Deciding when you need to hire a lawyer or attorney or not can be both a vexing question and an expensive one.

Sometimes it can be pretty obvious, imminent arrest or pending law suits tend to be a pretty good example!

But what about when the decision is not so clear cut?

This article is designed to give you an example of circumstances when biting the bullet and taking on the expense of a lawyer or attorney is good advice.

What Is At Stake?

One of your first questions when considering whether or not to take on a lawyer or attorney, should be to work out what could you lose if things go badly?

If you are looking at loss of liberty or serious amounts of money then do not hesitate. Go find a good lawyer or attorney as quickly as you can.

But what about if the reputation of yourself or your business is under threat?

Implied shortcomings in either your honesty and integrity or competence may have serious consequences for your business and therefore should also be considered good reasons for discussing things through with your lawyer or attorney.

Employees

Employment laws and regulations are one of the major areas resulting in legal liability for a small or medium sized business.

Hiring and firing of staff is a common potential minefield we all find ourselves attempting to tip toe through. But seemingly minor things such as mis categorizing a member of staff as on a salary as opposed to an hourly rate, can come back and bite you in the form of unnecessary liability for over time expenses, severance pay issues and much more.

Proper planning and introduction of approved employment procedures and documentation can prevent many employment related problems ever arising.

And so it may well be that a visit to your lawyer or attorney to get them to help with preparing these procedures and documents would be a wise investment.

Alterations To Your Business Structure

Any planned alterations to your current business structure should only be considered with the advice of your lawyer or attorney.

For example:

• You and your business partners want to make so-called “special allocations” of profits or losses in your partnership agreement or company operating agreement
• You’re buying or adding a new business to your current set up and there is even the remotest possibility of potential for major environmental issues at a later stage (environmental protection laws carry heavy penalties for landowners, even for those who didn’t cause the contamination)

Property

All property purchases or disposals will need the help of a lawyer or attorney. There are conveyance laws, tax implications, due diligence and ownership issues to consider to name but a few.

Forward planning here has been known in most cases to result in quite considerable savings for your small or medium sized business, so here is another time that including your lawyer or attorney makes a lot of sense.

Contracts & Agreements

Contracts and agreements are often used to ensure that an intended outcome is indeed enforceable. If the actual agreement or contract used is flawed then that negates the whole purpose of going down that route in the first place.

So again, a visit with your lawyer or attorney will ensure that the agreement is enforceable as you intended and that the chance of any unforeseen surprises is greatly reduced if not removed all together.

Peace Of Mind

You know, I think this is probably my biggest reason for advising you to consult with your lawyer or attorney.

Spending time worrying over something that could be dealt with if only you had the correct and knowledgeable advice is a sure way to increase your stress levels.

Do not do that. If you are not sure, take a trip to your lawyer or attorney and tell him your worries and concerns.

It is also a lot easier to rest easily after consulting with experienced lawyers for important undertakings such as tax and estate planning, drafting wills and trusts, negotiating business deals or dealing with any potential legal claims or liabilities.

So there you have it. A collection of sound reasons for spending some time with your lawyer or attorney. Just like the dentist or doctor, not someone you want to see any more often than you need to. But when you need to; you need to!

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"

April 12th, 2009 | Tags: attorney, buy a business, buying a business tips, how to know when you need a lawyer, lawyer | Category: articles | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL  |