Businesses require diverse resources, including capital, labor, and cash flow, to run efficiently; however, one often overlooked resource is a business lawyer. According to one statistical report, 90% of businesses experience a lawsuit in their lifespan.
A business lawyer is an invaluable asset overseeing pertinent business matters, including business registration, contract drawing and management, expansions, intellectual property, and equality. However, finding a business lawyer who is an ideal fit for your company is challenging, given the vast number of lawyers available and diverse legal specializations.
Nonetheless, you can follow the tips below to hire the best business lawyer for your company.
1. Inquire About the Prospective Lawyer’s Area of Specialization
The legal profession is a vast field comprising numerous areas of law. For starters, business law features multiple areas of specialization, including corporate law, tax, labor, insurance, contract, intellectual property, bankruptcy, unfair competition, commercial law, and real estate law.
Besides the areas of specialization, laws are constantly changing, meaning legal professionals must keep up with new precedents. Therefore, a jack-of-all-trades lawyer claiming to have mastered all the above areas is likely half-baked in a handful of legal sub-fields and is unlike to offer efficient services.
So, consider evaluating your business’s legal needs before hiring a lawyer. For example, if your business deals with mergers and acquisitions, a joint venture dispute lawyer is a better fit than a real estate lawyer.
2. Ask For Recommendations
You can take the hassle out of finding the ideal business lawyer for your company or brand by seeking recommendations. So, consider consulting individuals you trust, including leaders of industry, associates, local business associations, fellow business owners, and other assets in your network, to recommend adept business lawyers.
Alternatively, you can utilize online platforms, particularly social media pages, and forums, to find highly recommended business lawyers. Recommendations make the recruitment process less daunting and inspire confidence because they have people vouching for them.
Even so, recommendations do not guarantee that the recommended business lawyer is a good fit for your business. Therefore, vet the recommended professionals on your shortlist with an open mind to ensure your goals are aligned and that they will fit into your company’s corporate culture.
3. Evaluate The Prospective Business Lawyer’s Communication Skills
Communication is the meeting of minds and encompasses speech, non-verbal communication, and listening skills. Additionally, effective communication entails using appropriate channels and timely information delivery.
Getting your point across to a prospective lawyer and feeling heard is crucial to cultivating a long-lasting working relationship built on trust. Moreover, the lawyer should manage to relay solutions and interpretations of legal matters clearly and concisely.
Communication skills and bedside manner go hand-in-hand. Therefore, avoid prospective business lawyers with pet peeves like excessive legal jargon, poor organization skills, and delayed communication. Follow your instinct and avoid putting your business in the hands of a legal professional who does not inspire confidence.
4. Consider Different-sized Legal Firms
Bigger always seems better when onboarding a service provider for your business. For starters, you may consider hiring the biggest law firm in your region because it has more years of experience and exclusively hires top talent from prestigious learning institutions.
Moreover, it likely has vast labor, research, networks, and litigation resources to handle complex legal matters. However, their bottom line depends on billable hours, and they’re more likely to pay more attention to bigger companies spending more money.
On the other hand, medium-sized and smaller legal firms may lack vast resources but offer more personal services due to lower client volume. Therefore, deciding what matters more to your business between resources and accessibility is crucial.
5. Identify Proactivity
As earlier stated, a business’s legal landscape is constantly changing, influenced by growth and prevailing legal precedents. Therefore, you need a proactive business lawyer who can anticipate potential legal conundrums and advice on navigating them. Moreover, they should offer alternative means for the business to settle civic matters and avoid costly litigation procedures.
Proactive business lawyers are an asset because they help preserve the company’s vision by avoiding unnecessary disruptions and minimizing legal spending. Their predictive capacity ensures collaboration for compliance and overarching business goals.
6. Consider Relevant Experience
A track record rendering legal advice to other businesses is necessary when evaluating a potential candidate. Most business lawyers post their credentials on professional networks and portfolio websites.
However, asking follow-up questions before making the final decision is prudent. Therefore, schedule a meet-up with the prospective candidate and ask them questions about their years of experience as counsel and with litigation. Ask them about the number of similar businesses handled, unprecedented scenarios, and how they handled such scenarios.
7. Inquire About Fees
Inquire about the lawyer’s billing procedures, including retainers and what counts as billable hours. Most business lawyers are open to customized payment structures to suit different businesses. However, avoid potential candidates who give you a quote without a prior consultation session to evaluate your legal situation.
Summary of ‘7 Best Tips to Hire a Business Lawyer’
While numerous qualified lawyers exist in the US, not every lawyer is a good fit for your business. A business’ legal environment is constantly changing, and unprecedented is anything but anomalies. Nonetheless, establishing a relationship with a business lawyer who meets your business’s most pressing legal needs is essential.
Therefore, follow the tips above to find the perfect lawyer to cater to your business’s legal obligations and get on with a hassle fee business journey.
