What are legal forms, where are they located and when should they be used?

What are legal forms?

Legal forms are usually predrafted legal documents that are essentially designed to be a one-size-fits-all, fill in the blank alternative to engaging a lawyer for more routine legal matters. Examples of legal forms within the construction industry usually include: requests for proposals, change orders, waivers and releases, release of liens, subcontract agreements and prime agreements.

Where are legal forms located?

Construction legal forms are available online and are sometimes available through a state contractor’s board’s website, a state legislature’s website, or through a trade union. Some contractors also use legal forms received from another contractor that was exchanged during work on a previous job.

What are the benefits of legal forms?

Legal forms come with several benefits, including ease, convenience, cost and value.

• Ease and convenience. Legal forms are often only a couple of key strokes or a simple Google search away.
• Cost. Legal forms can be found online for free, are sometimes offered as a-la-carte forms or as part of a subscription service to a suite of related forms. The cost is usually very reasonable when compared to the services of an attorney.
• Value. Legal forms for relatively straight forward or simple matters can sometimes provide substantial value if they provide the intended legal and desired effect.

What are the risks of using legal forms?

Legal forms are often riddled with problems. As such, it is important to exercise caution when utilizing legal forms.

• Choosing forms. Contractors can run into issues in trying to select the correct legal form. Even if the title of the legal form is correctly identified, without help from a legal professional, it is often difficult to determine if the form’s content is sufficient for its intended purpose. For example, there numerous legal forms online that purport to be a final lien release. But determining which one is valid is often the problem.
• Outdated. Online forms that were once useful become outdated. For example, an online form which was legally sufficient in 2015 could be useless in 2018 due to a change in legislation or legal precedent.
• Legal forms usually leave something to be desired. The forms could accomplish an immediate intended purpose (such as entering into a subcontract), but often ignore other important goals such as limiting liability or maximizing recovery in the event of litigation. For example, a pay if paid clause or a one-sided attorneys fees provision are not valid in most states and are not usually included in most forms. However, if these provisions are valid in the state where the business is located, the business lost a huge value by not including them in the event that litigation was initiated.

When can or should a legal form be used?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to determine when specific contractors can safely use specific forms for their business. Contractors often find substantial value in retaining an attorney that can draft or approve forms of certain documents (subcontracts, lien releases, bond waivers) and teach them the appropriate time or occasions to use the legal forms for a reasonable fee. Construction lawyers generally have forms that can be tailored to specific business and with the appropriate education, contractors can recognize the value of that form over its useful life.