Do I Need A Lawyer To Write My Business’ Privacy Policy And Terms & Conditions?

1. garyg7 Says

   You say you have a Privacy Policy already. If you have a lawyer review it, you will accomplish two things.
   1. The lawyer can customize it for your state and your business.
   and, even better:
   2. If somebody tries to sue you claiming the policy is improper, illegal, etc., the lawyer’s advice will at least partially shield you from liability. You can make the lawyer a co-defendant. This would make his Errors & Omissions insurance company become involved.
   If you are sued and you go with the policy as done by the free on-line site, you have nobody to back you up. In other words, using the lawyer is like an insurance policy. You hope you never need to use it, but it’s good to have it. Also, free advice is worth only as much as you paid for it.
   Eddie also asks: “This is an interesting point I never considered. I was wondering how exactly this works. Is there some kind of legal form he or she signs off on to put his name behind my document? Or is this kind of defense somehow implied if he reviews my document. Thanks in advance”
   There isn’t an official form for the lawyer to provide. Usually there is a letter from him/her stating an opinion. There will likely be a disclaimer saying that you can’t use the advice to avoid taxes or legal penalties, but that is nearly standard.
   If you have the lawyer to review and revise as needed the agreement you printed, then you have him or her to blame if there is a problem. (Not to mention and extra set of pockets for someone to pursue in court.) You will want to establish a relationship with a lawyer who practices in this area in case you have problems down the road. Many people will rant and rave about suing, but as soon as you say, “have your lawyer contact my lawyer” and give the lawyers name and phone number, the person will shut up. Granted, this isn’t free, but what you pay the lawyer can save you more over time. It sounds as though you are located in California. A lawyer is better equipped than I am to address the potential need for your privacy policy to comply with the laws in other states.
   Just to add to what I’ve written in response to your question, I suggest you also consult with a local CPA who can help you deal with taxes and other business matters such as keeping books, payroll, etc.
   I hope this helps.
   Gary

2. Possum Says

   It’s a good idea to hire a lawyer, but it’s not necessary.

3. Bronzebe Says

   There are plenty of young tech entrepreneurs who start off with non-lawyered documents (either stuff they find online or get from their friends/fellow entrepreneurs) and then as they begin to scale up, they go get more customized legal advice.
   A couple of tips –
   1. If you put up a privacy policy, make sure that you comply with it. So if the autogenerated policy says that you will provide a means for users to email you to update or remove their information, make sure you actually can and do do that. Its worse to have a policy and not follow it than to have a simple if not great policy but adhere to it.
   2. If you are collecting user data make sure you are either not collecting PIAA or you are not collecting it from users 13 or under.
   For Ts and Cs, it’d be better to get a lawyer but if not, think of services that are conceptually similar to the one you are starting and get their Ts and Cs. But don’t just swap out the name and put it up. Read through the clauses — most of them are not hard to understand — and take out ones that are clearly inappropriate and modify ones you don’t agree with.

4. Anonymous Says

   Try asking this question on Avvo to get an answer from a lawyer, or you can search the site to find any number of free legal guides that will provide some information about this process.
   Megan from Avvo

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