7 red flags in freelance contracts (and how to push back)

Most freelancers sign client contracts without reading past the rate. That is exactly where expensive surprises hide: in liability, payment terms and IP clauses written by the client's lawyer, for the client's benefit. Here are the seven that cost freelancers the most money, and the exact language to push back with.

1. Unlimited liability. If a project goes wrong, you could be on the hook for damages far beyond the project fee, including the client's lost revenue or third-party claims. This is the single most expensive clause in freelance contracts, because it turns a €5,000 project into potentially unlimited exposure. Push back by capping total liability at the fees paid under the agreement (or, at most, a fixed multiple of them) and excluding indirect or consequential damages.

2. Slow payment terms. Net-60 or net-90 terms turn you into your client's bank, financing their business with your unpaid invoices while your own bills stay on a 30-day clock. Counter with net-15 or net-30 and add a late-payment interest clause (many jurisdictions set a statutory rate you can simply reference). Most clients accept this without discussion: it's rarely the term they actually care about.

3. Broad IP assignment. IP transfer clauses often assign everything you create during the engagement, including your reusable tooling, internal libraries, and pre-existing frameworks, to the client. Carve out your pre-existing IP and general-purpose components explicitly, and only assign what's specific to the deliverable. Without this carve-out, you may technically lose the right to reuse your own toolkit on the next project.

4. No kill fee. If the client cancels midway, a contract with no kill fee can leave you unpaid for work already scheduled or started. A simple fix: a clause guaranteeing a percentage of remaining fees (commonly 25-50%) if the project is cancelled without cause.

5. Unlimited revisions. "Revisions until client satisfaction" sounds reasonable until it means unpaid rework for months. Cap revisions at a fixed number per deliverable, with additional rounds billed at your hourly rate.

6. Vague scope. A one-paragraph scope description is a red flag by itself: it lets the client redefine "included" work indefinitely. Insist on a scope exhibit or statement of work with concrete deliverables, and a clause stating that anything not listed is a change order.

7. One-sided termination rights. Some contracts let the client terminate for convenience with no notice, while requiring you to give 60 or 90 days' notice to walk away. Push for symmetrical termination rights, or at minimum a notice period you can actually live with.

None of these clauses are unusual: they show up in the majority of client-drafted agreements, simply because the client's lawyer wrote them to favor the client. Asking to adjust them is standard practice, not confrontation, and in our experience the large majority of clients accept reasonable pushback on at least a few of these without any negotiation drama at all.