I thought this article interesting after my earlier discussion on negotiating contracts:

Web design contracts: Why Bother?

What I particularly liked was the proposition that besides being a legal document (which almost certainly you will never exercise legally), a contract fulfills a socio-psychological function, by forcing all parties to think about the agreement they are about to enter. Specifically, "the solemnity involved in the act of signing a contract—the ritual of the contract negotiation and execution itself—impresses on the parties that they are making a commitment to each other, and that the document they are signing describes that commitment."

Admitedly this process is somewhat less solemn when it being conducted in different countries, and document you are signing is a scanned and emailed and then printed version of the contract… but the essence is still there.

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