Review a client's contractor agreement for freelancer risks
A plain-English review of a client contract that flags clauses on IP, payment, liability, and non-competes that commonly hurt freelancers.
The prompt
Review a contract a client has sent me as a freelancer or consultant, focusing on the risks that matter most for independent contractors.
The contract: [PASTE THE CONTRACT or the key sections]
My service and the project: [WHAT I'M DOING]
Fee and payment terms I agreed verbally: [DETAILS]
Where I and the client are based: [LOCATIONS]
My priorities: [e.g. getting paid on time, keeping rights to my tools and templates, portfolio use]
Check and explain in plain English:
1. Payment: due dates, conditions on approval, whether withheld payments are possible, and kill fees if they cancel.
2. Intellectual property: when ownership transfers (ideally on full payment), whether it captures my pre-existing tools, templates, and know-how, and my right to show the work in my portfolio.
3. Scope and acceptance: vague scope, unlimited revisions, or acceptance at the client's sole discretion.
4. Liability and indemnity: uncapped liability, indemnities that are out of proportion to my fee, and insurance requirements.
5. Non-compete and non-solicitation clauses that could stop me working in my field.
6. Termination: notice, payment for work done, and what I must hand over.
7. Contractor status wording that conflicts with how the work will actually be done.
For each issue: quote the clause, explain the risk, rate it (high/medium/low), and suggest alternative wording I could propose.
This is general information, not legal advice. Recommend I have a qualified lawyer in my jurisdiction review it before signing, especially for high-risk clauses.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Legal & Compliance prompts
What to fill in
- PASTE THE CONTRACT or the key sections
- WHAT I'M DOING
- DETAILS
- LOCATIONS
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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