Handshake Contract

People enter into contracts all the time.  But so many contracts have become long, bloated documents that average people often miss what they are really about. 

At their core, contracts are agreements.  They are deals. 

Whenever a contract comes together, it is important to understand the underlying deal that the contract represents.  Why would each party want to do the deal and what do they expect to get out of it?  Sometimes boilerplate provisions can obscure what is actually happening. 

Here is a simple exercise to get to the core of a contract, take a minute, visualize each side’s perspective.  What is each party getting?  Why do they want it?  Does it make sense for each of them? 

Finally, describe the deal in two or three sentences.  If they truly trust each other, would they do the deal on a handshake? 

With these thoughts in mind, a good lawyer can help you put the contract together easily.