What Are Adhesion Contracts?

Adhesion contracts are known by many names. They are also often referred to as boilerplate contracts or standard form contracts. West’s Encyclopedia of American Law defines an adhesion contract as “a type of contract, a legally binding agreement between two parties to do a certain thing, in which one side has all the bargaining power and uses it to write the contract primarily to his or her advantage.” These contracts are prepared by companies in advance of the transaction, and the terms are typically non-negotiable.