What do I send a contract review attorney, and what do I decide myself?

Send them every document that obligates you. Keep the decisions about your life. The attorney prices the risk. You price the life.

Part of the Anesthesiology New Attending hub.

The package: four documents

The employment contract itself. The promissory note for any sign on bonus or relocation money, because that is where the clawback lives, and it is often a separate document from the contract. The noncompete, if it is in its own agreement. And the benefits summary, so they can see what is promised on disability, tail, and retirement, and what is only described in a brochure.

If you have a partnership agreement, a call schedule the group put in writing, or emails where the recruiter promised something, send those too. Anything the group said that you are counting on belongs in front of the attorney.

Do not filter. Send everything, even the documents you think are standard. The attorney's job is to find the non standard parts, and they cannot do that from a partial package. The marginal cost of sending one more document is zero. The cost of missing something is not.

Ask the right question

Most people ask, "Is this a good contract?" That is a question no attorney can answer for you, because good depends on what you want. The better question is, "What does this obligate me to?" What do I owe if I leave early? What happens if they terminate me? Where can I not work? Who pays the tail? What can they change without my agreement? Those are questions an attorney can answer clearly, and those answers are what you are paying for.

You can also ask, "What would you ask them to change, and how common is that request?" That gives you a list to negotiate from, calibrated by someone who has seen hundreds of these contracts. If the attorney says "everyone asks for this and groups usually agree," you have a strong ask. If they say "nobody gets this," you know where the wall is.

What you decide yourself

Is this the job you want? Is this call schedule something you can live with for years? Is this the city where you want to raise your family? Does this group feel like people you would want to work next to at 2 in the morning? No attorney can make that call. They do not know your marriage, your kids' school, how much you love or hate OB call, or what you want your life to look like at 45.

That is the "someone like me" question, and only you can answer it. The attorney can tell you the contract is market standard. Only you can tell whether market standard is good enough for your life.

This split prevents two mistakes. The first is outsourcing the life decision to the attorney, who does not know your life. The second is skipping the attorney because you already like the job, which confuses a good feeling about the people with a good contract. You need both answers from the right source.

Who to hire

Use someone who reviews physician employment contracts all day, a healthcare contract attorney or a firm that does physician contract review as its whole business. A general business attorney can read the words. A specialist knows what is normal for anesthesia, what groups usually agree to change, and which clauses are worth a fight. That context is most of the value.

Ask how many physician contracts they review per year, and how many in your specialty. If the answer is a handful, keep looking. You want someone who has seen your exact situation dozens of times and knows where groups usually give.

The cost is typically a flat fee, depending on complexity and market. Against a multi year, high six figure employment decision, that is some of the best money you will ever spend.

Split the work cleanly

The attorney tells you what you are signing up for, in dollars and obligations. You decide whether that is the life you want. When both answers line up, you can sign without second guessing it.

Get the attorney involved early, not the night before the deadline. They need time to read, you need time to negotiate based on what they find, and the group needs time to respond. Two weeks is a reasonable minimum for the full cycle.

Framework box: dividing the work

Published October 10, 2026. Last reviewed October 10, 2026.