Contract Drafting Attorney

Talking a big game can be a valuable skill in entrepreneurship, but you cannot take anyone to court over an unfulfilled promise unless they made that promise in writing.

Business contracts are your best protection in dealing with employees, business partners, clients, and suppliers because they are an incontrovertible record of what each party did and did not promise to do. Even though you might have learned through experience or in business school what makes a good contract, you should never sign a business contract without first having the Norcross, Georgia corporate law attorneys at Zimmerman & Associates review it.

The More Specific the Better

Any ambiguities in a business contract can come back to haunt you in the form of legal disputes. These are some facets of a business contract in which you cannot afford to leave any ambiguity:

• The identity of the parties, including addresses for individuals, and for businesses.
• The duration of the contract and the procedures for renewing it or terminating it.
• How much money will be exchanged, when the recipient will receive it, and what factors could change the amount or the timetable without affecting the status of the contract.
• The obligations, financial and otherwise, that each party has to the other.
• Guidelines for the resolution of disputes arising from the contract (the best choice is to assign jurisdiction over contract disputes to the courts of Georgia; arbitration clauses usually put one party at a disadvantage).

How to Avoid Breach of Contract Disputes

Breach of contract is when one party does not fulfill the promises they made in the contract. The best business contracts outline how one party must notify the other of a breach and how long after receiving the notice the breaching party has to repair the breach before the non-breaching party can take further legal action. If a breach of contract occurs, you should meet with a corporate law attorney and try to find ways to repair the breach or to get out of the contract in a manner satisfactory to both parties, so that you do not have to resort to costly litigation.

Are Non-Compete Clauses Legal?

Many employment contracts include non-compete clauses, which prohibit the employee from using the insider knowledge they have gained by working for the employer to compete directly with the employer after the term of employment ends. This could mean prohibiting a former employee from setting up a rival business nearby, but it can also include prohibiting an employee (such as a hematologist for a hospital group) from working for a competitor of the employer (such as another hospital group); these types of non-competes are highly restrictive, making it difficult for employees to find jobs in their career field. In fact, about 20% of employees without bachelor’s degrees are currently subject to non-compete agreements. An executive order issued by President Biden in 2021 severely limits the use of non-compete clauses and authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to take action against employers who misuse them. Contact Zimmerman & Associates in Norcross, Georgia to discuss alternatives to non-compete clauses, so that you can protect your business interests.