Alright, so today I’m gonna walk you through my little adventure with a “joshua palmer contract.” Honestly, the name itself sounds way fancier than what it actually was.
It all started when I got a call from a buddy, let’s call him Dave. Dave was in a bind. He needed a simple contract drawn up, something airtight but not overly complicated, for a small gig he was doing with another guy, supposedly this Joshua Palmer guy. He’d heard I’d dabbled in some legal-ish stuff before (mostly just reading contracts really carefully, haha!), so he figured I could help.
First things first, I told Dave, “I’m not a lawyer! This is just me lending a hand, okay?” He agreed. So, I started by asking Dave a ton of questions. What was the gig exactly? What were both parties supposed to do? How much money was changing hands? What was the timeline? What happens if things go south? I wrote EVERYTHING down.
Next, I jumped online. I searched for “simple contract template” and found a bunch. I sifted through them, looking for one that seemed straightforward and adaptable. I ended up finding one that covered the basics: parties involved, scope of work, payment terms, termination clause, and dispute resolution. It was pretty bare bones, but that’s what we needed.
Then came the fun part – filling in the blanks. I took all the info I’d grilled Dave about and plugged it into the template. I made sure to be super specific. Like, instead of “provide services,” I wrote “provide three (3) professionally edited videos, each approximately 5 minutes in length, adhering to the specifications outlined in Exhibit A.” That kind of detail.
For the payment terms, I laid it out clear as day: “$500 total, with $250 paid upfront upon signing this contract, and the remaining $250 paid upon completion and delivery of all three videos.” No ambiguity allowed!
The termination clause was important. I included language that allowed either party to terminate the contract with written notice, but also specified what happens if that happens. Like, if Joshua Palmer bails halfway through, Dave gets to keep the initial $250 to cover his troubles.
For dispute resolution, I kept it simple: “Any disputes arising from this contract shall be resolved through good-faith negotiation. If negotiation fails, the parties agree to binding arbitration.” Hopefully, they’d never need it, but it’s always good to have a backup plan.
Once I had a draft, I sent it over to Dave. He read it over and had a few minor tweaks. We went back and forth a couple of times, refining the language and making sure it accurately reflected their agreement.
Finally, we had a finished contract. I told Dave to have Joshua Palmer read it carefully and, if they both agreed, to sign it and keep a copy for their records. I also advised him (again!) to consider getting a lawyer to review it, just to be safe. But he was on a tight budget and time crunch, so he skipped that step.
Lessons Learned:
- Specificity is your friend. The more detailed you are, the less room there is for misunderstanding.
- Templates are a good starting point, but you need to customize them to fit your specific situation.
- Always have a termination clause. It’s better to have an escape route than to be stuck in a bad deal.
- Getting a lawyer’s advice is always a good idea, even for simple contracts.
Did this make me a contract expert? Nah. But it showed me that with a little research and attention to detail, you can create a decent contract for simple agreements. And hopefully, Dave and Joshua Palmer had a smooth and successful gig because of it!
