✅ Step-by-step: What to prepare before asking a lawyer to draft a contract

1. Think clearly about your goal

• What exactly do you want? What should be the outcome of the contract?

• Who is the other party (individual, company)?

• Is it a one-time deal or a long-term relationship?

2. Collect key information

• Identification of the parties (names, addresses, company IDs)

• Clear subject of the contract (what’s being done, delivered, agreed on)

• Deadlines, timeframes, key milestones

• Payment terms, total amount, VAT, payment method

• Any known risks or tricky points

3. Provide written materials

• Project brief, emails, previous agreements, technical specs

• Your expectations in bullet points

• Optional: contracts you used before or found as inspiration (mark what you like/dislike)

4. Clarify: Is this a new contract or a revision?

• If you have a draft (from the other party or from before), send it along

• If you’re starting from scratch, say so clearly

5. Explain your preferences

• Do you prefer clear simple wording or formal legal language?

• Should the contract be very protective (risk-averse) or more flexible?

• Do you need it bilingual, with specific structure or format?

6. Be available for follow-ups

• Often, one or two rounds of clarifying questions are necessary

• Let your lawyer know if you’re under time pressure

⚠️ Real example: “Write it from these three emails…”

A client once sent me three long email chains and told me to “write a contract from this.” It took several versions, phone calls, and corrections. Had we started with a short brief, the whole thing could’ve been done in a day.

🙏 Lawyer’s advice:

• Think first, then write down what matters

• Even 15 minutes of preparation saves you hours (and money)

• You don’t need a legal text—just clarity about what you want

• A good contract starts with a good assignment