Web Worker 101: Do You Need an Attorney?
We’ve recommended before that you hire an attorney as part of getting your new freelancing career underway, and we’ve recently passed on advice on finding the right attorney. But that skips over a question that comes up from the cash-strapped new web worker: can’t I skip having an attorney entirely? When you’re just starting out and the income hasn’t yet begun to flow, not paying three-figure hourly rates is a very tempting prospect.
The answer is – maybe. While the old adage has it that anyone who tries to represent himself in court has a fool for a client, with a bit of care you can stay out of court. Or at least you can up your chances of staying out of court long enough to raise your income to the point where you feel better about hiring an attorney to review your actions. Here are three things you can do to postpone the day when you’ll have to pay that particular bill.
1. Use your common sense. While “common sense” and “law” don’t always match up, in a surprising number of instances they do. If you find yourself thinking that you’ll probably get away with something (like swiping graphics from someone else’s web site to use on your own) that’s a good tip-off that you shouldn’t do it. If you’re presented with a consulting contract that makes you feel like you’re being take advantage of, ask for changes. If a client asks for behavior that strikes you as unethical, refuse.
2. Do it yourself. Despite the mystique surrounding the legal profession, there is really a great deal of legal self-help information out there. Nolo Press is the best-known publisher in this arena, and if you want to form a corporation, apply for a patent, or put together a consulting contract, their books can help you say out of trouble. There are many other sources for free legal forms and advice on the internet as well, though you do need to exercise some judgment. Remember, there is lots of bad advice on the internet along with the competent stuff.
3. Piggyback on someone else’s work. The #1 reason most freelancers need immediate legal help is to come up with a contract to use with clients. If you know someone else in your same field, and same state, well enough to ask them for a favor, you can save on this expense by re-using their boilerplate contract. Make sure you go over it carefully and change their company name to yours everywhere it appears! This is not the safest strategy, because you’re gambling on their having picked a good attorney in the first place, but if you’re truly cash-strpped it can be better than no contract at all.
If you do find yourself needing to follow these strategies to save on legal fees during your first months, you should consider this only a temporary state of affairs. If you are to have a successful web worker freelance career, you’ll ultimately find that having an attorney in your corner can add both safety and peace of mind to your operations.
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I’d say that if you are careful and you are careful about who you deal with (and how you deal with them) you can get away without an attorney for some time, but sooner or later you are going to need one. The same goes for an accountant.
For example the difference between the contract you can piece together based on the contracts you have seen and one from a professional lawyer who is going to customize one for your business (say if you are a web developer setting up a new job) can be huge. The experience and, I hate to say it, clarity, they bring to a contract can be invaluable.
Finding and paying for services like these are one of the hardest things about being a web worker (from what I have experienced), but the problems that can be avoided when something is done right can be invaluable. Avoiding an extended fight over a contract or an audit often makes the professional help well worth it.
I have been doing freelance web design for about 3 years actively now and I haven’t once needed or really even considered having legal assistance. Fortunately I am lucky though, I have friends in the field that have had to need lawyers send letters to clients. Which as simple as it sounds can really cut into your bottom line.
my own experience is the lawyers are essential. I am usually working for much larger companies with more resources than I have. To get a job, you can allow yourself to think that a lawyer is not necessary and then find yourself with awkward conversations about the ownership of intellectual property, the time it will take to complete a job, and sometimes even fees. I have also had my delivery partners take advantage of my copyright on work that I did. A lawyers advice on how to sort these problems is required.