Want to be a key contributor to making contracts easy to deal with, and maybe even fun?

8.5×14 Media, the company that runs LexPublica, aims to make it easier for creative professionals, entrepreneurs, small businesses and, eventually, average people to manage their legal affairs. We started by creating LexPublica, an initiative to provide a free, public resource of contract forms and legal knowledge, licensed under a Creative Commons attribution licence (like a Wikipedia for contracts). We’re now turning our attention to our first commercial product, an online workspace for simple contract management (think Basecamp for contracts). The workspace will solve problems small businesses and individuals encounter in dealing with the back-and-forth of negotiating contracts (like version control and redlining), as well as issues of organizing and keeping proper contract records.

We’re looking for a senior web applications developer who will be our technical anchor. You must have proven experience in designing, deploying and maintaining complex web applications. More than that, you must be stupendous at creating remarkable user experiences (we want to make contracts fun, remember?). You must also have experience with common open source application stacks and you must be able to communicate well, both orally and in writing, with technical and non-technical folks.

We have the usual idealistic approach of startups (we want to change the world for the better, and we think we can do it with your help) and fit with our team (a whopping three people) is critical. All three of us have previous entrepreneurial experience, have eclectic interests in addition to our keen interest in making legal stuff easier for people, and enjoy working with people who are smart and dedicated. We want someone who can thrive and grow professionally and personally on our team.

We’re an early stage venture, financed by a combination of funding from Bootup Labs and our own bootstrapping. We have no plans to raise significant outside capital until we have our product in the hands of real users. We have big plans for 8.5×14 and LexPublica and we’re going to need extraordinary people to turn these plans into reality. That said, the road ahead contains many obstacles and unknowns. The opportunity is great, but so is the risk. If thinking about this fact makes you excited, then we want to hear from you. Send an email to contact-at-lexpubli.ca, with your CV (ideally pointing us to your portfolio of work), and tell us about why you’d be a great addition to our team.

At this early stage, we’re hiring for a full-time four-month employment contract, but our hope is that the project will progress successfully and that a longer, more permanent relationship will grow out of our work together.

photo by Alaskan Dude on Flickr

Last week in the office we were working on the intellectual property assignment contract. We won’t always be as hands-on with contract development, but for now, this is how we work when we’re the only ones involved in the process (by the way, want to help?): When Martin has a good working draft of a contract ready, he shares it with me and Zak as a Google Doc. We then add our comments and questions, and after further review and discussion eventually the contract is ready for release*.

In the IP Assignment draft, the following gem stopped me in my (admittedly sedentary) tracks:

“In consideration of $10.00 and the mutual covenants contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties agree as follows:”

I’m not a lawyer. I read the contracts and all the other documents we produce with a focus on questioning whether it will be readily understood by an average person. So here’s the comment I inserted into the draft:

“What on earth does this mean? Where’s the $10 come from? And do we have to call it a “covenant”? Also, does it have to be “good and valuable consideration”? It would be great to avoid any “hereby’s”, too.”

Over lunch on Friday, Martin explained to me where the $10 came from (there needs to be a clear element of “consideration,” which I get to next, and this amount is apparently less arbitrary- and valueless-seeming than $1). He also expounded on the “good and valuable consideration” bit – “consideration” being, in this context, the flow of something of value between parties and not just in one direction.

So for now, I’m appeased. But I’m certainly still thinking about direct, simple, clear ways to say things like this.

Now, “hereby”. I get what this word means (it means that nothing else needs to be done to accomplish the tasks outlined in the contract except to sign it). But I grabbed onto it as unnecessary legalese. I mean, it’s a word that’s in regular colloquial rotation, but not in a very meaningful way. Imagine a child donning a too-big crown and velvet cape, grabbing a broom handle as a scepter, standing on a dining-room chair and announcing, “I hereby declare I will no longer brush my teeth! It is official!”

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered “hereby” in actual conversation.

So what do you think? In the interest of writing our contracts if not in plain language then at least in straightforward language, should we stick with “hereby”? Or should we use a phrase like, “with my signature on this contract” or some such wording?

* All contracts are living documents under constant review and revision, so if you’d like to make a suggestion about the wording or content of a contract, or if you have a question, please leave a comment on the contract page.