Consultancy Agreement Review Tool: Flag Risks on the Draft
Checkory is a consultancy agreement review tool for a first pass on client or consultant paper. Upload the draft and get the same file back with risks flagged on the clause, a short explanation, and links to legislation. Built for consultancy agreements — scope creep, fee mechanics, IP vs methodology, liability and termination — not a freelance-clause checklist and not a professional-services checklist. Not a chatbot, not a Word add-in, and not a contract generator. Use the marked draft to decide what to push back on, then send High items to a solicitor. Start at /document-analysis.
A client standard consultancy draft arrives as PDF or DOCX, and you cannot see on that file which clauses assign methodology IP, open the scope, look like employment for tax, or leave unlimited indemnity. Checkory is a consultancy agreement review tool: you upload the draft and get the same file back with risks flagged on the clause, a short explanation, and statute links for England and Wales.
What a consultancy agreement review tool returns
Search for this query usually lands on a findings report, a fairness score, or a Word sidebar. Checkory returns a different artefact: the consultancy draft you uploaded, with risks flagged on the same file, sitting on the clause itself.
This page is for one document type — the consultancy agreement or consulting agreement you were sent. It is not a generic first pass on any inbound contract, and it is not a how-to article about freelance clauses or professional services. The job is to mark the paper you are about to accept or to send.
Risks flagged on the draft, not a chat thread
You upload the PDF or DOCX they sent. You open the same pages, in their order, with flags on the wording they asked you to take. Scope, fees, intellectual property, confidentiality, liability, and termination stay on the sentence that creates the risk.
A detached report or a score pulls the issue off the page. The useful object here is the annotated source file, so you and a solicitor can read the surrounding paragraph and decide what to push back on.
Explanation and statute links on the same file
Each mark comes with a short explanation and, where a provision of England and Wales may relate, a pointer to official statute text. The link is a starting point for you or a solicitor to verify, not a submission you can take to court and not a claim that this is the only applicable rule.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority warning notice on misuse of AI, published 17 August 2026, states that generative AI has no separate legal personality and can invent fictitious cases and references. Treat every cite as “this provision may be relevant”, then read the official text and the clause together. If they do not match, the mark is a question, not an answer.
Scotland and Northern Ireland are separate legal systems. Do not treat a default England and Wales first pass as coverage for the whole United Kingdom. Commercial consultancy paper that names another governing law sits outside this default.
Artefact on a consultancy draft: Checkory marks the source file; Justee, Contracko, and ClauseWize return a report, a score, or playbook copy.
| Product | What comes back | Where the cite sits |
|---|---|---|
| Checkory | The same uploaded consultancy draft with flags on the clause | Explanation plus an official England and Wales statute pointer on the file |
| Justee | Findings, risk ratings, and suggested revisions after an upload | Citations inside the report, not highlights on the source pages |
| Contracko | Extracted fields and a score for scope, fees, IP, term, liability | No marks on the PDF or DOCX you will sign |
| ClauseWize | Negotiation playbook and counter-language after upload | House copy, not a pointer to official statute text on the draft |
The useful object is the marked draft
A findings list, a fairness score, or a playbook paragraph is a different artefact. Checkory returns the consultancy file you uploaded, with flags on their wording. Walk that file. Do not treat a detached report as the review.
Consulting agreement review tool vs a blog checklist
A consulting agreement review tool is an upload path. A blog checklist is a reading path. They answer different jobs. The tool puts flags on this draft. The article teaches you which clause families to look for when you still have time to read.
This landing does not copy those articles. A freelance one-pager or a professional services agreement you want to walk by hand belongs on the neighbouring guides. A consultancy or consulting agreement you need marked belongs here.
B02 covers freelance clauses; this page reviews the consultancy file
A freelance one-pager often packs payment, late fees, and a thin IP line into a few pages. The clause walk for that shape lives in freelance contract clauses to review before signing. That guide is a reading list. It is not an upload, and it is not this tool.
Consultancy paper is usually longer and more one-sided on methodology, change control, and indemnity. The product marks those sentences on the file you were sent.
B29 is a PSA checklist; here the marks sit on your draft
A professional services agreement has its own reading path. The checklist for that document type is the professional services agreement review checklist. Use it when you want a human walk of PSA structure. Use this page when you want the consultancy file marked.
If the consultancy paper points at a later statement of work for deliverables and dates, the child file has its own walk: the statement of work review checklist. Upload the consultancy draft here. Walk the SOW there, or send both High packs to a solicitor.
Consultancy agreement review on the paper you were sent
Most consultancy agreement review jobs start with someone else paper. A client sends “our standard consulting terms”, or a portal drops a PDF. The first pass is on that file, not on a blank you generate.
Template shops in the same search cluster sell the opposite gesture: answer questions, receive a new consulting agreement. Rocket Lawyer Consulting Agreement is that create path. Checkory does not generate the paper. It marks the draft that already exists.
If that consultancy draft is already on the desk, get the flags on their wording. Open /document-analysis.
Client paper vs consultant paper, same upload
Client paper usually opens scope (“services as requested”), pulls background methodology into an assignment, and leaves indemnity uncapped. Consultant paper can hide the opposite problem: a thin fee schedule, a missing change-order path, or a termination right that drops unpaid work. Both files take the same upload. The flags follow the wording, not the logo on the cover.
The tool does not rewrite their template into yours. It shows you, on their sentences, what to challenge.
First pass, then a solicitor on High flags
The output is a first-pass list. After you walk the marks you should be able to name which flags to challenge on this draft and which High items go to a solicitor. Broad assignment of pre-existing tools, employment-like control with no substitution on mid or large client paper, and unlimited indemnity are the usual High pack. A person verifies every cite.
Reserved legal activities are listed in section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007. A first-pass mark-up of a draft is not one of those reserved activities, and it does not replace the solicitor who will own a High item.
High flags still need a person
Walk the marked consultancy draft. List the clauses you will push back on. Send High items — broad methodology assignment, employment-like control on mid or large client paper, unlimited indemnity — to a solicitor. The file is a question list, not a sign-off.
Flags a consulting agreement review usually surfaces
A consulting agreement review on this product is not a numbered red-flag listicle. The marks sit on their sentences. The families below are the ones that usually light up on consultancy paper. They are not a complete statute map and not a promise that every draft will show every row.
Scope, change control and unpaid extras
Open scope is the quiet fee leak. “Services as requested”, “as the client may require”, or a missing change-order path lets extras land without a new price. The flag sits on that sentence. The product does not stop scope creep. It shows you the clause that would make extras free.
If the file points at a later SOW for deliverables, mark the parent here and walk the child on the SOW checklist.
Fees, milestones and payment timing
Fee mechanics hide in milestones, retainers, net-60 or net-90, and “payment after acceptance” with no acceptance clock. A flag on timing is a cash-flow flag.
The pass does not invent a market rate. It marks the sentence that delays or withholds payment.
Usual flags on consultancy paper: scope, fees, background IP, indemnity, and employment-looking control.
| Flag on the clause | Wording that often triggers it | What you do next |
|---|---|---|
| Open scope | Services as requested; no change-order path | Challenge unpaid extras; keep the mark on their sentence |
| Fees and timing | Net-90; payment after acceptance with no clock | List the cash-flow risk; push a milestone or a date |
| Background IP | All IP including pre-existing methodology | Challenge the assignment; read CDPA and IPO next to the clause |
| Unlimited indemnity | You indemnify us for all claims, no cap | High pack for a solicitor; read UCTA on negligence exclusions |
| Employment-looking control | Set hours, supervision, exclusivity, no substitute | Status-risk on the draft — not a tax determination |
IP assignment vs pre-existing methodology
Consultancy fights often start here. The client wants every output and, in the same sentence, every tool you arrived with. CDPA 1988 section 11 sets the England and Wales default: the author is first owner, and the employer is first owner only where the work is made by an employee in the course of employment. A consultant on a contract for services sits outside that employee default.
The IPO guidance on commissioned work says the creator stays first owner unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. A court may imply a limited non-exclusive licence, not a transfer. Read GOV.UK ownership of copyright works next to their assignment clause.
An assignment of copyright is not effective unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of the assignor. That formality is CDPA 1988 section 90. A flag on “all IP, including pre-existing methodology” is a flag on overbreadth, not a finding that the assignment already failed. Verify the official text. Then decide what to carve out.
Liability, indemnity and one-sided exit
Unlimited indemnity and a missing cap often travel together. The flag sits on their sentence. Do not treat a “1–2× fees” story as a market rule — that number is not in the research for this page and is not a Checkory promise.
Where the draft tries to exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, UCTA 1977 section 2 is the England and Wales (and Northern Ireland) pointer: that exclusion cannot stand. Other loss from negligence is held to a reasonableness test. Consumer contracts moved to the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The link is a pointer, not a finding that the Act applies to your deal.
One-sided exit — convenience termination for them, lock-in for you, or unpaid work on notice — is a separate flag family. Read it next to the fee clause.
Off-payroll working and TUPE on the draft
Keep this short. The paper label does not decide tax status. GOV.UK off-payroll working (IR35) treats the question as contract-by-contract: would the worker have been an employee if engaged directly. Control, personal service or substitution, and mutuality sit on the wording and on working practices. The product is not CEST and not a status determination statement.
Chapter 10 duties sit on public clients and on medium or large private clients. ITEPA 2003 section 61K and GOV.UK off-payroll working for clients set that split. Small private clients leave status with the intermediary. A flag on set hours or no substitute is a status-risk on the draft. TUPE risk, if the engagement looks like an organised grouping transferring in, is the same kind of short mark — a question for a solicitor, not a second product page.
Consultant contract review without a Word add-in
Consultant contract review in the wider market often means a Word pane, a CLM workflow, or a score landing. Those tools help a team that already lives in Microsoft Word or already stores every contract in a repository. This page is the other job: upload the consultancy draft, get that file back with flags.
Justee-style score pages vs marks on the source
Justee names a consulting agreement review tool and accepts PDF, DOCX, or TXT. The return is findings, citations, and suggested revisions. England and Wales is selectable; Scotland and Northern Ireland are called out as separate. That is a serious upload competitor. The artefact is still a report, not highlights on the source pages you will sign.
BrieflyGo returns a plain-English risk report. Scrutr mixes redline, a negotiate bot, and draft-any-agreement. ShieldSign leans on a fairness score. None of those objects is the marked consultancy file.
GenieAI and Spellbook stay inside Word; Checkory returns the file
GenieAI and Spellbook sit in Microsoft Word. LegalOn and Ironclad sit further into contract lifecycle. One line is enough: those products are in-Word or CLM, not an upload that returns the same consultancy draft with flags and statute links.
A general chatbot is the wrong contrast for this URL — one sentence only. A paste into a thread is not marks on the source, and it is a confidentiality decision if the draft holds rates or non-public terms. Upload the file at /document-analysis if you accept how the product handles it. Work from the annotated copy.
A template is not a review of their draft
LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer create a consulting agreement from answers. That is a generator. If the client already sent paper, generating a blank does not mark their clauses. Upload the file you were sent.
Upload the consultancy draft
You have a consultancy or consulting agreement as PDF or DOCX. You want flags on that paper, not a checklist article and not a new template. Start the pass, walk the marks, and leave with a list of challenges plus a High pack for a solicitor.
One file in, the same file back with flags
One consultancy draft per pass. A later SOW, NDA, or master services agreement is a later upload or a solicitor question. This page does not review an MSA stack. The neighbouring MSA tool is for the master; this tool is for the consultancy file in your hand.
When the marked file comes back, read each highlight on the clause. Keep a short list: challenge, accept, or send High. That list is the success test for this page. If you cannot name the flags, walk the file again before you reply to the client.
Open the tool at /document-analysis
The upload path is /document-analysis. Take the client or consultant draft with you. Do not paste the agreement into a chat product. Do not start from a generator. Open the tool, send the file, and work from the copy that comes back with flags, explanations, and statute links.
Start the first pass on the consultancy draft
Open the tool
Go to /document-analysis with the consultancy or consulting agreement in hand.
Upload that draft
Send the PDF or DOCX. This pass is one file — not a SOW pack and not a generated template.
Walk the flags
Read each highlight on the clause. List what to challenge. Send High items to a solicitor.
FAQ
What file comes back after I upload a consultancy agreement?
The same PDF or DOCX you uploaded, with:
- risks flagged on the clause
- a short explanation next to the mark
- a pointer to official England and Wales statute text where a provision may relate
You do not get a detached score, a findings-only report, or a rewritten draft.
Can I run the same pass on client paper and on my own consultant draft?
Yes. Client “standard” paper and consultant paper use the same upload. The flags sit on the wording in that file — scope, fees, IP, liability, termination — whoever wrote the first draft.
The pass does not rewrite their template into yours. It marks the text you were asked to accept or to send.
Does a flag on background IP transfer ownership of my methodology?
No. A flag is a question on their sentence, not a transfer and not a court finding.
Under CDPA 1988, a consultant is usually first owner unless the work is made by an employee in the course of employment, and an assignment needs writing signed by the assignor. Read the official text next to the clause, then decide what to challenge.
Does a flag about control or substitution decide off-payroll status?
No. The product is not CEST and not a status determination statement. GOV.UK treats status as contract-by-contract; the label on the paper does not decide it, and working practices count as well.
A mark on set hours, no substitute, or exclusivity is a status-risk on the draft. A mid or large client still owns their SDS where Chapter 10 applies.
When do I send the marked consultancy draft to a solicitor?
Send the marked pack when any of these is true:
- a High mark sits on a broad assignment of pre-existing methodology, an unlimited indemnity, or employment-like control on mid or large client paper, and you cannot accept the wording
- a statute pointer and the clause do not match
- the fee or exit mechanics would leave you unpaid for extras or locked in
The first pass is a list of flags to challenge, not a sign-off.
Will this generate a consultancy agreement I can send to a client?
No. Template generators answer questions and produce a new document. This page is a first pass on a draft that already exists — usually their paper, sometimes yours.
If you need a blank consulting agreement written from a form, that is a different product. Open /document-analysis only when you have a file to mark.
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