Business contracts can be a bear if you’re not familiar with them. But they don’t have to be.
Richard D. Harroch, author of “Business Contracts Kit for Dummies,” says there are ways to make contracts understandable the first time around. Here’s one worth considering.
Beware the oral contract and the killer handshake. Harroch says many people don’t bother with a written contract because they’re too lazy, they trust the other party or they think the deal is simply too complicated to write down. But, if you’re counting on an oral contract, he warns that proving it may cost more than the time it would have taken to write it down in the first place.
Conversely, he says, don’t assume you can get out of a contract just because it’s not written down. An agreement sealed with a handshake can be legally binding. As proof, he points to the 1987 case of Getty Oil and Pennzoil.
The courts upheld a handshake deal and forced Getty to comply — a multibillion dollar decision.
