Guides · Agreements and policies
Do you need a lawyer to write a client agreement?
Not to start, for most practices of one: a clear template edited to how you work covers a session, a package or a small project. You need a lawyer when the work carries real risk, when the sums are large, when your profession sets rules about wording, or when a client sends you their contract.
| A template is a reasonable start | Pay a lawyer to read it |
|---|---|
| Sessions, lessons and packages at everyday prices | A single project worth more than a few months’ income |
| Work where a mistake costs the client time | Work where a mistake can cost the client money, health or a legal right |
| Your own agreement, offered to every client | A client’s contract, sent to you to sign |
| A profession with no rules about client terms | Therapy, health, financial or legal work, where your regulator or association may set wording |
What a template gets you
A first draft in your own words, covering the things most disputes are about: what was agreed, what was paid and what happens on canceling. The agreement writer is a starting point, not legal advice, and it says so on the page.
Paying for an hour, not a draft
Write your own first, then pay a lawyer to read it. An hour of review on a page you wrote costs less than a page they write from nothing, and the result still sounds like you.
When a client sends theirs
Read three clauses before you sign: what you’re liable for, who owns what you make, and how they can end it. A contract written for a company of five hundred can ask a practice of one to carry risks no single person can.
Checked 2026-10-11.