Got roasted by a lawyer for my client intake form and it woke me up

Had a client ghost me after signing a retainer for a $2500 branding project. I posted about it in a legal group and some attorney ripped into me saying my intake form didn't cover scope changes. I went back and added a line about additional revisions costing $100 an hour. Has anyone else had a lawyer call out a dumb gap in your contracts?

3 comments

3 Comments

henrycooper12d ago

That scope change line saved me from a few arguments too.

the_piper12d ago

Scope creep is actually a good thing most of the time, at least in my experience. @henrycooper, that line probably works great for keeping things simple, but I've seen way more projects die from being too rigid than from adding a few extra features along the way. Clients change their minds, and if you shut that down with a scope line, they might just take their business elsewhere. Sometimes you need to let the project breathe a little and see where it goes, you know? Sticking too tight to the original plan can miss the bigger picture.

averywilliams12d ago

Love how @henrycooper showed up just in time to prove your point, like a scope creep hero or something. But honestly, that lawyer did you a solid because now you've got a backup plan for when clients start treating your brand like a never-ending buffet. I've heard too many stories where a simple "hey can we just tweak this one thing" turned into a whole new project with zero extra pay. Better to have that hourly line in there and never use it than be stuck doing free work while the client asks for "one more round." Keep that scope line drafted and ready. You'll thank yourself later when some client thinks "additional revisions" means "let's redesign everything from scratch.