The Plain Contract
Productivity
legal contract template
SHOW HN2019
Legend
The Plain Contract
Crowdsourced freelance contract template, written in plain language
web.archive.org#freelance contract#contract template#plain language contract#independent contractor agreement
How HN took it
2 positive, 10 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 12 critical, out of 26 comments about the project. Thread score -0.36.
Execution: 0 for, 9 againstIdea: 2 for, 0 againstDesign: 0 for, 2 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good idea to make contracts readable and open
From 3 comments
I love the idea behind this - so many contracts are unnecessarily impossible to read. However, I am going to be really honest - as the CTO of a company who regularly hires…
aiisahik on HNI like this. Maybe make the Github repo available for people to make pull requests and issues and such? That would make it much more 'crowdsourced' imo. The freelance community…
patrickbolle on HNHaven't had a chance to review yet, but I will, and I strongly support this effort! In fact, I wrote and published a plain-language contractor agreement of my own, Fairshake,…
kemitchell on HN
Objections
Clients with legal teams would redline or reject it; not balanced toward clients
From 3 comments
I've seen this idea done a couple of times and it seems like the major problem with it is that while it probably works for small clients and impromptu projects, any client with a…
tptacek on HNIs this being shared with a view to getting more contributors or is it being shared with a view to it actually being used at the moment? If the latter, I would have serious…
grabeh on HNI love the idea behind this - so many contracts are unnecessarily impossible to read. However, I am going to be really honest - as the CTO of a company who regularly hires…
aiisahik on HN
Missing jurisdiction handling and key terms like IP, indemnity and expenses
From 3 comments
I've seen quite a few of these and whilst I love the idea, they usually have a ton of problems in them. As tptacek pointed out - there is no chance that this document would…
ruairidhwm on HNA few comments from my first quick skim, in appearance order. If you need a good contract, don't be a dufus. Hire a lawyer who will ask questions and stand professionally…
kemitchell on HNIs this being shared with a view to getting more contributors or is it being shared with a view to it actually being used at the moment? If the latter, I would have serious…
grabeh on HN
Not suitable for UK IR35 situations
From 1 comment
Just worth noteing this looks specific to the US freelance/contract market. I can only speak for the jurisdiction I know (and I am not a lawyer, just a former freelancer), but in…
SimonPStevens on HN
Requests
Make the GitHub repo open for pull requests and issues
From 1 comment
I like this. Maybe make the Github repo available for people to make pull requests and issues and such? That would make it much more 'crowdsourced' imo. The freelance community…
patrickbolle on HN
Clarify IP assignment and work-for-hire mechanisms
From 2 comments
A few comments from my first quick skim, in appearance order. If you need a good contract, don't be a dufus. Hire a lawyer who will ask questions and stand professionally…
kemitchell on HNIs this being shared with a view to getting more contributors or is it being shared with a view to it actually being used at the moment? If the latter, I would have serious…
grabeh on HN
Questions
Why the conflict-of-interest and non-compete sections are included
From 1 comment
Why is the conflict section in there at all, though? To the extent it's there now, it's conceding something clients hope to get through redlines; game-theoretically, it's pure…
tptacek on HN
Alternatives named
Fairshake plain-language contractor agreement
From 2 comments
Haven't had a chance to review yet, but I will, and I strongly support this effort! In fact, I wrote and published a plain-language contractor agreement of my own, Fairshake,…
kemitchell on HNI've seen this idea done a couple of times and it seems like the major problem with it is that while it probably works for small clients and impromptu projects, any client with a…
tptacek on HN
Anvil online contract tool
From 1 comment
Sounds like you should join forces with Anvil (Show HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18923229) and make this contract free to fill out online :) Full disclosure, I…
manggit on HN
AIGA design contractor form packet
From 1 comment
A few comments from my first quick skim, in appearance order. If you need a good contract, don't be a dufus. Hire a lawyer who will ask questions and stand professionally…
kemitchell on HN