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Had a lawyer friend explain contract loopholes over lunch and it clicked
I was at a diner on Grand Avenue last Thursday with a buddy who does corporate law. I was complaining about a vendor who kept adding fees after we signed, and he just leaned over and showed me one sentence in our agreement. He pointed to a clause about 'additional services' that basically let them charge for anything they called an extra. He told me, 'If you don't define what extra means in the contract, you're giving them a blank check.' That one moment made me realize how much I had been ignoring the small print. I went back and rewrote my whole contract template with specific limits on fees. Now I feel way more confident in meetings. Has anyone else had a lawyer friend save them from a dumb mistake like that?
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dylanward2mo ago
I read somewhere that a missing definition in a contract makes it like a legal black hole.
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olivia_webb2mo ago
Oh man, that is exactly the kind of wake-up call we all need but never get until it's too late. I had a similar thing happen with a lease agreement, a buddy in real estate pointed out one sneaky line about "maintenance costs" that basically let the landlord charge me for lightbulbs. It's amazing how one tiny sentence can totally change the whole deal, makes you wonder what else we are all missing.
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