Become a Contract Superstar

Everyday we are presented with contracts—some large and important, some small and inconsequential, and some that we don’t even know are contracts. But regardless of their importance or our knowledge, they bind us to a set of choices, whether we like those choices or not.

Because contracts pervade our lives, Pro and Contracts exists to help you become a Contract Superstar—recognizing profits and pitfalls in all your dealings, and cluing you in to the signs of a contract even when it is not presented as one.

Tips, Tricks, and Tools

I understand that contracts are boring: you don’t want to read them, they are written to be incomprehensible, and reading them only serves to waste your time. But I like reading contracts, and am happy to give you the benefit of my experience with them to let you understand your own contract dealings better.

To help Pro and Contracts’ readers, I provide an ever-growing box of tools to help understand the basics of contracts, and wade through contracts to which you are a part.

Fine Print Friday is a (mostly) weekly column that examines and explains important or odd provisions in common contracts. Past Fine Print Fridays include: Comcast Cable, Kindercare, Best Buy’s Return Policy, Hertz’s Car Rental Agreement, the iTunes Terms and Conditions, and cell phone agreements for both Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless.

With some assistance, I have also recently started a series on Mandatory Binding Arbitration entitled Arbitration Insanity. Arbitration is a dispute resolution procedure that avoids the court system. On its own it is generally a decent tool, but in the hands of large companies it has become a method for denying customers a real ability to have their case heard in front of a judge and jury. This series provides both background on arbitration and real-world examples of arbitration provisions so you can learn about them.

Free Member Benefits

Members of Pro and Contracts have access to a set of documents that can help you review your own contract, avoid contract mistakes, and even opt out of certain arbitration provisions. Standard membership at Pro and Contracts is free, and all the member benefits can be downloaded as soon as your registration is complete.

Personalized Feedback

Finally, Pro and Contracts gives you access to a professional contracts attorney, and your questions and comments help shape the direction of this site, the subjects that are addressed, and future member resources. Although Graham does not become your attorney just by your perusing this site, he is a good source of information, and if you need actual legal help you can Contact Him to ask your specific questions and potentially hire him to assist with any contract problems you may have.

So thank you for checking out Pro and Contracts. We are proud of what we have built and hope it is helpful to you. If you think of anything you would like addressed, please contact Graham and let him know. We are always looking for good ideas for Pro and Contracts posts, and your input is the best source of those ideas.