Legal Question in Technology Law in Texas

Generally no, but you should always have a contract signed if you are a developer with all your clients which explicitly states that you are not liable. You really should have a contract signed to protect you from liability, payment terms (make sure you are getting paid), choice of law (so you dont get sued in another state), confidentiality, warranty, etc. I pulled some important provisions from our development contracts below. "Company" means your client and "Developer" means you. Please keep in mind that these are basic terms and your own circumstances may be different. Feel free to call me if you want a deeper review. Hope this helps!

Limitation of Liability:

COMPANY agrees to use the Internet Services provided by Developer in a manner permitted by applicable local, state and federal laws. The transmission of any material in violation of local, state or federal law is prohibited. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, the transmission of copyrighted material without permission of the copyright holder, material legally judged to be threatening or obscene or material protected by trade secret. COMPANY agrees to indemnify and hold Developer harmless from any claims resulting from Internet Services that cause direct or indirect damage to another party. COMPANY further agrees to indemnify and hold Developer harmless from any and all lawsuits, judgments, decrees, costs and expenses, and any attorney fees arising from the Company use of the Internet Services provided by Developer. Developer's policy is to not monitor content or control the content disseminated by COMPANY, and thus can bear no responsibility for said information or uses of Company computer system.

Additionally, some key points in web development contracts would address:

Compliance with Applicable Laws and Regulations:

At all times during the term of this Agreement, Company shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations concerning the performance of its obligations hereunder.

Reservation of Rights:

Any and all rights to each Party�s respective intellectual property and other material not specifically granted to any other Party are reserved to such Party.

Mutual Representations and Warranties:

Each Party hereby represents and warrants that: (a) it has the full authority to enter into and fully perform its obligations under this Agreement; (b) the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement by such Party does not conflict with any other agreement to which it is a party and/or by which it is bound; (c) during the Term, such Party shall not enter into any agreement with any third party that is inconsistent with the provision of this Agreement; and (d) such Party shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations applicable to such Party�s activities in furtherance of this Agreement.

DEVELOPER EXPLICITLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Developer is not responsible for any loss resulting from the use, installation, and or discontinuation of the Internet Services such as hosting or email services, including but not limited to losses resulting from delays, improper or incomplete delivery of information, computer viruses, interruption of service or damage to equipment. COMPANY acknowledges that Developer does not warrant any conditions of privacy and may be required to provide access to any computer system on its network as required by State or Federal law.

In no event will Developer be liable for any damages caused by the Company failure to perform Company responsibilities, or for any lost profits or other consequential damages, even if Developer has been advised of the possibility of such damages from said failure, or for any claim against the COMPANY by any third party.

Other Terms and Conditions:

Developer is not responsible for the accidental loss of COMPANY data from its web servers or internal systems (such as Accounting or Inventory Management Systems). COMPANY is solely responsible to back-up their web site data unless Developer has specifically been contracted to perform these services. Developer makes routine data backups for its own internal purposes but these backups should not be relied upon as Company sole source backup. Developer can provide backup services to COMPANY at additional cost. Developer is not responsible for programming �bugs� in software developed by Third Party Vendors. Developer is not responsible to reconfigure Company software where the installation of new software by COMPANY causes software previously installed by Developer to work improperly.

Entire Agreement:

This document constitutes the entire Agreement between COMPANY and Developer with respect to Internet Services, and cannot be modified without the express written consent of both parties. Neither COMPANY nor Developer has made any representation, promise or warranty, explicit or implied, not set forth in this Agreement.

Governing Law:

Termination:

Term, Right to terminate, Cause

(ex. In the event of any termination or cancellation the Company shall be liable to Developer for ______pro rata portion of the fee and expenses)

(ex. Developer will (will not) make a copy of all work completed on the Company Web Site at the time of termination. The information will be burned onto a CD-ROM and sent to COMPANY at a cost of $______ per unit)

Arbitration and Attorney�s Fees