Please Read All Contracts Before Signing
The contract was written by their lawyer. Not yours.
Dear Jeanie,
Ask anyone who has lived in a big city long enough and they will tell you the same thing. Do not trust nobody. That sounds harsh, but when it comes to contracts, it is the most loving advice I can give you. Trust, but verify. Especially when something is in writing and asking for your signature.
Over the course of your life, you are going to sign more contracts than you realize, and they show up in the most ordinary places. Your lease, your employment agreement, non-disclosure agreement, your car loan, your insurance policies, even your gym membership. Each one of those documents has clauses, fine print, termination policies, and cancellation fees buried inside them. And most people never read any of it. They just flip to the last page and sign.
Do not be most people.
Read the whole thing and understand what you are agreeing to. Every clause, every footnote, every exception buried in the back. And always keep this in mind: the person who wrote that contract wrote it to protect themselves, not you. That is not cynicism. That is just how it works.
Pay special attention to non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment agreements. These can quietly follow you out the door and limit where you can work, who you can contact, and how you can earn a living long after you have moved on. When you read these clauses, look specifically at two things: the length of the term and the geographic area they cover. A non-compete that runs two years or more and covers an entire region or major metropolitan area is not a formality. It is a serious restriction on your life. I have seen people finish a job and realize they cannot work in their same industry, in their same city, for the next two years because they never paid attention to what they signed. In some cases the only real option left was to move to another city entirely and start over. That is not a dramatic scenario. That is something that actually happens to people who did not read carefully enough.
And it does not stop there. I have also seen people lose their unemployment benefits because they did not follow specific instructions buried in their severance or separation agreements. There are often conditions attached to receiving those benefits, things you are required to do or not do after you leave, and if you miss them or were never even aware of them, you can find yourself without income and without recourse. Nobody warns you about that part. The document did, though. You just have to read it.
Also look carefully at termination and cancellation policies across any contract you sign. Understand whether there are penalties or fees for leaving early, and what it actually takes to get out if you need to.
If something does not sit right with you, do not sign it. Negotiate the clause. Push back. And if they will not budge on something that matters to you, walk away. There is almost always another option.
If the stakes are high, get a lawyer to review it before you sign. But even if you cannot, you have more help available than you might think. Ask for the contract as a Word document or PDF and bring it to an A.I. like ChatGPT or Claude. Ask it to break down the key provisions, flag anything that shifts risk onto you, identify clauses that waive your legal rights, and suggest changes that better protect your interests.
And once you sign, always ask for a fully executed copy for your records. Both signatures, yours and theirs. Do not leave without it. Then go home and file it. I want you to have a dedicated folder in your file cabinet just for contracts and legal agreements. Your lease, your employment papers, your insurance policies, all of it in one place. You will thank yourself the day you actually need to find something fast, and that day will come.
Read everything. Negotiate what you do not agree with. And if they will not move, walk away.
That is how you protect yourself.
Love, Dad.