Do You Need a Business Attorney: Pros and Cons of Hiring a Business Attorney

 

Introduction

99.9% of all American businesses are owned and operated by small business owners.[1] As a business owner, you are tasked with making many important decisions for your business, and one of the most important decisions is whether to hire a business attorney. Navigating the legal realm of drafting and interpreting contracts, protecting intellectual property, or ensuring compliance with industry regulations is difficult. With a business attorney, however, you can achieve peace of mind, knowing that you have a professional to guide you through these complex legal matters and handle them on your behalf, allowing you to focus on your business operations.

What is the Role of a Business Attorney?

Business law encompasses many legal fields affecting business operations, including employment law, contract law, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance. Hiring a business attorney gives your company access to consistent legal expertise that can save your business money in the long run by avoiding expensive legal mistakes or litigation. A business attorney ensures your business is operating legally, efficiently, and to its fullest potential, providing you with peace of mind and allowing you to they can focus your time and effort on the business.

Why Every Business Needs Preventative Legal Care

Every business needs to be proactive with preventative legal care. Many businesses consult an attorney only after a problem arises, often leading to higher legal costs and more public legal exposure. Business attorneys, with their expertise, can help identify discreet legal issues, such as vulnerabilities in your contracts, and address them before they become large, expensive problems. Addressing those legal issues early can save business owners a significant amount on litigation, regulatory investigations, or implementing corrective action for compliance, that would arise if the business has acted only retroactively.

Further, preventative legal care mitigates business disruptions. Legal issues that are not addressed preemptively and quickly can lead to slowed operations, damaged reputations, or lengthy and costly litigation. For example, a lawsuit that stemmed from poor employment practices could lead to employee turnover, negative reviews, and loss of productivity. A business attorney can aid in mitigating risks in employment contracts and ensuring there is a crisis management plan if something were to happen. This could involve drafting clear and fair employment contracts, providing training on legal compliance, and developing a strategy for handling legal disputes.

Lastly, if you establish a working relationship with your business attorney, then the attorney can better understand the circumstances of your business and tailor their work to your business’s unique needs.

Costs of Having a Business Attorney

One of the primary reasons business owners hesitate to hire outside counsel is the perceived cost. However, the cost of a lawyer may not always be a burden. As explained above, addressing routine legal issues correctly and proactively saves the business money in the long run. Further, legal issues arise whether or not the business has a business attorney on retainer. It is more cost effective to have a legal expert address those issues than to have a non-lawyer try to navigate them. In fact, if these issues to accumulate, having a lawyer on retainer could prove to be a cost-effective and beneficial addition to your business.

Finding an attorney with the required expertise you seek who meshes well with your business and understands your management style may take a lot of work. However, it will be worth the effort. When you do find a lawyer who works well with your business, you will likely not need to find another lawyer for a long time.

Benefits a Business Attorney Can Bring to Your Business

An attorney can help in almost every aspect of your business. Common examples of tasks that a lawyer can help with are:

• Ensuring legal compliance and risk management: Attorneys help ensure your company complies with local, state, and federal laws. Laws are constantly changing, and therefore, regulations are also continually evolving. A business lawyer will ensure that your company is complying with the current regulations to ensure smooth operation.
• Drafting and reviewing contracts: Contracts are critical tools in business and, if a contract is poorly drafted, the business’s interests may not be protected by the contract. Attorneys can create precise and legally enforceable contracts, ensure that your company is complying with its contracts, and that the contract is properly enforced.
• Protecting intellectual property: Attorneys can help protect your company’s intellectual property by ensuring that your IP is secured by trademarks, copyrights, or patents. This protection allows your business to prevent others from infringing upon or stealing your company’s intellectual property. Absent IP protection, your company may lose money due to competitors usurping your ideas and products. If another entity does infringe on your IP rights, your business attorney can enforce your rights through litigation.
• Navigating employment law: Attorneys can create sound and fair employment contracts that will lead to better employee retention and less litigation. Labor laws are often complex (i.e., wages, safety regulations, etc.) and having an attorney that specializes in these fields will provide a sense of continuity in your labor force.
• Resolving disputes and litigation: Attorneys can help resolve common business disputes and legal shortcomings such as partnership disagreements, contract breaches, or employment agreements before they go to litigation. Where negotiation is unsuccessful, a business attorney can guide business owners on whether litigation, arbitration, or mediation is the best forum to resolve the dispute. Further, if the issue is not resolved before litigation, the business attorney can either represent the company in court or, if the litigation requires a particular expertise, help the business owner find a suitable lawyer to handle the litigation.
• Assisting with business formation and structure: Attorneys can provide insights into the best type of business structure for your personal needs. LLCs, corporations, partnerships, and other primary business forms offer different benefits. A business attorney can help the you select the best form for you and your business’s needs.
• Helping with mergers, acquisitions, and business growth: Attorneys can provide insights into the best business structure for your personal needs. Attorneys play an integral role in reviewing contracts for the purchase, sale, and acquisition of other businesses and can protect your business from unfair contracts and future legal liability by proactively fighting for your interests.

Handling regulatory and licensing requirements: Attorneys can help businesses understand and comply with regulations specific to their industry. Proper state and local licensing is crucial to ensure that the business operates successfully. If regulatory and licensing requirements are not met, the business could be fined or potentially not allowed to continue operations.

By utilizing a business attorney to address these issues, you can focus on the company’s core business rather than trying to identify and address potential legal issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion, business attorneys can offer a wide range of services that could significantly benefit your company in the long run. By carefully considering the costs and benefits of hiring in-house or outside counsel for your business, you can make a well-informed decision that will better support your business and protect your interests.

This blog post is intended to overview the nature of business attorneys. Individuals who have questions about what type of lawyer may be best for their business, questions about business law, or seek experienced outside counsel for their business should contact Briglia Hundley, P.C., at 703-883-0980.

The information in this blog post may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information in this blog post should be interpreted as legal advice, and the blog post is not intended to substitute for legal counsel.

About Us

Briglia Hundley was founded in 1993 and practices throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Our practice features attorneys listed as “Legal Elite” by Virginia Business magazine, named to Super Lawyers, and listed in Best Lawyers.

We are a forward-thinking law firm that relies upon our experienced and energetic attorneys to meet the legal needs of our clients reliably and responsibly in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

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[1] Chamber of Commerce Team, Small Business Statistics, Chamber of Commerce (Sep. 10, 2024) https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/small-business-statistics/.