5 REASONS A LAWYER SHOULD REVIEW YOUR LEGAL DOCUMENTS
In this article, we share five reasons why you should have a lawyer review your legal documents.
1. Make Sure Your Interests Are Protected
Before you sign any legal document, it’s crucial to ensure that doing so doesn’t expose you to risk. Whenever you modify a legal document, or there’s a change in your situation, it’s important to make sure all your interests are protected. The same applies when you’re the one who drafts the document.
You may not be fully aware of the consequences a legal document carries and what your responsibilities are should something go wrong. This is especially important for business owners who are about to sign important legal agreements offered by other parties. It could transpire that some parts of the document are created by an attorney who worked with their client’s best interest in mind, but not yours. Signing a document that only represents partial, one-sided interests can have tremendous long-term consequences on your business.
For this reason, it’s safer to have a legal professional review your documents and alert you if they need further attention. Doing so is also advised to ensure that the agreement can equally protect the interests of both parties.
2. Lower Potential Costs
If you skip a lawyer’s review of an important legal document, not only can your position be endangered, but it can also cost a fortune to fix the mistakes. For example, a business owner can be put out of business or have to pay a large sum of money as a consequence.
But when you invest in a document review before submitting, you eliminate the risk of unexpected expenses.
3. Gives a Fresh Legal Perspective
Many people, especially those who lack legal knowledge, proceed to sign legal documents without questioning their validity or purpose. But when you have a lawyer review a document, you obtain their fresh legal perspective. Professionals can offer you advice about the ongoing practices and customs in the industry.
After all, if you aren’t a legal professional, it’s best to trust legal documents to the professionals. Should a dispute arise, you’re no expert regarding the document’s interpretation. A lawyer can provide you with an analysis of all parts of the document in a way another professional cannot. This is especially true if there’s a mistake in the document any of the parties oversaw.
Business owners, for example, often look at contracts through the lens of marketing, profit, or similar business-oriented factors. Having a legal representative go over the document allows them to view the files without the competing business pressure that can be a distraction.
4. A Lawyer Is Also a Legal Representative
When you hire a lawyer during the contract drafting and negotiation phase, you get a professional to negotiate with the other party. The main goal is to identify important parts of the document that you could influence in a way that brings you or your business a more favourable outcome.
5. You May Be Signing an Invalid Document
It may so happen that a vendor, landlord, or business party makes a copy of a legal document used elsewhere and asks you to sign it. It can be a paper that doesn’t have any legal authority but is used under the pretense that it does. Lawyers can spot this issue instantly and alert you of the fact.
Lawyers and Legal Documents Go Hand in Hand
Professional advice in legal document drafting and signing is beneficial for all types of contracts and agreements. The higher the stakes, the more important it is to have a lawyer review your documents. Don’t risk losing your rights due to a mistake that could have been prevented in the first place.
Fortunately, Legalhood offers simple and effective document review services at an affordable price. To have your documents reviewed by an experienced lawyer, simply click here.
