Knowing the when and why of hiring a lawyer can often be a challenging legal aspect. Especially, if you’ve never hired a lawyer before. However, knowing these facts can help you understand legal situations, especially when running a business. In this article, we will take you through knowing when and why you should hire a business lawyer for your practice. 

Why Should You Hire a Business Lawyer?

Companies usually believe they only need to hire a lawyer specializing in business law when they are hit with a lawsuit. This, however, is a risky practice.

First, you need to make sure your company is up to code with both local and federal laws to help protect your company in the future. However, for business owners who are just starting out, spending money on a business lawyer doesn't seem like a necessary expense. Instead, business owners should think of a lawyer more as legal insurance for their company. Paying for a startup lawyer now can potentially save your business thousands down the line.

Lawyers who specialize in startup law can also help you in an out of the courtroom. From registering your brand, legal copyright protection, creating contracts, etc. most attorneys are a single tool that you can use for any legal obstruction that your small business faces. 

When Should You Hire a Business Lawyer?

There are often times a business comes face-to-face with legal issues that are too much to deal on their own. Instead, they hire a business attorney to deal with legal obstructions. Below, are a few times your business many benefits an attorney: 

Planning a Business

You should hire a business lawyer who focuses on startup law when structuring a new business. An attorney can help you choose what you register your business as. For example, a limited liability corporation (LLC), business partnership, or as a corporation. Even though you don’t necessarily need a business lawyer to register as an LLC or others, they can help you make the right business decision in doing so. 

Buying or Selling Your Business

It’s best to hire an attorney with knowledge of business law when you need to create lease or sales agreements, as well as creating contracts with your clients. Often at times, legal documents can have jargon that is difficult for the average person to read. Having a legal advisor such as an attorney can help you avoid any nasty surprises that could damage your company. 

Litigation

Litigation is the most common service that business owners seek out help for. Since lawsuits can range in a variety of state or federal violations, lawyers can serve you in a multitude of practices to help win your case. However, it’s important that you find a business lawyer that has plenty of experience in your legal issue.

 

Patents

Depending on what type of business you run, you may want to hire an attorney who specializes in intellectual property. If you want to patent your services or products, you should first meet with a lawyer. They can guide you through the process and help you determine if obtaining patents is the smart choice for your company.

Preventing Legal Issues

You absolutely should retain a business lawyer to help with the issues listed above. However, you should spend more of your energy preventing those situations from occurring to begin with. One of the best ways to do this is by consulting a startup lawyer. If your business is being sued, the damage is already complete. The only question that remains is how much time and money you will spend to deal with the problem. To save your business money on superfluous legal fees, your goal should be to prevent these issues before they get out of hand. Consult a lawyer to ask for their advice, guidance, and to review documents and research relevant to the matter.

It does not matter if you think you need a lawyer right away or not, hiring one is a good idea. This can help you to protect and improve your business’ future. You may not need the services of a business attorney for every issue that arises. However, when you do need a lawyer, you will be glad that you prepared in advance.