Set Your Deal-Breakers Once and Check Every Contract Against Them

Lawyers call it a playbook: the positions you will and will not accept, written down once, so every contract is checked against the same list. You do not need a legal team to have one. If you sign client agreements, leases or offers more than once a year, you already have rules in your head. Writing them down is what turns a gut feeling into a check.

Contract Analyzer lets you keep standing rules for your account or for one folder, and every report shows pass, fail or unclear per rule with the clause that decides it. This guide helps you write good ones. It is informational only and not legal advice.

What makes a good rule

A rule should be something a careful reader could check against the text and answer yes, no or "it does not say".

• Specific: "No non-compete longer than 6 months" beats "No unfair non-compete".
• From your side: say what you need, not what the contract should look like in general.
• One thing per rule: "Payment within 30 days of invoice" and "Late payment interest of at least 4%" are two rules.

Rules freelancers and consultants use

• Payment is due within 30 days of invoice.
• A deposit or first milestone is paid before work starts.
• Intellectual property transfers only after full payment.
• I may show the work in my portfolio.
• No exclusivity that blocks other clients.
• Liability is capped at the fees paid.

Rules tenants use

• The rent is fixed for the whole term.
• I can end the tenancy with at most two months' notice after the first six months.
• The deposit is protected in a scheme and limited to five weeks' rent.
• The landlord needs 24 hours' notice to enter except in an emergency.

Rules employees and candidates use

• No non-compete longer than 6 months.
• Severance of at least three months if I am let go without cause.
• Earned bonus is paid even if I leave before the payment date.
• Unvested equity accelerates on a change of control.

Deal-breakers versus warnings

Mark a rule as a deal-breaker when breaking it means you would not sign without a change; a failed deal-breaker caps the contract's score so it cannot look fine at a glance. Mark it warn me when it is worth negotiating but not fatal.

Folder rules

Rules can also live on a folder, which is useful when the context differs: your "Apartment hunt" folder can carry tenancy rules while your account rules stay about client work. On the upload form you can see how many rules will be checked before you spend a credit.