Contract template flawed

TechRepublic is offering and promoting the download of a contract template for independent consultants.

Unfortunately, the contract offered is almost a direct copy of a contract on another website. In that context it is presented as a client'scontract.

While a contractor may need to concede disadvantageous provisions during negotiation, it would be best to open negotiations with a contract that reasonably favors the contractor. A contractor who presents this template to open negotiations has already ceded several important points.

One illustration of the problem is the inventions clause. In it the contractor assigns ownership of everything developed during the engagement to the client. If the contractor were to develop a useful, generic routine or a technique for dealing with a common problem during the engagement, it now belongs to the client. The solutions I develop today are based upon knowledge and techniques gained over the course of my career. My experience is what I sell my client. I do not want my ability to apply my experience in the future clouded by someone else claiming ownership.

The non-hire provision offers no benefit to the consultant whatsoever. It is written solely to benefit the client. Similarly, the right to injunction clause protects the client while offering no similar protection to the consultant. The termination clause only allows the company to prematurely terminate the contract. No similar right is afforded to the contractor.

I am not a lawyer. But from my lay perspective, this is not the kind of contract I would want to accept, much less offer.