Cost
A reviewed reseller agreement template (as part of the Reseller pack) is $229 one-time. A lawyer drafting a reseller agreement from scratch typically bills 8-20 hours at $400-$800/hour, totaling $3,000 to $16,000. The same lawyer reviewing a template before signing typically bills 1-3 hours at the same rate, totaling $400 to $2,400. Most companies end up paying for legal review regardless of starting point.
Time to first signed partner
Template plus legal review: 1-2 weeks. Lawyer-drafted from scratch: 4-8 weeks. The time difference is usually the deciding factor for teams trying to land a partner this quarter.
Legal defensibility
A reviewed template that your lawyer signed off on is no less defensible than an agreement your lawyer drafted from scratch. The defensibility comes from the lawyer's review, not from who initially wrote the document. Templates that have been used by many companies sometimes have stronger defensibility than novel drafts because the language has been tested.
When fully custom lawyer drafting is worth it
- Highly unusual commercial terms (revenue share structures that templates do not contemplate)
- Jurisdictions where standard templates do not work (specific state laws, international markets with unusual requirements)
- Enterprise agreements with $1M+ revenue at stake where any defensibility uplift justifies the cost
- Industries with specific regulatory requirements (healthcare, financial services, government)
The workflow most companies use
- Start from a reviewed template (e.g., the Reseller pack).
- Customize commercial terms, jurisdiction, and motion-specific clauses to your context.
- Have your lawyer review the customized version (1-3 hours typical).
- Send to partner counter-party for their review.
- Iterate on redlines.
This pattern delivers a defensible agreement in 1-2 weeks at $400-$2,500 total spend, versus 4-8 weeks at $3K-$16K for from-scratch drafting.