If you have dreams of starting your own business but you yourself aren’t a lawyer or even familiar with business law, then hiring a lawyer for your business should be one of the first things that you do. Not only can a good business lawyer help to protect you against lawsuits and other large losses, but they can also help you ensure that you get your business off on the right foot from the very beginning.
To help you in finding the right legal partner for you, here are three tips for hiring a lawyer for your business needs.
Stop Looking For The Stereotypical Lawyer
When people think about lawyers, they often envision characters from TV shows or movies who have dramatic courtroom speeches. But for the vast majority of lawyers, this type of litigation isn’t what they spend their time doing or thinking about. Rather, for someone looking to start a business, you’ll want to find a lawyer who specializes in more transactional work.
As opposed to hiring someone who defended an acquaintance when they went to court, you’ll want to look for a lawyer who knows a lot about business and can help with things like forming your business entity, operations, merger and acquisitions, property, taxes, and more. This is the kind of help you’ll be needing from a lawyer, so you’ll want to find one who has experience with these things.
Learn More About Their Experience
It’s not just the type of work that they have experience in doing that you should look into when hiring a lawyer for your business. Along with this, you should also try to see the kinds of clients they’ve worked with in the past.
Different industries are going to have differences in the way that business and laws are worked out. So if you’re able to find a business lawyer who has worked with companies like yours in the past, that could make for a good match for you.
Get Your Fee Structure Handled
For new businesses, there usually isn’t a lot of extra money floating around to hire a business lawyer full-time. Knowing this, you’ll want to speak with any potential lawyers about how they set up their fee structure and how you can work with them financially.
Most lawyers will either charge an hourly fee, a flat fee, or will require a retainer fee for their services. Depending on how much work you’re needing done and how much money you have to pay for these services, you’ll want to keep these considerations in mind as you interview and speak with potential lawyers for your business.
If you need to hire a lawyer to help you get things started with your new business, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you find the right person or firm for you.