I understand your point, but I still disagree to a large extent with your conclusion.

MJD's point was to say: "Use your mind, be reasonable, don't accept to sign anything." And I agree with him. Should I have a lawyer on retainer? I doubt.

To clarify, possibly unlike you, I do not really own a business. I do not have any employees. I am just a freelance IT consultant, working essentially full-time for a tier-one telecommunication operator (although, technically, this telco is my end client, I am billing my services to an intermediate IT service provider).

I have an accountant on retainer. Although I passed an MBA and have some decent knowledge on accounting, I prefer my accounts and professional tax returns to be prepared by a professional accountant. She can do it much more efficiently that I could, so I should better spend my time working for my client.

But do I need a lawyer on retainer? Probably not. Before I completed my CS master's degrees (one in computer science and one in software engineering), I was a translator for a famous law firm (for 10 years). I think that I understand legalese jargon well enough to be able to understand the consequences of an agreement.

Alright, my profile might be untypical, but I think that reading a contract with good sense should probably enough in many cases. And I think that this was essentially MJD's point.