Advice on choosing a solicitor

[LegallyBrunette]

Hello, Happy New Year to everyone!

A good few years ago, I did some work for an individual, and now I have been sent a contract by their company, to give up all rights to that work, and which asks me to agree to sign all future contracts requested of me.

I would like to have it looked at by a solicitor, but as I have never had a solicitor before, I am a bit nervous about ringing around. Would anyone mind offering some advice on this?

What sort of solicitor do I need for this sort of work?

What average hourly rate is acceptable (NW England)

Should I check their credentials and insurance provisions? If so, what am I looking for?

Anything will help!

Thanks so much in advance

 

[The Byre]

A good few years ago, I did some work for an individual, and now I have been sent a contract by their company, to give up all rights to that work, and which asks me to agree to sign all future contracts requested of me.

When I ran a news agency, we used to get that kind of thing from publishing houses. Reed Elsevier started it and I resisted at first, but it became a choice of sign or lose them as customers. When Emap also insisted on our signing away all rights to residuals, I realised it was just their legal department ticking boxes. It did not effectively stop us from reworking articles and footage and selling them again, as checking thousands of old articles against current output would be impossible - so I signed.

It's like this - if you are still working for these people and expect to get more work from them in future, sign.

If you are not working for them and do not expect to get anything in future, chuck it in the bin and forget it!

One thing is certain - you should not sign anything that retrospectively makes work you did in the past their intellectual property. Neither should you sign any contract that binds you in any way to contracts that have yet to be signed or agreed upon.

So if you are not working for these people, write on the contract in large letters "Stuffed - get. Rearrange into a well-known phrase or saying!"

 

[Deleted member 59730]

You don't say what sort of work it is. If its copyright material you need a copyright lawyer.

There is nothing wrong with re-writing the contract to suit you.

 

[Newchodge]

All solicitors have to have professional indemnity insurance, so there is no need to check that.

You need to check that they are specialists in the field that affects you, so Intellectual Property experience springs to mind. Without getting a personal recommendation it is tricky to check out their abilities. The best way would be to ask for a conversation with the person who will be doing your work,so that you can ask technical questions to gauge their answers. Unfortunately you need some technical knowledge to judge both the appropriate question and the validity of the answer.

Also, there is no need for them to be local to you unless you need face to face consutation, which adds to your selection problem.

 

[LegallyBrunette]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. LOL Byre... its a nice idea but I feel bad doing that to the individual, despite it being really not my problem. Not signing may prevent things from moving forward, I am not sure. (EEK!)

I am sorry I was vague, its a bit tricky discussing it on a public forum. Basically, 5 years ago, I collated information from the net, invoiced for my time and got paid. It was just some ad hoc admin work to me, to pay the bills, and not really the same thing I do now that my business is established. I put copyrighting down when I created my UKBF profile as there wasn't an admin option, and it was the nearest thing to the work I did for this project.. copying writing )

Now I am presented with a legal document, out of the blue. The document says "for the sum of £1" I give up all rights to my creation, handover all sorts of stuff (which aren't relevant, but presumably its just being complete - I can hardly handover google and microsoft!!) and, "irrevocably assign with full title guarantee" - well I don't even know what that is!! I agree not to share it, and that's fine... but, it also wants me to agree to any future requests - which I don't like the idea of. I suspect big things must be about to happen, and if that's the case, I don't want to be held accountable to future commitments with individuals/companies I have never had dealings with. It is probably just a box ticking exercise, with standard paragraphs, but its a scary thought to just sign it, without advice.

So based on that, I guess it could be copyright or IP? All seems a bit over the top to me, anyone could spend a few days on google and create the same. Paying for someone to look over this, and any future documents would more than wipe out what I earned on the job, too.. so if I am expected to sign, I would want my legal fees covered in every instance.

Thank you atmosbob for the idea of re-writing it - it would be a little easier to read if I wrote it!! Hahah!!

And that's good to know newchodge, about the PII and non local... it is a bit of a catch 22 situation with selection! I guess all I can do is decide based on whether I understand what they are saying, when they explain anything!!

 

[Newchodge]

What benefit is there for you in even considering signing? £1?? I would tell them that you are not interested, and save the hassle of seeking legal advice.

 

[The Byre]

What benefit is there for you in even considering signing? £1?? I would tell them that you are not interested, and save the hassle of seeking legal advice.

This!

It is OTT nonsense by some pencil pusher.

Bin it!

 

[STDFR33]

Spot on by @Newchodge. The most I would entertain them is to say that I've received their request and would like to politely decline their kind offer of £1.