Earlier this month the VGSD — Verband der Gründer und Selbstständigen Deutschland e.V. — held an online presentation with lawyer Julia Gertz, who specializes in IT contracts and showed us how to identify unfair service contracts.
Please note that we are not lawyers and this post should not be taken as legal advice! Every contract is unique, so if you have one on the table, get it checked by an actual lawyer! (scroll down for Julia Gertz's contact info)
When the client sets out the rules of how they want to work with the freelancer, it is the case, more often than not, that those rules work in the client’s favor. There seems to be a common belief that, as the smaller party with less legal assertiveness, we have no choice but to accept these rules But our position is stronger than we think: It pays off to inspect the contracts and demand changes to create a level playing field.