Agreements / Contracts Attorney in Chicago, Illinois

What advice do you have for business owners when it comes to contracts?

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00:04
there’s an old saying in the law that
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ignorance of the law is no excuse
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there’s also it’s a well-established
00:10
legal document doctrine
00:11
that if your signature ends up on a
00:14
piece of paper
00:15
you’re responsible for what you just
00:17
signed
00:18
and you can’t go to court later on and
00:21
say judge don’t hold me to this document
00:23
that i signed
00:24
i didn’t know or i didn’t understand
00:25
what i was signing the court won’t give
00:27
that any credence and there’s a reason
00:28
for that because if
00:30
if that was a defense that any party to
00:32
a contract was just able to say well i
00:34
didn’t know i signed this
00:35
then no contracts would be enforceable
00:37
so all
00:38
contracts that you sign you’re
00:40
responsible for what they say
00:42
when i advise business clients i i let
00:45
them know
00:46
that i’m happy to review any contract
00:48
that you bring to me
00:49
and any contract that you don’t bring to
00:51
me you’re responsible for so make sure
00:53
that you
00:54
fully understand something before you
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sign it and i also have to explain my
00:58
clients that this works both ways
01:00
if you know one of your customers or one
01:02
of your vendors
01:03
signs something as well we hold them
01:05
responsible for their signature being on
01:07
a document so
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you always want to make sure that you
01:10
understand completely what you’re
01:11
signing
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because under our legal system you are
01:15
responsible for your signature and you
01:16
cannot say
01:17
don’t blame me because then no contracts
01:20
would be upheld
01:24
anywhere

Chicago, IL business lawyer Steven Schroeder shares his advice for business owners when it comes to contracts.

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