Legal documents
From articles of incorporation and shareholder agreements to NDAs and employment offer letters, PandaDoc can help you create legal documents that protect your business interests. Select one of our free legal document templates to get started or use the PandaDoc document editor to create a new agreement template from scratch.
Writing your own legally binding document
For smaller businesses and freelancers, saving the expense of a lawyer may be an important consideration.
While it’s always advisable to hire an expert to review your final documentation and provide legal advice regarding the validity of your documentation, it’s possible to write a legal document on your own.
Many essential business documents, like purchase orders, confidentiality agreements, or intellectual property agreements are common enough that they can even be transformed into templates in order to save time during the document creation process.
What are examples of legal documents?
The types of documents that a business needs to operate will vary across organizations. Some common legal documents include:
Corporate bylaws
Non-disclosure agreements
Purchase agreements
Employment contracts
Loan agreements
Employment and independent contractor agreements
Consulting agreements
Partnership agreements
A bill of sale
Your business may also include legal documents that are unique to your industry. For example, a landlord might also need a rental agreement or a commercial lease, as well as legal documents like eviction notices or sublease agreements for managing tenants.
Legal documents for your business
In order for your business to operate effectively, you’ll need some form of legal footing in order to protect your assets.
With PandaDoc, you can create legal documents and letter templates in minutes. Store them in your PandaDoc library as easily-accessible templates and create all the necessary paperwork in minutes when it’s time to hire a new employee or close a new deal.
Frequently asked questions
What constitutes a legal document?
All legal documents have different requirements in order to be considered legal in the eyes of a court.
For example, a contract requires mutual acceptance by both parties along with something of value (called “consideration”) that is exchanged between them. Without something of value being exchanged, many agreements aren’t enforceable by law.
This is different from something like a cease and desist letter or a last will and testament, which have a different set of legal requirements but are also enforceable in a court of law.
When creating your legal documents, be sure that you’re aware of what kind of document you intend to create, and ensure that it is signed and witnessed appropriately for full legal consideration.
Do legal documents require a signature?
It depends on the document. Something like an eviction notice may not require a signature but has its own set of guidelines for legality. This is different when creating a valid power of attorney, where documents must be signed by the principal and the agent.
In standard business operations, it’s always better to acquire a signature for your documentation in order to protect yourself. However, unless your document provides everything required in order to create a legal contract, it may not be considered valid in court.
How do you write a legal contract template?
To create a legal contract template with PandaDoc, you’ll need to create a draft of the necessary documentation. Once you’ve created the contract or legal agreement, you can convert the document to a template by adding custom variables and saving the document to your template library.
The types of legal documents you need will vary with your business operations. Whether you’re in real estate or sales, we always recommend checking with a law firm to ensure the validity of your contracts.
Should I have my legal documents reviewed by a law firm?
Having a legal expert review your documentation is one of the best ways to protect your business.
This including documents that may not have a legal requirement, like termination letters or a letter of intent. You might also consider a legal review for something like a business plan to stay abreast of the legal landscape surrounding your business.
Where can I get free legal forms?
PandaDoc offers a variety of free legal forms and legal templates. Don’t forget to check out the other documents within our template library. These are available for download as a PDF. PandaDoc users can also import them into the document editor for total editorial control.
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