Posted by John Merchant on November 19, 2002 at 10:33:30:
Contracts is a BIG area of Common Law, and a basic tenet in US law is the enforceability of contracts written in any state, in any one of the other 49.
Generally speaking, if a written contract does not break the law, or short-cut it, or require illegal, unconstitutional or immoral acts or things, it IS enforceable anywhere in the US.
Think how important this is for daily commerce: If I were in TN and paid good money for somebody in MN or TX to do something,if I had great doubts about the enforceability of my agreement in my state, or MN or TX, would I pay good money for that agreement?
Could a huge business like internet auctions, such as EBay, even exist if there were serious doubts about the interstate enforceability of contracts?
Parties to a written contract in the USA can normally depend on the fact that all parties to the contract can be required to perform that agreement, no matter where it was written, no matter what states are involved.
I’ve paid many thousands of dollars for Bootcamps and Mentoring programs only to discover any Contracts and Forms they use have to be reviewed by a local Attorney in my state! I’ve called most of the Big firms in town and they say every Contract is different and there are NO Standard forms where I can just fill in the blanks. Naturally, they are happy to rewrite my Contracts for hundreds more but is this really called for? I’ve come across some Web sites that claim to have Contracts for NH but wonder if they are really safe either. Any advice or comments would be very helpful.
Re: How can I be sure my Contracts are legal - Posted by JHyre in Ohio
Posted by JHyre in Ohio on November 18, 2002 at 06:36:35:
95% of what’s in any contract you write is probably enforceable/legal in your state. Carefully edit your templates to get the document you want, then select the attorney who will be used to enforce the contract (e.g. - eviction specialists for lease agreements, etc.) and have that attorney review the contract for flaws. It is not necessary to have an attorney draft your contract from scratch.