Paste a client contract. This flags the ten things that most often go wrong for freelancers — IP that transfers before you’re paid, revisions with no limit, payment conditioned on “satisfaction”, and the rest.
IP transfer timing. Intellectual property should transfer on full payment, not on creation. If it transfers as you make it, a client who never pays still legally owns the work. This single clause is the most expensive one on the list.
“Until satisfied”. Unlimited revisions and payment conditioned on subjective satisfaction are the same problem wearing different hats: neither has an objective finish line, so neither has a definable end to your obligations.
Liability caps. Without a cap, a $3,000 project can carry six-figure exposure. Standard practice is capping liability at fees paid.
Termination for convenience. Fine on its own — dangerous without a kill fee or payment for work already performed. Otherwise a client can cancel in week three of a four-week project and owe nothing.
This is pattern matching, not legal advice, and it will miss things a lawyer would catch. Treat it as a first pass that tells you where to look — for anything high-value or unusual, pay an actual lawyer.
This page matches patterns. The contract-checklist skill in Freelance OS reads the full document in context, quotes the actual clause, explains the consequence in dollars for your specific project, and drafts the negotiation email with redlines. It’s one of 14 skills that also handle proposals, scopes, invoicing, and your CRM.