A contract is an agreement between two or more individuals, either orally or in writing, regarding specific matters. It is well-established through legal experience that many significant legal issues arise from errors and omissions in contracts.
Unfortunately, many contracts, from simple lease agreements to high-value commercial contracts, are entered into without legal assistance, leading to substantial hardships. Generally, during the signing stage of contracts, both parties have positive intentions, which might not immediately suggest the necessity of legal help. However, when a problem arises during the implementation of the contract, consulting a lawyer for a solution becomes apparent. Rectifying errors and omissions in contracts at that point can be extremely difficult.
However, by seeking legal assistance during the drafting stage of the contract, many potential legal issues can be prevented. Contracts can be customized to the parties’ intentions and preferences. This is known as contractual freedom in law. However, contracts cannot be made for immoral, illegal, or impossible matters.
Furthermore, when one party is in a weaker position during contract formation, the law and practice protect the weaker party. For example, if an employer wants an existing employee to sign a new contract, even if the terms are unfavorable, the employee, not wanting to lose their job, might agree to it. In such cases, clauses in the contract that are unfavorable to the employee may be considered invalid. Similarly, if a contract is signed under deception, it might be possible to cancel the contract. However, for traders and especially companies, excuses like being misled or making incorrect decisions due to lack of experience are not acceptable. These entities have an obligation to act as a prudent trader. Within this obligation, companies cannot claim that they didn’t notice or misunderstood certain terms in the contracts they signed or use similar excuses. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to seek professional assistance when signing contracts.
The seemingly straightforward process of signing a contract can lead to highly complex legal issues due to incomplete and erroneous contracts. Therefore, instead of downloading ready-made contracts or using many of the flawed contracts found online, seeking support from a lawyer would be highly beneficial.
