A budding entrepreneur has a lot to think about. You must worry about things like setting up supply chains or hiring the right employees. Then there is the pesky matter of financing your venture into business ownership, which can get very complicated if you seek angel investment or venture capital.
In the midst of all these concerns, you can easily overlook a very important element in the business mix: a business lawyer. Not sure you need to hire a business lawyer? Read on for five reasons why it’s an excellent idea to get a business lawyer on board.
1. Business Setup
Unless you plan on running a sole proprietorship, odds are very good that you’ll want some kind of formal structure in place, such as an LLC or limited partnership. Setting up these formal structures often involves filing legal paperwork with your state government or even the federal government.
For example, you must register your LLC with your state government. A lawyer with business law experience can typically handle these tasks better and faster than you can.
2. Contracts
A lot of websites out there offer cookie-cutter contracts that let you fill in a handful of relevant details and call it a day. That’s a great way of buying yourself problems down the road. A good contract addresses the specific expectations of all parties involved, including things like penalties for failure to perform those duties.
Using a business lawyer for those contracts acts as legal protection for businesses because you know the contract is valid and specific.
3. Sales and Purchases
Most businesses will engage in both sales and purchases along the way, such as real estate. You can talk with your lawyer ahead of time for advice about the purchase. They can also help you with the inevitable legal paperwork that goes into such purchases.
4. Continuity Planning
Very few people plan on running their business until the day they die. They may have an employee or family member in mind as a successor. A business law firm, such as venerable.law, can help you with that continuity or succession planning.
5. Litigation
Businesses get sued all the time. Businesses also sue other businesses or even customers when necessary. Filing a lawsuit or defending yourself from one means dealing with the court system. If you don’t settle, it also means actually appearing in court.
You do not want yourself as your lawyer. You want an experienced business lawyer handling these matters.
Should You Hire a Business Lawyer?
In virtually all cases, the answer to the question of should you hire a business lawyer for your business is yes. Yes, you should hire a business lawyer.
Getting a good business lawyer will let you offload a number of law-related tasks to a professional. It also serves as a level of protection, since you can assume your legal documents are in order. It also means you have someone familiar with your business already if or when a lawsuit arises.
Looking for more business tips? Check out the articles in our Business section.
