7 Terms Employers Should Get in Writing from their Employees

People always ask me why lawyers make huge contracts for something as simple as hiring an employee. Is it to justify the fees? No!…. Well,… at least most of the time it isn’t. We try to ensure that employment contracts cover every possible scenario, so that there isn’t any ambiguity and any dispute between employer and employee can be resolved quickly and with the least amount of bitterness. Below are some terms you should get in writing from your employees. For new employees you can include these in the Appointment Letter or Employment Agreement and ask them to sign it accepting the terms. For existing employees you can just put these terms in the form of a letter addressed to the company and ask your staff to sign it.

 1) Non-Disclosure / Confidentiality Clause: You might not be doing any work that exposes the employee to any proprietary information, but a confidentiality clause is still important to protect details such as details of clientele and pricing.

9 Tips on Making an Effective Will at Home

Last Will and Testament

Due to increasing number of COVID 19 cases, people have realized that they ought to prepare for the worst. In the last four months we have seen a surge in the number people making a Will and taking Life Insurance Policies. Some people still think a Will is a comprehensive legal document which requires a lot of formalities. However, making a Will barely takes more than an hour and it requires no registration, no stamp paper, and can even be handwritten (in fact, it’s better if it’s handwritten, but more on that later.). Here’s a few points to keep in mind while making a Will:

1) Essential Requirements: Your Will must include (a) Your full name and address; (b) Who will be your Executor (a family member or close friend who will oversee that your properties/monies will be distributed in accordance with the Will and who will apply for probate, if required.); (c) Which properties will go to whom (the main part of the Will!) (d) your full signature on last page along with date of signing (e) you require two witness to sign the Will (they don’t need to know the contents of the Will they just need to identify your signature)

2) To Type or Not to Type: The most basic ground to challenge a Will is to say that the signature on it is forged. A Will written by hand (formally called a ‘Holographic Will’) is harder to challenge since it is difficult to contend that the handwriting on the entire Will is forged. Consider writing your Will by hand, if you have a legible handwriting!

5 Points You Aren’t Including in your Invoice that may Cost You in Legal Proceedings

Every day we are approached by sellers and service providers looking to recover money from defaulters under invoices they have raised. 9 out of 10 times the invoices don’t include some of the essential terms, which would make it much easier and cost-effective for the client to file legal proceedings to recover their invoice amount and also interest on that amount. Here are some points you ought to include in your invoices:

1) “Subject to <city> jurisdiction”: Let’s say you have an office in Mumbai but supplied goods to a company which is located at Delhi. When the invoice is unpaid and you have to file a case, jurisdiction can be a problem. You would probably want to file in Mumbai, but the other company object that the case is supposed to go to Delhi because that’s where the goods were delivered and that’s where their company has their offices (as per law this would actually be a good defence!). If you mention “Subject to Mumbai Jurisdiction” then it improves the chances of your case in Mumbai being maintainable.