Is there a life hack to quickly check contracts to reflect your interests

Question

Law in IT

I'm not a lawyer by training, hence the question. Contracts have to be signed by everyone and quite often, so this is the question.

As far as I understand, experienced people in such a situation do something like a diff between their idea of ​​​​the correct contract of the appropriate type and what they are offered to sign. On the other hand, there must still be some specific points, the presence or absence of which can say a lot. A sort of key points, context-dependent on the type of contract.

It turned out pretty chaotic, but so be it. Maybe interesting opinions and tips from habra-users will be gathered here.

Answer 1

little life advice - pay the most attention to the text with the smallest font

Answer 2

The only life hack here in my opinion is a careful reading :)

Answer 3

1. You need to know what you should receive
2. Imagine what will be required of you
3. Get a standard contract for this service
4. Contact a familiar lawyer (preferably specializing in this or a related field)

Answer 4

Contracts cannot be checked quickly, especially if it is an important contract. Always read the whole thing.

Answer 5

A few little tricks:
1. Check the correct full name of the counterparty (if possible, check with copies/scans of its statutory documents). Check the authority of the signatory of the contract on the part of the counterparty (it must be indicated on the basis of what he signs: the Charter, Minutes of the General Meeting, Power of Attorney, Order, etc. You must request and verify any of these documents). If the contract is signed by a person who does not have the right to do so, it will be considered worthless, even if there is a seal on it.
2. Check the tax status
3. Very carefully (!) Check the subject of the contract (what is written there, you will receive)
4. Check the contract amount. It must be indicated in numbers and in words. For domestic contracts, it must be in national currency. For foreign trade (with foreign companies) in any currency. The payment procedure must be specified in detail.
5. Check the correctness of the VAT indication (it's simple, but I've seen a lot of fails about this).
6. Check the terms of the contract. Please note that there is a significant difference between calendar, banking and business days. It is also desirable to indicate the terms with exact dates, and not five years (months, weeks).
7. In the section of the rights and obligations of the parties, everything that is possible is often shoved. It must be carefully read and corrected if necessary in your favor. It should clearly spell out the procedure and mechanism for the implementation of the contract.
8. As your liability, try to avoid using penalties as a percentage of the contract amount. It is much better to establish a firm monetary fine (in the amount of 500 rubles for example).
9. The penalty cannot be huge (more than 5% of the contract amount) and you can always try to reduce it through the court. (in Ukraine, it should not exceed the double discount rate of the NBU on the amount of the contract, which is a penny even from large amounts of the contract).
10. Responsibility should be for direct damages only - no loss of purported profits, etc.
11. The term of the contract must be real and correspond to its subject (that is, if, for example, the work must be completed before August 15, 2014 inclusive, then the contract must be at least until August 15, 2014. Please note that the expiration of the contract often does not release parties from
fulfilling their obligations under it (for example, you will have to pay for services if they were provided)
. be specified in the contract itself and the language in which the version of the contract takes precedence must be specified.
14. If this is a foreign economic contract (with a foreign company), the applicable law must be selected (that is, the law of the state of which of the parties will be applicable to disputes under the contract). Jurisdiction must also be defined (that is, the judicial authorities of the state of which of the parties will consider the dispute under this agreement). Try to write the applicable law and jurisdiction of your country of residence, otherwise you will then have to travel to the other side of the world and sue under Arabic law :)
15. If the contract is internal (with a company from the same country as yours), try to avoid an arbitration clause in the contract (an agreement by the parties that their disputes will be considered in an arbitration court). This will deprive you of the right to go to a regular court, and in arbitration the situation is often even worse with corruption than in a regular court (besides, you will have to pay a lot of money for the services of an arbitration court and according to the law).
16. Carefully check both your bank details and your counterparty. It is important. If possible, ask him for a certificate from the bank about the bank account.
17. The contract must be drawn up so that the signatures at the end are not on a separate page. It is advisable to print it in a two-sided format and number the pages (moreover, indicate this: "Page 4 of 6").
18. Under the contract, each party must sign and stamp. The person named in the contract must sign. No deputies, etc. The seal must be clearly and legibly.