Excuse Me....

Here's another one of those "read before you sign" warnings. In the course of your ordinary day, it is not uncommon for you to sign agreements with lots of "fine print." When doing so, people tend to operate under three (3) very faulty assumptions: 1) "fine print" means it's legal mumbo jumbo and has no real world impact; 2) contracts aren't something they really a part of - that's what businesses enter into to cover significant deals; and 3) nothing is going to go wrong.

If that's what goes through your head, you are incorrect on all three counts. One, "fine print" is a whole lot more than just legal jargon put together by lawyers who have nothing else to do but come up with ways to cover every contingency. Unless you wrote the fine print, you should readily assume that it was not written to protect you but that it was designed to protect the other guy.

Among the many provisions that are frequently inserted into contracts of every kind (exterminator, pet grooming, car repair, etc.) is an exculpatory clause - a provision that limits or eliminates things that a contracting party can be liable for. That'll be some surprise the day you come home from work and find that the exterminator ruined all your furniture and flooring with his bug spray, believe you can sue the extermination company for the damages and file your suit only to find out that you also signed an agreement with an exculpatory clause that limits the company's liability for ruining your stuff. You may feel differently about fine print at that point. I'm not saying you'll like it better, you'll just feel differently.

There are a number of other things that you can find in "fine print." I'll touch on them from time to time, little hints here and there.

Two, do not assume that because you are not Exxon that you are not held to the same standards in your contracts. You are, generally - and you will not be let off the hook because you didn't read the agreement. The law presumes that you have read and are knowledgeable about the terms. Sticking your head in the sand is not a defense.

Three, plenty of things can and do go wrong. Frequently, they go wrong and your contract provides you some form of relief - a refund, a credit, a eight to reschedule. Often, we do not look or bother to read what our rights are. I can't tell you how many times people have come to me with what they thought were major problems but never bothered to read their own agreement. One meeting later, the problem was solved and I never even had to do anything because the contract spelled out the client's rights pretty clearly.