Sample contract review
Website Design Agreement — risk report
This is what a ClauseCatch review looks like. Based on a realistic, fictional freelance website-design engagement, so you can judge the report quality before you pay.
Overall verdict
This is a typical website-design agreement with a familiar shape: solid payment intent buried under buyer-friendly language around ownership, approval, and cancellation. The core deliverables and fees are fine, but several clauses tilt heavily toward the client — most notably broad ownership of your pre-existing work, a long non-compete, an uncapped indemnity, and no protection if the project is cancelled or paid late. None of it is a deal-breaker on its own, but a few targeted edits would meaningfully reduce your risk.
Red flags
Section 12 — "Ownership" High risk
This clause assigns all work product — including your pre-existing code, libraries, and design process — to the client. You'd lose the right to reuse your own components and frameworks on future projects.
Section 7 — "Payment terms" Medium risk
Payment is due only 30 days after "final delivery," and the client gets an unlimited approval window before anything counts as final. You could finish the whole project and still wait months for both sign-off and payment.
Section 15 — "Non-compete" Medium risk
A 24-month non-compete bars you from working with any "competitor" in the client's industry — so broadly worded it could block your normal business for years after a single project.
Section 19 — "Indemnification" Low risk
You must indemnify the client for third-party claims arising from "any content you produce," with no cap and no carve-out for content the client supplied or edited. That leaves you exposed to unlimited liability.
Missing clauses
No kill fee / cancellation terms
Nothing protects your income if the client cancels partway through. Add a fee for work done plus a percentage of the remaining value, so a mid-project cancellation doesn't wipe out your pay.
No late-payment terms
There's no due date, late fee, or right to pause work on overdue invoices. Without them, an unpaid invoice has no teeth behind it.
No cap on your liability
There's no limit on how much you can be on the hook for, and the indemnity is one-sided. A reasonable cap (for example, the fees paid) protects you from an outsized claim.
What to negotiate
Scope of work
Suggestion: Tighten "do everything" and "unlimited revisions" language into a defined deliverable list plus a set number of revision rounds.
Ownership of pre-existing work
Suggestion: Ask to keep ownership of any pre-existing code, libraries, and design assets you bring in; grant the client rights only to the final deliverables.
Kill fee
Suggestion: Add a cancellation term: if the client cancels after work begins, you're paid for work to date plus 50% of the remaining project value.
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This report is informational and not legal advice. For important decisions, consider review by a licensed attorney. Sample content shown above is illustrative and not based on any real client or contract.