You wouldn’t ever consider running your small business without the aid of a good accountant, would you? Then why would you operate your business without the counsel of a good lawyer?
While your reasons for retaining an accountant are fairly obvious, the rationale for hiring an attorney may be a little less obvious; but a good attorney will give you the necessary advice and assistance that are essential to the long-term success of any ongoing business-related concern.
There are numerous ways in which an attorney can ensure that your business is more profitable. For starters, your attorney can ensure that your business is in compliance with the law. If you don’t hire an attorney until you get sued, it’s already too late.
Once the sheriff has served you with a summons, it’s no longer a question of whether or not you will pay, but how much you will pay. You’ll be dishing out your hard-earned money in attorney fees, settlement costs, and other expenses related to the litigation.
A lawyer will keep you out of this kind of trouble. An attorney is good preventive maintenance. If you follow the advice of your attorney, you’ll avoid the costly legal mistakes that hit many small business who don’t have one.
Since lawyers tend to specialize these days, you need to make sure your lawyer can handle various specific, business-related legal tasks. Here are a few of them.
Contracts
Your lawyer should be able to prepare standard contracts required for customers, suppliers, and clients. A lawyer should also assist you with contracts presented to you by others.
Business organizations
Is your business going to be an S-Corp, a C-Corp, or an LLC? An attorney can advise you about the best form of business organization based on your financial situation and any concerns you might have about liability.
Real estate
Are you going to lease or purchase property for your business? Either way, you will need the assistance of an attorney. If you are renting office space, an attorney can review the lease. If you are purchasing property, a lawyer can assist you with the closing.
Intellectual property
Understanding trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property issues from a legal perspective is almost certainly far outside of your area of expertise. A good attorney can assist you to ensure that your intellectual property rights are legally protected.
Now that you’ve seen a few of the benefits to be gained by hiring a good attorney, it’s time to find one. The good news is that, with the advent of the Information Age, you can find a great attorney online at a reasonable price.
So what are you waiting for? Help your business and give a boost to your profitability with some high-quality legal assistance.
Originally posted on July 25, 2013 @ 10:53 am
