The "lawsuit as car crash" analogy is a pretty good analogy. You pay a lawyer now as insurance against getting crushed by the legal system later.
If you step back, it is reasonable to ask why we have a legal system where driving without a seatbelt is actually a pretty good analogy for hiring without a lawyer.
And I think that we ought to acknowledge that the system remains this way, at least in part, because it leads to many lucrative billable hours for lawyers.
The car crash in this case would be getting sued by an (ex)employee for lots of money - not paying your lawyer for lots of billable hours. It's the litigation-happy culture that you live in which causes the pain.
Contracts are a form of communication. Poor contract, poor communication; no contract, no communication.
When I first started at Microsoft (many years ago) I was the only one of my peers[1] to read the entire Employee Handbook. I believe this enhanced my relationship with the company during my time there.
[1]Based on many hallway conversations. I'm sure someone else somewhere actually read it.
If you step back, it is reasonable to ask why we have a legal system where driving without a seatbelt is actually a pretty good analogy for hiring without a lawyer.
And I think that we ought to acknowledge that the system remains this way, at least in part, because it leads to many lucrative billable hours for lawyers.