Page 6 - BEST MAGAZINE Winter 2019-2020

4
ECONOMY AND FINANCE
LEGAL DIY
BY JESSICA MEDINA, LL.B, LL.M
The notion of DIY (“Do it yourself”) is a trend that has impacted the world, especially projects posted all over the internet that seem pretty easy to accomplish. We frequently see successful DIY projects for assembling, revamping furniture, remodelling jobs, painting. We also see how you can self-diagnose any disease you may have. However, the accuracy of the technique to build something and self-diagnosis is not good enough to substitute the need of a professional. For example, would you try to DIY your wisdom tooth extraction? You could, but would you put yourself through irreparable harm?
It’s not different with legal drafting. The Internet is a great tool to find Agreements of Purchase and Sale, Partnership Agreements, commercial contracts, Wills and other legal documents.
However, using these boilerplate
documents without understanding the advice protects you from: contents of the obligations contained,
the accuracy and validity of these • Lawsuits
documents, or satisfying proper due
diligence, may cause irreparable harm •
to your personal life and business.
What the internet doesn’t show you
is the cost incurred in order fix the •
harm caused by self-lawyering. It may
cost you five times more to amend a •
legal document, than what it would
have initially costed you to paid for
the documents to be prepared from •
scratch by a lawyer.
Practicing law is not like assembling • an Ikea furniture. Lawyers are prepared for decades in critical thinking, analysis and legal research in order to be able
to tailor documents to address the particular circumstances in any given matter. This is something that is not commensurate by a couple of clicks. Proper legal representation, including
Omit crucial language to layout/ enforce the obligations agreed upon the parties
preparation of documents and legal
Obsolete/unenforceable documents
Expensive remedial cost
Oversight of the obligations agreed upon
Different legal consequences than what was indented
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THE BEST MAGAZINE WINTER 2019-2020
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