4 Things to Consider Prior to Signing a Nondisclosure Agreement

If you are involved in a personal injury lawsuit, as a part of your settlement you may be asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement. This is a contract between the parties involved where all parties will agree that the terms and conditions of the lawsuit will remain private.

While many people see no harm in keeping quiet about what has taken place and/or what the final outcome is, there are some things that must first be considered. Here are a few of them.

While keeping things private often seems to be a fairly simple thing to do, some people may need to know a few details of your settlement.

For example, if you plan to use an accountant or a financial adviser to help you invest and manage the proceeds of your settlement, they may need some information. This could include the amount of money you will receive or whether it will be a lump sum or annuity payments over a specified period of time.

Depending what you plan to do with your settlement, you may need additional legal advice. You may need to disclose some of the terms in order to set up a trust or to place various provisions within your will.

Your nondisclosure agreement may permit you to disclose to certain people such as your attorney, accountant, and spouse, but you need to ensure that this clause is included in anything you sign.

Not all nondisclosure agreements are created equal. While some may cover all of the information contained within your lawsuit, others may just be specific to the terms, conditions, and/or settlement amounts.

It is easy to understand why the plaintiff would not want an admission of guilt or the terms or amount of a settlement agreement made public. To do so may not only damage their reputation, but may also impact other pending claims against them; other attorneys cannot place a reasonable value on a potential case if they don’t have other known cases to compare it to.

In addition, you may not want your medical conditions, medications, disabilities, or settlement amounts publicly disclosed.

Fortunately, each nondisclosure agreement can be tailored to cover the specifics of your case and your requirements along with those of the other party to the suit.

Are you expected to keep the information confidential for a year, ten years, or a lifetime? While each nondisclosure agreement can be individualized, you need to know the exact time period that the agreement will be in effect. Once this time period has expired, you or others involved in the case are free to disclose the covered information.

This time period along with other components of the agreement should be open for negotiation.

The agreement should contain very clear language on what the penalties are for a violation. These penalties may range from being sued in court to liquidating the settlement and returning anything you received.

Nondisclosure agreements are very serious documents. You need to fully understand exactly what you are signing and actually agreeing to. You should not sign a nondisclosure agreement without it first being reviewed by legal counsel.

Fortunately, at Richard D. Hoffman Law Offices, we understand what nondisclosure agreements should and should not include and whether they are in the best interest of your case. Call us today so that we can review your case, help you negotiate your settlement, and review your nondisclosure agreement if one is required. We can help ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.