A smart person who is prepared does not wait for catastrophic events to occur before protecting themselves. Even if a small business owner is not currently under threat of litigation, having a small business attorney on hand allows an owner to remain safe. While a smaller business may not have a great deal of capital on hand to pay the attorney, there are certain instances in which their services will be worth every penny.
An entrepreneur does not need an attorney to handle every issue that comes along and an intelligent person can take care of boilerplate legal documentation and the conception of a business plan. Application for licenses, filling out IRS forms, and employee tax concerns should typically be handled by the owner.
But there are a variety of concerns that arise along the way, problems that are far more complex than you could have ever imagined. Any time you and another party are in the process of negotiating any sort of agreement that involves partnership, shareholding, or LLC operations, a small business attorney should be hired.
Entrepreneurs are also inexperienced in contract related matters, necessitating the presence of small business attorneys. They maintain a high level of objectivity, so that both sides are able to feel confident about the agreement that they are signing. An attorney has the unique ability to draw up an agreement that not only assuages the fears of both parties, but also ensures that there will no future disputes about terms and conditions.
Small business owners are also forced in live with the trepidation that comes with knowing you could be sued by a current or former employee at any moment. Waiting until you have been sued to hire an attorney is the equivalent of waiting until you’ve come down with an infectious disease to visit a doctor.
The attorney’s job is to maintain the health of your business, which includes warding off potential lawsuits. Attorneys also ensure that your confidentiality agreements with current and former employees are upheld to the fullest extent of the law. Without an experienced small business attorney, your company’s most crucial secrets are in constant danger of exposure.
Attorneys can help to protect you once serious issues occur, but by hiring them before problems take place, you are doing your part to prevent them from happening in the first place. The money you spend on an attorney as a form of preventive medicine pales in comparison to what is spent on an attorney whose job is to rescue your company from a crisis.
Hiring a small business attorney during the planning stages of your company requires some effort and expense, but by taking the long view now, you can avoid a great deal of hassle later.