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Comment by gisikw | Hacker News Reader

Having your lawyer read something is no excuse for not also reading it yourself.

This has to be one of the most exploited (mis?)conceptions of the 21st century. Doctors, employers, websites, software plugins, account agreements, almost everything with which one interacts in the normal course of a modern life has a massive privacy statement that, using the unnatural jargon of the law as a gate, makes unreasonable statements which destroy the rights of the consumer and create rights for the provider. I recall a recent trip to the eye doctor where the standard document made the statement that I pre-consent to any and all treatment that the doctor orders and pre-agree to be financially responsible for all such treatments in case my insurance does not pay. My guess is that most of us have inadvertently pre-consented our finances and other aspects of our lives to various companies via these statements buried within the haystack of legalese that must be "signed" in order to operate a 21st century life.

I've walked from doctors offices when faced with similar waivers: pre-auth, non-disparagement, and binding arbitration being notable red flags.

That makes about as much sense as, "Paying a developer to write your code is no excuse for not also writing it yourself."

The lawyer is a profession. His or her job is to read and review contracts, just like my job is to write code. Does your boss rewrite every line of code you write? When you take your car to a mechanic, do you insist on re-doing all of the repairs yourself? So why are you insisting on rereading contracts that your lawyer has already reviewed?

The lawyer's job is to prevent legal mistakes, not business mistakes. Only you can look after your business interests.

Well, right, but that's no justification for repeating the lawyer's work. That's an argument for making your business requirements clear to the lawyer.

It's the same argument for both law and programming. Badly communicated requirements yield bad results.

You may find it difficult to convey your needs in enough detail for a small contract review.

If course we're supposed to read it but in some situations it's not realistic. Buying a house involves hundreds of pages. Unless you're a lawyer, the average person isn't going to recognize loopholes in the contracts. And I don't know many people who would back out on a house sale at that stage, so it's highly unlikely you'd refuse to sign. The only practical way to do that is to get an advance copy of everything.

In these cases you really do need a lawyer who you trust has read the documents and is protecting you.

I read each and every page before I purchased my home. I highlighted everything I didn't understand. Most pages looked like bumble bees. I worked questions during a 5 hour session with my realtor. For terms I now understood but didn't agree with, I had two options depending on the type of term it was:

1. Government and HOA stuff was not changing. I could accept it or walk.

2. Seller stuff could change. We made some minor requests and largely got them.

Reasoning:

We were spending 6 figures. The quality of my work would have a major impact on my family for a long time to come. I was newly married and this was my first family related big project. I was damn sure going to understand how interest rates and loans work ("whats a point?", "fixed vs float") and what legal junk we might be getting into.

I got a chance to learn a little about real estate. When life throws you a stack of legal documents, make lemonade.

I also got to vet out the agent. I work hard and have had some business success. I figured one day it would be time for another house and it would be nice to have a long term relationship with a trusted realtor on that one too.

Core point: it is your name on the document, it is a lot of money, it impacts your feature. Exactly how lazy are you to not read it?

From your description it seems that nothing important came of reading the contract, it was boilerplate except for some minor points.

I wouldn't consider anyone lazy for hiring an attorney to read the fine print and summarize it, rather than reading every word. It's not a matter of laziness, it's a matter of actually protecting yourself. It doesn't hurt anything to read the documents, but it's not a substitute for actual legal counsel.

I also would not trust my real estate agent explaining the contract to me. Just like you should never go with your real estate agent recommended house inspector. Your real estate agent may be the nicest person on earth, but they have a vested interest in the deal going through. It's prudent to find your own attorney and housing inspector who are not associated with each other.

Nobody really tells you these things unfortunately and it is scary as hell making that first house purchase!

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