Drafting and reviewing contracts

Contracts are everywhere. Each of us has something to do with contracts one way or the other. Particularly for entrepreneurs solid contracts are key to their business. Contracts serve to record orally agreed arrangements in order to avoid conflicts about it in the future. Unfortunately, even contractual provisions are sometimes subject to conflicts, often about the interpretation of the contract. Even though it is virtually impossible to create watertight contracts, it is at least important to draft a contract in clear and unambiguous language in order to avoid any such interpretation issues. Karan Singh, a freelance artist and illustrator, is aware of the importance. He therefore hired me to ensure that the contracts he was offered by other parties would be reasonable and acceptable to him and would not contain any provisions restraining his freedom too much. Karan writes:

“I work in the creative services and was looking for someone with experience in this field to help review some contracts. Van Baren Legal Advice came highly recommended by another creative friend. Arjen was friendly, efficient and a breeze to work with. He patiently fielded all my questions and made fair and helpful recommendations in a short period of time.”

Both freelancers and companies are in need of several contracts to conduct business. Alexandru Rosianu is the owner of the app Messenger for Desktop and needed terms of service and a privacy policy, a mandatory document for any business collecting or processing personal data of its users under the GDPR and UK data protection law. In addition, he needed advice about US and UK intellectual property laws in relation to claims made by Facebook. This was an issue also important to take into account when drafting the terms. Alexandru writes about his experience:

“I needed Arjen for a project to advise me on US and UK IP law. He also created outstanding Terms of Service and Privacy Policy documents for me. There have been some delays, however they were handled well and we always agreed on terms. I appreciated a lot that Arjen not only did the things I asked for, but also explained his rationale and how they work, which for me is key. He never hesitated to help even when I asked for extra advice. I chose Arjen because he seemed knowledgeable and hard-working — after working together for a few months, I can only confirm those things are true. I would happily hire Arjen again on future projects.”