Contract & Proposal Writer

Generate professional, jurisdiction-aware business documents: freelance contracts, project proposals, SOWs, NDAs, and MSAs. Outputs structured Markdown with docx conversion instructions.

Not a substitute for legal counsel. Use these templates as strong starting points; review with an attorney for high-value or complex engagements.

Note: This skill may create or modify files in your project. It will ask before writing.

Core Capabilities

• Freelance development contracts (fixed-price & hourly)
• Project proposals with timeline/budget breakdown
• Statements of Work (SOW) with deliverables matrix
• NDAs (mutual & one-way)
• Master Service Agreements (MSA)
• Jurisdiction-specific clauses (US/EU/UK/DACH)
• GDPR Data Processing Addenda (EU/DACH)

Key Clauses Reference

Clause	Options
Payment terms	Net-30, milestone-based, monthly retainer
IP ownership	Work-for-hire (US), assignment (EU/UK), license-back
Liability cap	1x contract value (standard), 3x (high-risk)
Termination	For cause (14-day cure), convenience (30/60/90-day notice)
Confidentiality	2-5 year term, perpetual for trade secrets
Warranty	"As-is" disclaimer, limited 30/90-day fix warranty
Dispute resolution	Arbitration (AAA/ICC), courts (jurisdiction-specific)

When to Use

• Starting a new client engagement and need a contract fast
• Client asks for a proposal with pricing and timeline
• Partnership or vendor relationship requiring an MSA
• Protecting IP or confidential information with an NDA
• EU/DACH project requiring GDPR-compliant data clauses

Workflow

1. Gather Requirements

Ask the user:

1. Document type? (contract / proposal / SOW / NDA / MSA)
2. Jurisdiction? (US-Delaware / EU / UK / DACH)
3. Engagement type? (fixed-price / hourly / retainer)
4. Parties? (names, roles, business addresses)
5. Scope summary? (1-3 sentences)
6. Total value or hourly rate?
7. Start date / end date or duration?
8. Special requirements? (IP assignment, white-label, subcontractors)

2. Select Template

Type	Jurisdiction	Template
Dev contract fixed	Any	Template A
Consulting retainer	Any	Template B
SaaS partnership	Any	Template C
NDA mutual	US/EU/UK/DACH	NDA-M
NDA one-way	US/EU/UK/DACH	NDA-OW
SOW	Any	SOW base

3. Generate & Fill

Fill all [BRACKETED] placeholders. Flag missing data as "REQUIRED".

Jurisdiction Notes

US (Delaware)

• Governing law: State of Delaware
• Work-for-hire doctrine applies (Copyright Act 101)
• Arbitration: AAA Commercial Rules
• Non-compete: enforceable with reasonable scope/time

EU (GDPR)

• Must include Data Processing Addendum if handling personal data
• IP assignment requires separate written deed in some member states
• Arbitration: ICC or local chamber

UK (post-Brexit)

• Governed by English law
• IP: Patents Act 1977 / CDPA 1988
• Arbitration: LCIA Rules
• Data: UK GDPR (post-Brexit equivalent)

DACH (Germany / Austria / Switzerland)

• BGB (Buergerliches Gesetzbuch) governs contracts
• Written form requirement for certain clauses (para 126 BGB)
• IP: Author always retains moral rights; must explicitly transfer Nutzungsrechte
• Non-competes: max 2 years, compensation required (para 74 HGB)
• Jurisdiction: German courts (Landgericht) or DIS arbitration
• DSGVO (GDPR implementation) mandatory for personal data processing

Common Pitfalls

1. Missing IP assignment language -- "work for hire" alone is insufficient in EU; need explicit assignment of Nutzungsrechte in DACH
2. Vague acceptance criteria -- Always define what "accepted" means (written sign-off, X days to reject)
3. No change order process -- Scope creep kills fixed-price projects; add a clause for out-of-scope work
4. Jurisdiction mismatch -- Choosing Delaware law for a German-only project creates enforcement problems
5. Missing limitation of liability -- Without a cap, one bug could mean unlimited damages
6. Oral amendments -- Contracts modified verbally are hard to enforce; always require written amendments

Best Practices

• Use milestone payments over net-30 for projects >$10K -- reduces cash flow risk
• For EU/DACH: always check if a DPA is needed (any personal data = yes)
• For DACH: include a Schriftformklausel (written form clause) explicitly
• Add a force majeure clause for anything over 3 months
• For retainers: define response time SLAs (e.g., 4h urgent / 24h normal)
• Keep templates in version control; track changes with git diff
• Review annually -- laws change, especially GDPR enforcement interpretations

Contract Templates

See references/contract-templates.md for full contract templates (fixed-price dev contract, consulting retainer, SaaS partnership, GDPR DPA) and docx conversion instructions.