California courts may refuse to enforce non-disclosure agreements that are overly broad or vague in their terms. NDAs should have a clear description of the purpose, parties, and duration they cover.
You don't need a lawyer to create the agreement, but you may need someone with legal expertise to review it.
If you need an NDA, looking at templates online isn't a bad place to start, but ideally you should work with a lawyer who can write a simple NDA for you or tweak the one you have. You may be able to find someone in your community who can do it for a few hundred bucks.
The Receiving Party agrees not to issue or release for publication any articles or advertising or publicity matter relating to this Agreement which mention or imply the name of the Disclosing Party any of its affiliates, or subject matter hereof, unless prior written consent is granted by the Disclosing Party subject ...
Typically, a legal professional writing the NDA will complete these steps: Step 1 - Describe the scope. Which information is considered confidential? ... Step 2 - Detail party obligations. Step 3 - Note potential exclusions. Step 4 - Set the term. Step 5 - Spell out consequences.
You do not need a lawyer to create and sign a non-disclosure agreement. However, if the information you are trying to protect is important enough to warrant an NDA, you may want to have the document reviewed by someone with legal expertise.
At the top, there are three types, unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral NDAs. The rest of the specific NDA types fall under these three categories. Most are based on who has to sign the NDA. Not all NDAs are created equally, and they can only demand so much secrecy from strangers when compared to their employees.
An NDA does not necessarily need to be notarized to be valid. The key elements for its validity are mutual agreement, clearly defined terms, and exchange of consideration (which can be the mutual exchange of information).
An NDA that prevents an employee from working in their profession or field of trade may be considered a non-compete agreement. In California, non-compete agreements are more rarely enforceable. NDAs can also not be used to prevent the reporting of illegal activity or to silence whistleblowers.