No matter what the reason that you need to find a lawyer or attorney for your business, once you need one it becomes vital that you choose wisely and carefully.

Here we take a look at five important areas that need to be covered in order to make that wise and careful choice. After reading this article you will be in a position to choose your lawyer or attorney with increased confidence and success.

The Rule Of Three

A golden rule that I always advocate when considering an important decision for your business, is the rule of three.

Simply put, it requires you to consider a minimum of three options before making that decision.

So when considering which lawyer or attorney will be safeguarding your legal interests in to the foreseeable future, make sure that you have a shortlist with between three and five candidates on it, but definitely never less than three.

Get Personal

The first place to start looking is the best place to start looking; personal recommendations from friends, associates or other business owners in your area.

Going on personal recommendations from friends requires you to place a value on their business acumen rather than their ability to tell a good joke or buy the first round of drinks when you meet up!

Ask questions about their recommendations. If they can justify why they would recommend their lawyer or attorney then you have more valuable information to base your final decision on.

In addition to friends and business acquaintances do not forget to source your candidates from local business organizations.

• Chamber Of Commerce
• Business Associations
• Trade Associations
• Your Law Society or local equivalent
• Your bank
• You accountant or CPA
• Your real estate broker
• Your business broker

If a name pops up more than once in any recommendations that you gather, then that would be a wise place to start your search.

Know What You Want Your Lawyer Or Attorney To Do

If you are looking for a lawyer or attorney to help you then the chances are that you have a specific reason for doing so.

Whether you need the lawyer or attorney to defend you against something or somebody, or to take action against somebody else, it is helpful to have a clear explanation of the problem.

Take the time to write down a brief but comprehensive summary of everything that you wish them to tackle. Then use that brief during your initial meeting with each candidate to get their opinions and initial thoughts on how to handle it.

Now you have a ‘like for like’ comparison when you come to compare their responses and suggestions. Who impressed you the most? Who asked the best questions? Who best understood the problem?

Consider A Specialist

In circumstances where the legal problem you face is of a specialist nature or involves a specific area of knowledge such as employment issues, intellectual property rights or other technically challenging or sensitive areas then you may well be best advised to consider a specialist.

Although this will almost definitely result in an increase in legal costs, going into a legal conflict with a lawyer or attorney who has the previous experience and track record in your area of need means that the extra money will be well spent.

Focus On What Is Important

With a lawyer or attorney it is more important than ever to be able to focus on what is important. You need them to achieve a specific task. Success is all that matters.

Unlike other long term professionals that you need to work with such as your accountant or CPA, it is not so important that you get on like a house on fire with your lawyer or attorney.

Having confidence in them and belief that they will get the job done is more important. I have had many successful outcomes working with a lawyer or attorney that I could not get on with personally. This seems to be a personal trait peculiar to many good and successful lawyers or attorneys.

So there you have it. Five top tips to help you choose a lawyer or attorney with confidence. Let’s hope that you never need to call on this valuable piece of advice!

This article was written by Brian K Fitzgibbon CPA.

Brian is an experienced accountant and small business consultant. He runs his own business, lectures extensively on small business topics and has checked out and valued many hundreds of small businesses for buyers.

Brian is also the author of the highly acclaimed and invaluable
"How To Value A Business And Buy It Without Fear"
A do-it-yourself guide for first-time and experienced buyers alike.

To download a FREE Chapter from Brian's book please follow this link: "HowToValueBusiness.com"

March 28th, 2009 | Tags: buy a business, buying a business tips, choose a lawyer, choose an attorney | Category: articles | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL  |