When using the services of a lawyer, ask yourself in what ways they can help in your business. A lawyer will often have many general skills that you can make good use of. It is a good idea to identify your needs and match the skills of the lawyer you intend to retain.
Good and experienced lawyers place a premium on the value of early assessment of the merits of pursuing a litigated strategy only if it is needed, and the device of a plan that avoids confrontation in order to retain the benefits of past business contact, goodwill, and tested cooperation with partners, suppliers, distributors, and other intermediaries. This process involves understanding the unique actors driving the dispute, using a mediated path to show opposing parties the value of converged interests, and identifying why there is a loss of trust and misunderstanding that often catalyze the formal process of seeking remedies at law. Run by scenarios with your lawyer to try to remain in control no matter what kind of dispute may arise in business.
Working with a business lawyer, specially in a matter of litigation, will often bring up a review of correspondence that has gone into the history of the relationship between you or your company and the other side of the dispute. Sometimes, this can help show where expectations failed and also explain how better use of email writing can avoid misunderstandings.
Studying your style of communicating when the lawyer reviews your file often presents a teachable moment between your lawyer and your business. Paying careful attention to impressive and persuasive techniques of writing while doing business can scale the business operations.
Working closely with your business lawyer during litigation alllows you to observe how negotiations are conducted between lawyers and how opposing views are litigated. You can apply these techniques in your daily business. This is just a side benefit of working on a long term basis with your lawyer. This benefit lingers on as you continue your business without the need of a lawyer at all stages.
I try to spend some time with my clients going through this process to perpetuate the benefit of a single piece of litigation for them. Most clients are not seasoned in litigation and hope their single experience is avoided in future if possible.
Corporate commercial law is useful and relevant throughout the operation of your business. You should continue to ask your lawyer questions once you have established your relationship. Many lawyers thoroughly enjoy advising clients who seek them out and no question is irrelevant if it is of concern to you.
Litigation should always be a last resort. The use of a lawyer in business must always be strategic, in the background as much as possible, and timely if it has to be effective. A lawyer’s skills and knowledge should be used at crucial points in time in relation to the kind of business one is in.
An entrepreneur should know about general or limited partnership, corporation, and proprietorship, with their tax implications. Businesses work with greater confidence knowing that the invisible use of a lawyer can be instrumental in drafting key provisions in contracts that will likely prove significant should a dispute arise.
Start-up businesses that get used to using legal services early on generally benefit since they use their knowledge throughout the early phase of establishment, and are more inclined to remain on top of issues such as government regulations and tax implications. A trusted relationship with a lawyer is important at this stage, and capitalizing on it later when the business has grown, becomes easier.
Top businesses do not typically look for a lawyer in their need. Having worked with their lawyer through critical phases of their businesses, they already have lawyer friends indeed.