Ask HN: Anyway to protect yourself without getting lawyers involved?

1 points by cme 15 years ago | 1 comment

I've read the horror stories of people partnering up on an idea and then one party getting screwed over.

I was wondering if there were ways to protect yourself without hiring a lawyer. I remember seeing several sites posted here were you could set up a "virtual" contract. Could someone link me to those? do they provide enough protection if things go south?

iamchmod 15 years ago |

The best in my opinion to protect yourself is to have a great relationship with the partner. Meet with them regularly, listen to their concerns, share your concerns, yada, yada. There is really no protection against a bad partner that doesn't involve legal bills either upfront writing up a completely protective contract (which will spook other side anyways) or when disputing with them and needing to bring in the lawyers once things go south. The best prevention is to choose partners wisely and bring any concerns up quickly. You aren't going to have great partners 100% of the time, but if you can get to 80% of the time that saves a ton of stress, hassle and money