Read It Before You Sign It
Most contract problems are not dramatic. They are a payment term that was never defined, an automatic renewal nobody noticed, or an indemnity clause that quietly moves someone else's risk onto your balance sheet. By the time those things matter, the signatures are already on the page and your options have narrowed considerably.
Contract review is part of the business law work we do at Kanu & Associates, P.C. We help companies form properly, manage contracts, maintain compliance, and address employer immigration needs. Reviewing an agreement before it is executed is usually the cheapest hour a business owner spends with a lawyer all year.
We work with clients throughout Arizona and New Mexicoand we handle both residential and commercial matters. Whether you are a one-person LLC signing your first commercial lease or an established company processing vendor agreements every month, the goal is the same: you should understand what you are agreeing to before you agree to it.
What We Look At
Every agreement is different, but a thorough read-through tends to come back to the same pressure points. Those are where disputes start, and they are where we focus.
- Scope and deliverables — what exactly is being promised, by whom, and by when
- Payment terms — amounts, timing, late fees, and what happens if an invoice goes unpaid
- Term, renewal and termination — how long you are committed and how you get out
- Liability and indemnification — who absorbs the cost when something goes wrong
- Warranties and representations — the promises you may not realize you are making
- Confidentiality and non-compete provisions — how far the restrictions actually reach
- Dispute resolution — arbitration, venue, governing law, and attorney fee provisions
- Assignment and change of control — what happens if the other side sells the business
Common documents we are asked to review include commercial and residential leases, independent contractor and employment agreements, vendor and supplier contracts, service agreements, purchase and sale documents, operating agreements, NDAs, and settlement paperwork.
How a Review Works
Send us the document and tell us the context — who the other party is, what the deal is supposed to accomplish, and whether anything about it already feels off. Context matters. A clause that is perfectly normal in one industry can be a serious problem in another.
We then read the agreement carefully and come back to you in plain English. You get a clear picture of what the contract does, which terms create real exposure, which ones are negotiable, and what we would suggest asking for. If you want us to mark up the document or correspond with the other side's counsel, we can do that. If you would rather handle the negotiation yourself with our notes in hand, that works too.
Dr. Solomon Kanu brings more than two decades of legal experience to this work. He was admitted to practice in Arizona in 2001, before the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in 2001, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2002, and he is a member of the State Bar of New Mexico. His background includes a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and a Master of Commerce in Banking and Business Finance from M.S. University of Baroda — a combination that is genuinely useful when the contract on the table is a financing document.
What sets Dr. Kanu apart is his meticulous attention to detail and commitment to his clients' success.
The firm holds a 4.3 out of 5 rating from 152 reviewsand was recognized among the Top 20 Solo Practitioners in Arizona by the State Bar of Arizona in 2012.
Talk to Us About Your Contract
We take time to understand your goals, explain your options, and help you move forward with confidence. That approach applies to a twelve-page vendor agreement just as much as it does to the immigration, estate planning, criminal defense, and family law matters we handle.
Call (602) 324-5320 or email solomon@kanulaw.com. Our office is at 15150 W Pk Pl Ste 215-2064, Goodyear, AZ 85395, and we are open Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm. If you have a signing deadline coming up, say so when you reach out so we can plan around it.