Both parties must enter into the NDA voluntarily and with a clear understanding of its terms. If there was coercion or deception involved, the agreement may not be valid.
Harshdeep Rapalon June 14, 2024. A Consultant Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legal contract that establishes a confidential relationship between a company and a consultant. The agreement outlines the information that must remain confidential and details the obligations of both parties regarding that information.
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.
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.
NDAs are enforceable when they are signed — if they are properly drafted and executed. NDAs are enforceable once signed, provided they have been drafted and executed properly. Unilateral NDAs need only the signature of the receiving party, whereas mutual non-disclosure agreements need the signatures of both parties.
Indeed, the potential client may well get you to sign an NDA yourself, to protect any business secrets they indulge during your pitch. So by presenting them with an NDA of your own, and making a strong case for them to sign it, you're actually conveying your seriousness and raising your authority overall.
If both parties under the NDA were signing as sole proprietors, you have to ensure that both your full names are stated clearly. If you wanted to ensure that there would be no doubt about who the parties were, then you could add identification information such as addresses or social security numbers.
Breaking an NDA usually doesn't result in jail time — as NDAs are civil contracts, not criminal agreements. Typically, the consequence is a breach of contract lawsuit, where the harmed party may seek financial compensation if the court rules in their favor.
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.
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.