Contract Drafting and Review for Long Island Businesses
Every contract your business signs is a binding legal commitment — and every one you draft defines exactly how much protection you have when a dispute arises. At Barton & Bruechert Law PC, we draft contracts built around your specific business relationship and New York law requirements, and we review agreements presented by the other side before you put your name on them.
Templates Protect the Person Who Wrote Them
The contract you found online was written by someone else's attorney to serve someone else's interests. It may be missing provisions New York courts require to enforce certain terms. It may include language that limits your remedies in ways you haven't considered. And it almost certainly wasn't written with your specific vendor relationship, client arrangement, or business structure in mind.
Custom contract drafting means the agreement reflects what you actually negotiated, what your business actually needs, and what New York law actually requires to make it stick. That's a different product from a template — and the difference becomes clear the first time something goes wrong.
What We Draft and Review for Long Island Businesses
Our contract drafting and review work covers the full range of agreements a small or mid-sized business encounters. As a business contract lawyer serving Long Island, Nassau County, and Suffolk County, we handle:
- Vendor and supplier agreements
- Service agreements and master service agreements
- Independent contractor agreements
- Operating agreements for LLCs
- Shareholder agreements and buy-sell provisions
- Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
- Licensing agreements
- Employment agreements
- Commercial contracts and purchase orders
- Partnership agreements
If your business is signing it, we can review it. If you need it drafted from the ground up, we write it to your specifications.
Drafting vs. Review — Two Different Services, Both Essential
When you need a contract drafted, we start from your business relationship — what you've agreed to, what you want to protect, and where the risk lies — and build the document around that. The result is an agreement that reflects your actual deal, not a generic approximation of it.
When you receive a contract from a vendor, partner, or client, contract review is a different engagement. We read the full agreement, identify terms that are unfavorable or ambiguous, flag missing protections, and give you a clear picture of what you're agreeing to before you sign. A contract is final the moment you execute it. Review happens before that moment — not after.
Both services are available as standalone engagements or as part of ongoing outside general counsel work for businesses that sign contracts regularly.
The Contracts That Create the Most Risk When They're Wrong
These documents govern how your business runs, how decisions get made, and what happens when owners disagree or one wants to exit. A poorly drafted operating agreement or shareholder agreement doesn't show its flaws until a dispute surfaces — at which point the cost of fixing it is far higher than drafting it correctly from the start.
Operating Agreements and Shareholder Agreements
These documents govern how your business runs, how decisions get made, and what happens when owners disagree or one wants to exit. A poorly drafted operating agreement or shareholder agreement doesn't show its flaws until a dispute surfaces — at which point the cost of fixing it is far higher than drafting it correctly from the start.
Independent Contractor Agreements
New York and federal law apply specific tests to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. An agreement that doesn't reflect the actual working relationship — or that uses boilerplate language without addressing those factors — creates misclassification exposure. We draft independent contractor agreements that hold up to scrutiny.
Non-Disclosure Agreements
An NDA is only as useful as its enforceability. Overly broad NDAs are routinely challenged in New York courts. Overly narrow ones leave your actual confidential information unprotected. We draft NDAs that define the right scope, include appropriate carve-outs, and are built to be enforceable under New York law.
Vendor and Service Agreements
The contracts you sign with vendors, suppliers, and service providers govern what happens when delivery is late, work is defective, or a relationship ends badly. These agreements often arrive pre-drafted by the other party's attorney. We review them to identify what's missing, what's one-sided, and what needs to be negotiated before you commit.
Consistent Contract Review Is a Business Process
Many Long Island business owners sign contracts regularly — vendor renewals, new client agreements, contractor onboarding — without a consistent legal review process in place. Each one represents an ongoing obligation. Each one carries terms that define your exposure if something goes wrong.
As part of outside general counsel services, we provide ongoing contract review that becomes part of how your business operates. You send us agreements before they're signed. We flag what matters. You make informed decisions. Over time, the contracts your business signs start to reflect a consistent risk posture — not a series of one-off decisions made without counsel.
Common Questions About Contract Drafting and Review
How long does contract review take?
For most standard business contracts, we can complete a review within two to five business days. More complex agreements — multi-party contracts, licensing deals, or documents with significant negotiation history — may take longer. We'll give you a realistic timeline at the outset so you can plan accordingly.What makes a contract unenforceable in New York?
New York courts have declined to enforce contracts that lack adequate consideration, fail to meet statute of frauds requirements for certain agreement types, contain unconscionable terms, or are so vague that the parties' obligations cannot be determined. Agreements that misclassify the nature of a relationship — particularly employment versus independent contractor — can also be challenged. An attorney reviewing your contract before signing can identify these issues while there's still time to address them.Should I use a template or have an attorney draft my contracts?
Templates can be a starting point, but they are not legal advice and they are not tailored to your situation. A template drafted for a California LLC operating agreement may not satisfy New York requirements. A generic NDA may not protect the specific information your business needs to keep confidential. Attorney-drafted contracts are written around your actual business relationship, your specific risk profile, and the legal requirements that apply to your industry and jurisdiction.What is an NDA and when do I need one?
A non-disclosure agreement is a contract that obligates one or both parties to keep specified information confidential. You should consider an NDA whenever you're sharing proprietary business information, trade secrets, client lists, pricing structures, or product development details with a vendor, contractor, prospective partner, or employee. NDAs are also common in the early stages of a merger or acquisition, before either party shares sensitive financial or operational information.Can you review a contract that's already been signed?
Yes, though the options available to you are more limited once a contract is executed. We can review a signed agreement to help you understand your obligations, identify potential issues, and advise on how to address them — whether through negotiation, amendment, or other means. The better practice is review before signing, but if you're already bound by an agreement and have questions about what it requires, we can help you work through it.
Work With the Attorney Handling Your Matter
At Barton & Bruechert, our practice is limited to business law — no personal injury, no family law, no general practice. When you bring us a contract drafting or review matter, you work directly with the attorney handling your file, not a paralegal or junior associate working from a checklist. That means the judgment applied to your agreement is the same judgment that goes into our advice.
We serve businesses across Long Island, including clients throughout Nassau County and Suffolk County, from our office in Amityville, NY.
