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§ Contracts

Service · Consulting · Contractor · NDA · Vendor

A contract setsthe price ofconfusion later.

Scope, payment, termination, ownership, liability, and leverage — the lines that quietly decide how a commercial relationship ends. Northline reviews and drafts with those lines in focus, and flags what should be renegotiated before signature.

Review from
$850
Draft from
$1,250
Turnaround
Scoped in writing

§ 01 — How we read a contract

The six lines that decide.

Every commercial contract gets six structured reads: scope, payment, termination, ownership, liability, and leverage. The paragraphs that talk about those six lines are the ones that change the outcome — the rest is template.

Northline produces a revision memo with the flagged clauses, recommended changes, and the reasoning behind each. It is not a clause rewrite for its own sake — it is a read of what matters and what to leave alone.

§ 02 — Six structured reads

What we look at, every time.

  1. Scope

    What is actually being delivered, by whom, by when, and how changes are documented and priced.

  2. Payment

    Milestones, holdbacks, late fees, currency, taxes, expenses, and what triggers the obligation to pay.

  3. Termination

    Termination for convenience, for cause, notice periods, survival of obligations, and wind-down rails.

  4. Ownership

    IP assignment versus licence, background IP, residuals, data, deliverables, and templates.

  5. Liability

    Caps, carve-outs, indemnities, insurance, consequential damage exclusions, and third-party claims.

  6. Leverage

    What each side actually relies on in practice, and what would happen if the relationship ended today.

§ 03 — Common matters

Agreements we draft and review.

  1. Service and consulting agreements

    Fixed-fee, retainer, and hourly structures — with revisions to scope, acceptance, and IP that match how the work actually runs.

  2. Independent contractor agreements

    Draft or review with classification risk notes — control, tools, exclusivity, integration, and termination tightened against misclassification exposure.

  3. Vendor and SaaS agreements

    Terms of service, order forms, data processing addenda, and negotiated riders reviewed for price, liability, and renewal traps.

  4. NDAs and confidentiality

    Mutual and one-way NDAs, permitted purpose limits, term, carve-outs for compelled disclosure, and survival.

  5. Letters of intent and term sheets

    Binding versus non-binding language, exclusivity, diligence commitments, and fallback if the deal does not close.

  6. Amendments and side letters

    Cleanly documented changes to live contracts — without creating ambiguity about which document governs.

§ 04 — Pricing

Fixed fees for defined reviews.

Review and draft prices are quoted before the work starts. Larger commercial files and volume engagements move onto an advisory retainer with a written scope.

Fixed-fee

Contract Review

$850starting

Document review, red flags, revision memo, and call.

  • Document review
  • Red flags
  • Revision memo
  • Call
Start a Review
Fixed-fee

Independent Contractor Agreement

$1,250starting

Draft or review, classification risk notes, and a revision round.

  • Draft or review
  • Classification risk notes
  • One revision round
Start a Draft or Review
Hands reviewing a printed contract at a walnut meeting table with a pen and legal pad
Walnut desk detail with a marked-up contract, legal pad, fountain pen, reading glasses, and a water glass
Document storage shelf with blackened steel shelving, cream folders, archive boxes, and legal books

§ 05 — Related

Adjacent work.

Practice

Business

Structure, ownership, and the documents behind the decisions.

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Practice

For Employers

Hiring, policies, terminations, and risk—before they become disputes.

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Practice

Disputes

Position, leverage, evidence, timing—and a practical route forward.

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Intake · Contracts

Contract Review Intake

Send a single commercial, employment, contractor, or vendor agreement for fixed-fee review — flagged document, revision memo, and call.

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Contracts

Business Contract Red Flags

Scope, payment, liability, termination, IP, and dispute clauses — the lines worth slowing down on.

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Insight · Practice notes

How we read a contract on day one

The intake-to-memo path that runs on every commercial contract review — six structured reads, a flagged document, and a thirty-minute call.

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§ Review a contract

Read the contract before you sign.

A fixed-fee review returns a flagged document, a revision memo, and a call. You make the final decision with the lines that matter clearly in view.

Northline Law

Toronto · Ontario