settlement.
What Are the Benefits of Having a Solicitor Draft a Contract?
Although you can write a contract on your own, there are benefits to having a solicitor draft one for you. First, having a solicitor draft a contract will ensure that the terms are clear and explicit. When a contract spells out responsibilities and obligations, it leaves little room for disputes or disagreements, which will save you from potentially expensive legal procedures.
Also, because solicitors are trained to write contracts, they can easily identify problems that may arise in the future. This way, a solicitor can suggest additional clauses that will protect your interests and push for terms that are in your favour. In addition, getting a solicitor to draft a contract will make certain that the purpose of the contract is achieved. For instance, a solicitor will help you identify that what you need is a confidentiality agreement and not a non-disclosure agreement.
What Are the Risks of Not Having a Solicitor Draft a Contract?
Drafting a contract by yourself without the service of a solicitor may have some consequences, especially when dealing with business contracts. Examples of such consequences could be
missing important clauses, which could make your contract void, failing to protect your interests, or exposing you to legal liability, such as debts or taxes you are unaware of.
Drafting a contract without legal expertise also increases the likelihood of its unenforceability. Because a contract has many specific legal rules, the absence of certain key elements or the use of unclear or unlawful terms can cause a court not to uphold your contract.
Is There an Alternative to Instructing a Solicitor to Write Your Contract?
Yes, thanks to technical advancements, we don’t need to rely on solicitors to draft a legally binding contract. We can easily use other ways, especially if you don’t have time to deal with back-and-forth communications with a lawyer or you are on a tight budget.
You could use tools such as ChatGPT, but we suggest that if you do go down this route, you should be careful as ChatGPT may not produce accurate results. Alternatively, you could use legal bots which can help you write your legal contracts in a fast and automatic way once you provide it with certain details. These drafting tools are usually backed by a legal team ensuring your contracts are reliable and enforceable.
Automate Your Contract Drafting Securely and Accurately With Our Legal Bot
Gerrish Legal has created an automation tool to help you prepare your own bespoke Service Agreements and Confidentiality Agreements through our Contract Portal.
Our legal automation tool has been developed by our team of specialised contract lawyers, ensuring the reliability of the contracts it generates. Our experienced team has pre-drafted the terms and clauses based on years of expertise.
Unlike some automated systems, your contract will be tailored specifically to your needs, rather than providing a generic, potentially non-legally binding document.
By providing the required information, the tool will compile the contract terms and customise a unique contract for you. You'll receive the final contract in your inbox instantly, saving you time, effort, and reducing the chances of errors.
You and your contracting party will have a secure and coherent agreement that you can rely on, giving you the peace of mind you need when doing business with third parties. If you want to benefit from our automated contract drafting tool, you can access our contract portal here. You can also book a 30-minute consultation with one of our human lawyers if you need any bespoke advice!
To find out more about the Gerrish Legal Contract Portal visit our website here.
How Can Gerrish Legal Help?
Gerrish Legal is a dynamic digital law firm. We pride ourselves on giving high-quality and expert legal advice to our valued clients. We specialise in many aspects of digital law such as GDPR, data privacy, digital and technology law, commercial law, and intellectual property.
We give companies the support they need to successfully and confidently run their businesses whilst complying with legal regulations without the burdens of keeping up with ever-changing digital requirements.
We are here to help you, get in contact with us today for more information.