Sample Attorney Website Design Contract

by Suuzen Ty Anderson, Esq.

[available for public copying, posting, and adaptation, if no charge is made and an HTML link to www.lawmarkets.com is included in any republication]

You, [attorney's or firm's name], and I, Suuzen Ty Anderson, Esq., agree that I will design a new website for your law practice with the goal of persuading website visitors who are potential clients to contact you. We agree on these terms:

1. Website Domain Name. The domain name of your website will be [attorney's or law firm's domain name]. You have registered this domain in your name, or will transfer it to your name. You will have an annual domain name renewal fee of approximately $10- $15 payable directly to your domain registrar. If you purchase other domain names for this website, they can be forwarded to your website. I will assist you in this as you request. If you have no domain name, or wish to change your domain name, I suggest you register the domain name you select with 1and1.com. Their rates are low and they make it easy to attach any domain name to your website.

2. Hosting service is your selection. You understand that you will be separately responsible for paying your website hosting service to host your site. I will post your website's files and answer any questions about your files no matter what hosting service you use. You agree to look to your hosting service to advise you on all hosting-related issues, such as email and autoresponders. I use and recommend EngineHosting.com's shared-load hosting, which is available for $10.00 per month from http://www.enginehosting.com/web_hosting/solutions/shared/.

3. Menus. I will place either a top menu, side menu, or combination of top and side menus on each page. General categories of legal services will be listed on a home page menu. If a general category contains multiple pages, then each of those pages will have an expanded menu showing the multiple pages.

4. Pages. As part of my flat fee for my services, I will design up to 20 pages, including a contact-us page, a home page, a privacy page, a terms of use page, and up to 16 other pages of your choice.

5. Services. My services will include:

a. Web Marketing Advice. After discussing your practice, your goals, and the competition with you, I will advise you and answer your questions concerning:

• What service pages your site needs to include, how they should be named, and how your site should be organized for maximum marketing appeal.
• What text needs to be on your home page, service pages, and bio pages, how to explain the benefits of your services. If you request, I'll also advice and assist you on how to gracefully explain any difficult items, such as your payment policies or limits on the types of matters you accept.
• How to promote your site, including the latest techniques for search engine positioning if you are interested in this.

I will provide this advice and answer your questions without charge from the date your contract is signed until 60 days after your website is completed. However, you are under no obligation to follow any of my advice, and I'll follow your choices, so long as they are legal and ethical, in all respects.

b. All XHTML and CSS programming. I will personally write all XHTML and CSS for all pages, and will use no-cost commercial JavaScript and CGI where needed. The programming will be search-engine friendly, meaning it can easily be read by all search engines. It will comply with basic level website disability access standards under http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm (Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act).

I will create an automatically expanding format so that your site will fill the screen at any browser resolution between 800 x 600 and 1280 x 1024; it will look best at the most popular resolution, 1024 x 768. I will include a "Contact Us" form at the bottom of every legal service and attorney bio page if your website hosting service permits.

c. Text formatting. I will insert the text you give me for each page and will format it as attractively as possible.

d. Editing questions answered; up to 20 pages edited. I will be available at no charge by telephone or e-mail to answer all questions you have about conceptualizing, organizing, and writing the text for all pages. I will edit up to 20 pages of your website for marketing appeal as part of my services. I will edit any additional pages you request me to for the flat rate of $250 per page. I will correct or remove any of my editing changes that you may request me to.

e. Graphic design.

1) I will personally create the graphic design for your site. I will design a site layout and navigation structure intended to appeal to [insert type of client base (ex: "a consumer and small business client base")]. I will make all changes in the design that you request.

2) I will select and license royalty-free advertising photos or illustrations from a low-cost photo agency, such as http://www.istockphoto.com or http://www.bigstockphoto.com, for use in your site where appropriate. Although choices are not unlimited at these photo agencies, if you do not care for a photo I have chosen, I will look for another to substitute.

3) I will size, color-adjust, resample, and insert any photos of you, your building, or other items you or a photographer for you provides to me in a 200 dpi or higher resolution at any time before your website is complete. However, for the best-planned design, the sooner you can provide any photos you want me to use, the better. If you do not have a current portrait, I suggest you obtain one (Sears and Wal-Mart offer inexpensive portraits in many cities) and have it scanned and emailed to me. Most copying and printing businesses can scan. I strongly recommend against home digital photos; professional lighting is needed for a photo that looks good online.

f. Text updating software. I include in my flat fee the cost of licensing one copy of WebEdit (by http://www.interspire.com/webedit/ ), a program that will allow you to edit your text online. WebEdit will not function to change the design or add new pages to the navigation bar; that must be done by me or another website designer.

g. Development software. I'll develop your site using Adobe's Dreamweaver. I'll develop graphics in Adobe Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator, and Fireworks. I represent that these are all standard, widely-distributed professional graphic design or website design programs that can be used by another designer to modify your site in the future, if you desire.

h. Uploading & testing. I will upload your files to your hosting service, and test to make sure they are fully visible and operational under the current versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Mozilla. I will also upload all my original Photoshop or Illustrator-format graphic files so that your website's design elements can be modified by any other designer in the future.

6. You guarantee your right to use graphics you furnish. You guarantee that you own the rights to use any logos, photos, videos, or other artwork that you furnish to me for your website, and will hold me harmless and indemnify me from any liability for using graphics you furnish but don't have legal rights to use.

7. Website changes or additions. I'll make any changes you request to your site at no charge for sixty days after the date the finished website is first posted to your hosting service. I will bill any changes taking additional time at $135 per hour in .1 hour increments through 2008 and at my then-current hourly rate in later years.

8. Beginning and completion dates. I’ll begin work on your site within 15 day after you have prepared, with as much of my assistance as you desire, a final list of the pages you want included on your site. I will work on your design while you work on drafting text for me to edit.

We agree to work together expeditiously with the goal of completing your site within 60 days after I begin working on it, or sooner if reasonably possible. You agree to review any draft pages within fourteen days after they are made available to you, and to make any changes or corrections within that time if reasonably possible.

9. Responsibility for legal compliance. You agree to be solely responsible for complying with any laws that apply to your website, including the rules of professional conduct governing attorneys and laws governing use of trademarks and copyrights.

10. Ownership of design and original artwork. I'll retain ownership of this website until you have fully paid for it, at which time you'll acquire all rights to all original artwork I created specifically for your website, and a permanent right to use the site layout and all underlying code. I retain the right to re-use the general layout and code (layouts and code are so similar from website to website that it is not possible to grant exclusive rights and stay in the design business) and to use the site design and artwork for educational and my own marketing purposes.

Once you acquire ownership, you will have the right to change, update, or expand your site at any time using any professional designer. I will upload into a hidden file the Dreamweaver templates for all of your pages, and the original licensed stock photos, so that any future designer you select can retrieve and use them. You can, however, edit your text using the text editing system at any time after your site is complete, whether you have fully paid for your site or not.

11. Payment. The work outlined in this agreement will be completed for the flat charge of $6,000.00. This will include the photo-licensing and the text-editing program mentioned above. You will be responsible for paying for domain name registration and hosting directly, and for reimbursing me for any other costs that I might incur at your specific request.

12. Terms. a. $1000.00 payable on the date you sign this contract; b. $1000.00 payable on the 30th day following the signing date; c. $1000.00 payable on the 60th day following the signing date; d. $1000.00 payable on the 90th day following the signing date; e. $1000.00 payable on the 120th day following the signing date; f. $1000.00, plus any costs I have incurred at your specific request, payable on the 150th day following the signing date.

13. Cancellation fee. You retain the right to cancel this contract at any time before my work is complete. However, if you do, you agree to pay for the percentage of the work I've finished, including the time I've spent planning your site and communicating with you, as an equivalent percentage of the contract price. I'll stop work as soon as I receive your cancellation notice, and will then estimate the percentage of work finished and give you all files so that you may independently estimate it. If we can't agree, we'll handle our dispute as explained in the next paragraph. Once I have completed your site, the contract can no longer be cancelled, whether or not you want any changes made to your site.

14. Arbitration or Small Claims Court for disputes. We agree that California law governs this agreement and any dispute involving it.

Small Claims. If the amount in dispute is within the monetary limits of the Small Claims Court [currently, $7,500 for individuals, $5,000 for corporations], we agree to resolve our dispute there. We each agree to bear our own costs and fees, and waive the right to seek a new trial in the Superior Court. We make this agreement to save the time and money that would be wasted in lengthy litigation of a small amount. We agree that small claims venue will be in [name] County.

An appearance by any witness or party may be made by telephone in lieu of travel if the party requesting such appearance files a request with the Small Claims Court before the hearing, and the Court grants the request. We agree that neither of us will oppose in any way a request for appearance by telephone in lieu of travel.

Arbitration. If the amount in dispute is greater than the limits of the Small Claims Court, we agree to resolve any dispute by binding arbitration conducted pursuant to California CCP 1280 et seq. The dispute may be arbitrated by any person we agree on, but if we cannot agree, then either of us may petition the Superior Court in and for the County of San Diego to appoint an arbitrator. We will each pay our own fees and costs.

The party who refuses to make a settlement offer, or if both parties make an offer, the one whose offer is furthest monetarily from the arbitration award, shall pay the cost of the arbitrator. If one of us does not appear at the arbitration hearing, the arbitrator may decide in favor of the one who does appear. However, any appearance by a witness or a party may be made by telephone in lieu of travel with the arbitrator’s consent, obtained before the hearing commences, and we agree that neither of us will oppose any person's request for appearance by telephone.

Any arbitrator's decision may be incorporated in a judgment signed by the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court and entered into the judgment book by any party.

15. Entire agreement. This agreement constitutes our entire understanding. Any changes or modifications to it must be in writing and signed by both of us. This agreement may be executed in counterpart and each such counterpart shall be considered the original agreement.

16. Effective date of the agreement. This agreement is effective when it is signed by you and returned to me. I appreciate the confidence you have expressed in me by asking me to design your website. I am sincerely looking forward to being able to serve you. If this agreement is in accord with your understanding, please sign below and return a copy by mail to me. This is your contract with me, and protects both of us in preventing misunderstandings. If you do not understand it, or if it does not contain all the agreements you have discussed with me, please call this to my attention immediately so that I can correct it.

Dated: __________ By: ____________________________________
                                       Suuzen Ty Anderson, Esq.

Dated: __________ By: _____________________________________
                                       [Attorney Name]
                                       [for: Firm Name]