Sign nothing until you know what you're agreeing to.
Freelance agreements, NDAs, vendor contracts, service agreements — they all look routine until you're locked into something you didn't expect. Attorly reads the full contract and shows you exactly what you're committing to.
Review my contractNot legal advice: This page explains, in plain language, how a legal document typically works. It is general information — not legal advice about your specific situation. If the stakes are meaningful, or a deadline is close, speak with a licensed lawyer before relying on anything you read here.
Why contract review matters
A contract is a set of promises that a court will enforce. Once signed, the specific words in it — not what you thought they meant, not what the other side said over email — govern what each party owes the other.
Most disputes come from language that looked fine at signing and turned costly later: an auto-renewal clause, a liquidated-damages figure, an indemnity that shifts risk onto you. The point of a real review is not to "make sure it's legal" — it's to understand what the contract will do when something goes wrong.
Attorly reads contracts the way a transactional lawyer reads them: identifying deviations from market standard, surfacing clauses that cap or expand liability, and flagging anything that reads one-sided. You get a plain-English report you can decide on.
How it works
Get clarity on any legal document in three steps
Upload your document
Drag in a PDF, Word file, or image scan. Any format, any language.
Attorly analyzes it
Our AI reads the full document, flags risks, extracts deadlines, and identifies what matters most for your situation.
Read your plain-language report
You get a clear breakdown: what the document says, what you need to do, and whether you should talk to a lawyer.
What Attorly finds in a contract
We flag what's fair, what's unusual, and what could cost you later.
One-sided or unusual clauses
Attorly highlights terms that heavily favor the other party or deviate significantly from standard practice in your industry.
Termination and exit rights
How and when either party can end the agreement — including notice periods, penalties, and whether you can leave if things go wrong.
Payment and liability terms
Exact payment amounts, timing, late fees, liability caps, and indemnification clauses that could make you responsible for more than you expected.
Intellectual property ownership
Who owns what you create. Many freelance and employment contracts assign all IP to the company — Attorly makes sure you see this clearly.
Non-compete and exclusivity terms
Restrictions on what other work you can take on, for how long, and in what areas — so you know what you're giving up.
Auto-renewal and notice traps
Attorly surfaces every auto-renewal term, the exact notice window, and the day-count math so you know the last date you can walk without penalty.
Assignment and change-of-control rights
Whether the contract can be sold, transferred, or assigned if either party is acquired — and whether you have the right to terminate on a change of control.
Before you sign
Work through this list. Most are 2-minute checks that save real money later.
- 1
Confirm the parties and the signing authority
The entity on the signature block must be the one you actually want to bind — a parent company, a specific subsidiary, or the individual. A misnamed party can make the contract unenforceable or enforceable against the wrong entity.
- 2
Read the term and termination sections together
Initial term, renewal mechanics, termination-for-convenience, and notice windows interact. A 12-month contract with a 90-day termination notice and auto-renewal is, effectively, a 15-month contract unless you diary the notice date on day one.
- 3
Quantify the payment and penalty terms
Fee schedule, payment timing, late fees, price-increase caps, and chargeback rights. Translate every clause into "if X happens, I pay Y" — if you can't, push back until you can.
- 4
Locate the liability and indemnity clauses
Caps, carve-outs, and mutual vs. one-way indemnities. These clauses rarely matter until something breaks, at which point they determine whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million.
- 5
Check governing law, venue, and dispute resolution
Arbitration clauses, venue selection, jury waivers, and fee-shifting provisions change the cost of any future dispute dramatically. "Same as the other side's state" is usually not neutral.
Common questions about contracts
Related situations we help with
Employment contract
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Read moreLawsuit or summons
Find out exactly what you've been accused of and what you need to do before the deadline.
Read moreRead the contract before you sign
Upload it now. Know what you're agreeing to in under 60 seconds.
Review my contract