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The Internet is quickly becoming the ubiquitous repository of nearly everything. Google Book Search and Microsoft Live Search Books provide dramatic tools for books in the public domain and limited portions of books under copyright. I prefer Microsoft’s opt-in approach to copyrighted materials, but Google’s service is easier to access and allows PDF downloads. Since I think these services serve to rescue the potentially irrevocable loss of public domain materials decaying in underfunded libraries across the nation, I’m thrilled there is competition by the two corporate titans.
In addition to books, many other documents are now being culled and collected across the Internet. In his weekly I/P Updates, attorney Bill Heinz collected a number of useful sites for finding such documents in “document sharing communities:
There is also a document search engine at http://searchdocs.net. I am not endorsing any of these sites, but they provide an excellent tool.
The key to using free documents from the Internet (or books for that matter) is to understand that they were written for other people in different situations. Even when completing similar transactions, I typically need to rewrite every document to take the concerns of the parties to a particular transaction into account.
So does this mean that you should avoid using the form agreement? Of course not. But use them cautiously. First, they serve as excellent checklists to be sure the important topics are covered. Second, by reviewing at least three sample agreements on any particular topic, you can begin see different approaches to address particular problems. Unfortunately, you cannot know the economic or other pressures that gave rise to this particular solution.
Don’t send the forms to your lawyer. I generally find that handing an Internet form to an experienced lawyer will increase rather than decrease the expense. The lawyer will take time comparing your document to the document with which your lawyer is much more conversant. Instead, use the document heading and write down the goal you hope to achieve under each heading. This will inform your lawyer and result in a much faster — and cheaper — process.
Finally, if you don’t understand why particular provisions are in the form agreements, be sure to ask. While this takes a bit of time and costs a bit of money, those questions can help you avoid trouble down the road.
Used in moderation, these forms provide an excellent business planning tool.
