This one's for trade business owners and owner-builders who are sick of paying for every standard agreement. Here's a tool we found for handling the legal documents in our business: Lawpath. It saves money and time on most of the general business agreements you'll need.
If you're flat out running your business, you'll know the headache legal paperwork causes. Lawpath took a lot of that headache away for us, and here's why it might do the same for you.
Disclosure: the Lawpath links in this post are referral links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The Legal Maze We Found Ourselves In
When we started our business, the legal side was daunting. Contracts and agreements felt like they needed a law degree to understand, and we were always worried that a missed detail would cause big problems later. Every new project felt like a gamble.
We've been through legal disputes before, and the main thing our lawyers always tell us is: read the document, and let us review it before you sign.
That Lightbulb Moment with Lawpath
We found Lawpath while searching for free legal templates. I'm aware of the irony: "free" and "quality legal" don't usually turn up in the same sentence. Lawpath is an online library of legal document templates and guidance written for Australian businesses, including construction businesses.
In my experience, every lawyer uses templates; they just adjust them to suit you. Lawpath does more than templates, though.
If you need something tailored, you submit a brief through the website and ask for a quote to create or modify an agreement. For example, Lawpath's partner lawyers adapted an old shareholders' agreement of ours for a new business where shareholders earn their shares over time instead of paying upfront. It was quicker and cheaper than what I'd paid a lawyer for the original.
You upload your agreement, give some context and a brief, and Lawpath connects you with one of its partner lawyers, who quotes a time and cost to do the work.
Normally that's a series of phone calls, emails and tracked changes with your lawyer. In my experience, getting a document drafted outside Lawpath takes at least 4 to 6 weeks and typically costs $1,800 to $2,500.
So how have we used Lawpath so far?
Cutting Through Contract Confusion
First, the contracts. Lawpath's templates let us adjust agreements to suit, whether for a new partnership or a project contract, without paying a lawyer every time.
Protecting Our Hard Work
Then there's protecting our ideas. We could quickly create an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) whenever we shared information with someone new, and use straightforward copyright and IP agreement templates to protect our designs.
Growing Our Team the Right Way
As the team grew, so did the paperwork. Lawpath's employment templates made onboarding new team members much quicker. You still need to check the relevant award and Fair Work requirements for your trade.
The Equipment Leasing Lifesaver
Equipment leasing used to be a hassle. Lawpath's lease agreement templates covered everything we needed, so both parties knew exactly where they stood.
What else I like about Lawpath
It has built-in e-signing with tracking, so you can see when a document has been opened and signed. No more "I didn't get that email, can you resend it?"
And every agreement is in one place, instead of scattered across a dozen Google Drive folders.
The Bottom Line
Lawpath made the legal side a lot less stressful and let us focus on what we do best: building.
FAQs Quickfire
- Good for any size biz? Yep, from one-man bands to growing enterprises.
- Easy for non-lawyers? Absolutely, it’s all laid out in plain English.
- Can it replace a lawyer? For everyday templates, often. For disputes, building contracts or anything with real money at stake, get a lawyer to review it.
- What sets it apart? Affordability, ease of use, and it's built for Australian businesses, construction included.
Your Next Move
If any of this sounds familiar, Lawpath is worth a look. It's simplified the legal side of running our construction business. Check it out through the link below.
