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I am looking for good/cheap legal advice for a web application my friend is building.

We will need to write a Term Of Service.

  • Do we really need a lawyer for that?
  • Are there templates out there?
  • If not where can I get a good/cheap lawyer to help me make one?
  • I have many legal related questions where should I go to get it?

I live in Canada. But I think I will need from US lawyers incase I get in trouble there.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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I think this is a very fair and often asked question for the cash strapped entrepreneur. I voted up to counteract the down vote it shouldn’t have received! – Keith DeLong Oct 19 '11 at 19:37
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Your question about a ToS has been asked a couple of times before. Please see answers.onstartups.com/users/1841/dana-shultz and answers.onstartups.com/questions/tagged/terms-and-conditions – Jesper Mortensen♦ Oct 19 '11 at 19:55

5 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I'm afraid that Steve Jones answer (though well intentioned) is a bit of a cliché. I've worked with plenty of lawyers who were expensive, slow and consistently underwhelmed with their results and knowledge of the law.

I've become a big fan of taking responsibility to learn as much as I could and hire an attorney to do those things that require passing a bar exam to accomplish.

Nolo.com has a tremendous supply of lay oriented books, forms and law related educational materials. Amazon.com is your friend as well. Your local library often can order the more popular titles for reading free of charge.

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There's a reason it is a cliché. Also, picking two doesn't mean you get two, it is just a way to focus. – Steve Jones Dec 6 '11 at 18:09
up vote 3 down vote

I suspect that relying on cheap advice, while assuming that it is good will eventually yield an underwhelming outcome.

As they say: Good, Quick, Cheap - pick two.

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His question states quite clearly that he picked Good and Cheap... – jfoucher Oct 20 '11 at 10:21
I know, so it won't be quick, i.e. will require extended effort. – Steve Jones Oct 24 '11 at 12:23
up vote 2 down vote

Avvo.com is a Q&A site with lawyers. There may be answers on there already that meet your needs.

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Thank you I also love your answer! Sorry I can only pick one :\ – Jean-Nicolas Boulay Desjardins Oct 19 '11 at 20:43
up vote 2 down vote

I'm a lawyer- I'd recommend finding some precedents of the terms of service and drafting what you want, and then just running them by a lawyer. That will save time and money. Be prepared to pay a retainer, though.

Non-lawyers frequently think, "why did I pay a lawyer for that" but when problems arise down the road, you'll be glad that you did. Consider a lawyer an ounce of prevention (of legal problems)...worth a pound of cure.

$500 is way too low for TOS + privacy policy. A decent lawyer should bill at at least $250 an hour- if not more.

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up vote 0 down vote

Since you are Canadian, you should definitely check out Rob Hyndman's (a pretty reputable lawyer) resources, in particular http://hyndmanlaw.com/blog/canadianized-wordpress-terms-of-use/

As per your questions:

  • no, you don't necessarily need a lawyer to write terms of service (TOS). TOS variations mostly depend on industry. But for example if you simply have a blog, the form above will probably be 100% covered. Of course, having a lawyer check out your TOS is a good idea that I will always recommend, but drafting them yourself might save some good bucks.
  • There are a lot of templates out there, but some of them are behind a paywall (and not even that good) or come from sketchy websites. The best technique is to have a look at competitors and get "inspiration" from their TOS.
  • Unfortunately cheap + good is a very rare combo with lawyers. The average price of TOS + and privacy policy is around $500. Anyone who asks for more might be good, but is clearly a shark. Some Law Schools might have clinical programs where they give you free legal consultation, actually of good quality (professors check on students' work). Check out if there's one near you.
  • If you have a lot of legal questions, definitely go to a lawyer.
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