⚠️ Do not DIY your legal work! Here's why...
Lawyers seem SO expensive and when we are first starting a business it can seem financially out of reach to get proper legal documents created.
So instead many designers put together their own DIY design agreements or contracts for the work they do with clients.
Here is why you should definitely NOT be doing your own legal work…
Before we get started:
I am not a lawyer and nothing in this post is legal advice. This is simply my own experience of having worked as a designer for many years. Please make sure you get your own professional legal advice.
Learn from my story…
Before I share why you shouldn’t be doing your own legal work I want to share my own story around all of this. I'm sharing this story because I want you to learn from my mistakes and NOT make these mistakes yourselves.
Here's my story...
When I was working as a designer my legal stuff was a mess and it was a MASSIVE issue for me as I always felt stressed out about it. It was always something that sat in the back of my mind as something I needed to sort out properly.
I had done what many of you do and put together my own design agreements based on stuff I had seen others using or that I had found on the web for free. I thought that would be sufficient for what I needed given I didn't really think I was doing anything super risky (I was very wrong about that I later found out!)
BUT...this was a mistake and honestly I'm just lucky that nothing did go wrong while I was working with my design clients as contracts that have been put together yourself, without the involvement of a lawyer, generally aren't fit for purpose and won't actually protect you if/when something does go wrong.
So if I was so worried about it why didn't I just go to a lawyer and put proper contracts together??
Well here's a few reasons - perhaps you can relate to some of them...
🫣 I was worried it was going to cost a fortune
🫣 I had no idea how to find a good lawyer who understood the interior design industry and the nuances of what we actually do
🫣 When I first got started I felt like a fraud going to a lawyer asking to get legal contracts put together. I felt like they would call me out on not being a 'real' designer.
🫣 A few years down the track I then worried the lawyer would judge me for not having proper contracts in place given that I had been working with clients for so many years! I couldn’t win!
🫣 I eventually then became too busy to actually get this stuff sorted out properly and had been working for so long with clients it just got something that was left on the 'must get this sorted out' list.
But the whole time it sat in the back of my mind as something I worried about and wished I had in place.
And if you don't have your legal documents properly sorted out for your design business then you may find that you can relate to this story.
So learn from me, get a lawyer and pay to get your design agreement and contracts sorted out once and for all.
There’s lots of things we can DIY in our business, especially when we are first starting (e.g. making a website, creating a logo) but legal work shouldn’t be one of those things. Here’s why…
Why you should not DIY your legal work
❌ There’s a reason lawyers go to university for a long time - they are the experts
❌ Copying someone else’s contract from the web is illegal - i.e. a breach of copyright
❌ Many designers don’t understand the inherent risks in the work that we do with clients. Working with a lawyer who is experienced in our industry will help you understand more about what those risks are and how to avoid them. And there are probably more risks involved in what you are doing than your realise!
❌ DIY contracts are unlikely to be fit for purpose - they were written for someone else’s business, not for yours
❌ You have no idea if your agreement or contract actually includes the appropriate law for your jurisdiction.
❌ If you ever need to rely on the contract/agreement you’ve pieced together yourself you are more than likely to find that it’s not worth the paper it’s written on and won’t cover you properly
❌ You will be unlikely to understand what the clauses you have copied actually mean - this means that if a client questions you about anything in your contract you won’t know how to explain what it means (working with a lawyer to put yours together means you will understand all the clauses in your contract properly).
❌ As a designer you are working on your client’s largest financial asset - their home. You owe it to yourself as well as to them to be set up legally and professionally
❌ You will have more confidence in what you are doing if you know that you have all your legal bases covered
❌ Once you have had a lawyer put together your contract you also have a contact you can call whenever you have legal questions about any aspect of your business.
One final tip - when you’re looking for a lawyer to help you with your design or client agreements make sure you find someone who has experience working with our industry, so they understand the type of work you do and can ask the right questions.
I hope this post has convinced you to stop DIYing your legal work!!!
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
