I'm a freelance editor (mostly book manuscripts and some academic copyediting) and I'm trying to get proper contract templates without paying a lawyer $500+ per document. Has anyone used Rocket Lawyer or LegalNature for client agreements, NDAs, and maybe a simple independent contractor form? I've compared their pricing pages but I want to hear from people who actually use them. I don't need anything fancy, just something that won't fall apart if a client gets difficult. Also curious if either one is overkill for a solo editor.
Contracts
Rocket Lawyer or LegalNature for a freelance editor?
I used Rocket Lawyer for a couple of years when I was doing freelance graphic design design. The document builder is fine, but the subscription auto-renews and I forgot to cancel once. That was annoying. The contracts themselves were okay but fairly generic. For editing work you probably want a scope-of-work section that's specific about revisions and kill fees, and the template won't do that for you.
LegalNature is cheaper upfront but I found the interface clunkier. Rocket Lawyer has more variety. Neither replaces reading the thing carefully.
Have you looked at whether your state bar has free or low-cost contract templates for freelancers? Some do. Might be worth a quick search before paying for either service.
Thanks, I hadn't thought of the state bar angle. I'll check that. tundra_elk, do you know if those are usually editable or just PDFs?
The ones I've seen were mostly PDFs or fill-in-the-blank. Not always great for customization. But free is free.
I've been using LegalNature for about a year for my editing business. The NDA template was straightforward. The independent contractor agreement was less useful because it assumed a different kind of work. I ended up rewriting chunks of it. If you're comfortable editing legal language yourself, it's fine. If not, you might be better off paying a lawyer once for a solid template you can reuse.
Rocket Lawyer's ask-a-lawyer feature is the main reason I kept it. You get a certain number of questions included and that was helpful when I needed to understand a clause. But the quality of the answer depends on who you get.
That matches my experience. Some of the lawyers were great, one was clearly reading from a script.
The ask-a-lawyer thing is tempting. Is it unlimited or just a few questions per month? I can't tell from their site.
It was a limited number when I had it, maybe one or two per month depending on the plan. You can pay extra for more. I'd check the current terms because tehy change things.
Honestly, for a solo editor, neither service is going to give you a contract that covers the weird stuff that comes up in publishing. Things like moral rights clauses or how to handle a client who wants to change the manuscript manuscript after you've already done a full pass. You're better off finding a lawyer who works with freelancers and paying for one good template. It costs more upfront but less in the long run.
That's a fair point, but not everyone has $500 to drop on a template. LegalNature at least gives you a starting point for under $100.
True. I didn't mean to sound dismissive. If budget is tight, LegalNature is a reasonable stopgap. Just don't assume it's comprehensive.
I appreciate the range of opinions. I think I'll try LegalNature for the NDA and maybe a basic agreement, and keep an eye out for a lawyer who does flat-fee templates. Thanks everyone.