Businesses may consider it unnecessary to hire lawyers because other things, like marketing, seem more important and crucial. Additionally, most of the legal issues may seemingly not be so urgent, especially for small businesses, which may justify postponing getting the lawyer’s services immediately. But the entrepreneurs fail to understand that attorneys can help their businesses in a significant way. Hiring a lawyer for your company can save you so much trouble and costs. For example, a business could protect itself from disputes such as partners’ disagreements if they work with a good lawyer.
Below are some of the ways in which a lawyer may help your business:
Reviewing Contracts
Contracts are common in any business, and these include vendor contracts, leases, and others. Unfortunately, some business people do not review contracts before consenting to them or hurriedly scan them and think they understand their contents, then append their signatures. In other instances, some entrepreneurs think that if they feel dissatisfied with a particular vendor or other service providers, they will pull out of the contract.
They think they can terminate such contracts without any consequences on their part. However, that could not be further from the truth. And depending on each case, consenting to an agreement without understanding it could expose the business to severe liabilities. Before agreeing to any contract, the business should have a lawyer review it and advise them or even negotiate for better terms. That way, the company’s interests are better protected.
Handling incorporation
Some people start and incorporate their businesses without seeking an attorney’s services. This may be okay for small and single-owner companies, but it would be best to get a lawyer to help with the incorporation process when it comes to multiple-owner companies or those trading across states.
An attorney’s essence is to advise on the best structure, for example, the LLC, S- Corporation, or the C-Corporation. The lawyer will also guide on the necessary paperwork and the best state in which to incorporate. The more complex the business, the more critical it is to hire a lawyer to handle incorporation to avoid taxation, compliance, and other future issues.
Protecting Intellectual Properties
Often, businesses have intangible assets such as the company’s brand name, trademarks, inventions, unique processes, etc., that need protection. It would be necessary to hire an attorney to help register the various intellectual properties and develop and put in force a strategy to safeguard them.