Hi Paralegal! Elizabeth Hamilton is a client of ours and is a very successful self-employed paralegal. She works for law firms on a contract basis from her office at 123 Revolution Ave., Austin, Texas 78744. She has been offered a job as a temporary contract paralegal with Jefferson and Madison, LLP, located at 444 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701. This law firm needs Ms. Hamilton to provide paralegal services for an upcoming trial in the matter of the State of Texas vs. Burr. The trial is scheduled to begin in August 2024 and may take several weeks. In preparation for the trial, Jefferson and Madison, LLP would like to hire Ms. Hamilton on a temporary contract basis from May 1, 2024 through October 1, 2024. The firm will guarantee at least 20 hours of work per week for Ms. Hamilton. Ms. Hamilton is to be paid her usual consultation and service fee of $100 per hour and will bill the firm monthly for her work (she expects payment of her bills within 10 business days of receipt). Ms. Hamilton is accustomed to working in the legal field and respecting the confidentiality involved with such work.
Please prepare a simple employment contract on behalf of Ms. Hamilton summarizing her contractual relationship with Jefferson and Madison, LLP. In this contract you should include the applicable provisions 1) outlined in the TYLA “Understanding Employment Contracts in Texas” document (the drug testing, non-compete, non-solicitation, and union provisions are not applicable here) and 2) noted in my presentation as requirements for written contracts. The “Example Contract Terms and Form” document we reviewed should be used as a guide for formatting and will give you some suggested language for common contract provisions (but please note that some of the language in this document contains legalese and could be simplified AND most of the provisions will not be applicable to an employment contract). Also, follow the drafting suggestions offered by Professor Jaroszewski in his “Draft a Better Contract” lecture and the Center for Innovation in Legal Education in its “Introduction to Contract Drafting” video.
As you know, Texas is an employment at will state, so an employment agreement is not necessary. However, our client would feel more comfortable ensuring that she and this law firm have a clear meeting of the minds regarding her employment.
watch video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l-7llPDS54
