Tuesday 24 May 2016

When to hire a lawyer for your business and when not to

There is always a right time to hire a business law attorney to deal with matters related to business and legal aspects of it. A lawyer can prove helpful in many different business scenarios such as drawing up contracts, helping in the incorporation process and others.  But it is important to know that there are certain things which you can do on your own as well and you won’t need a lawyer to handle them. Knowing when to hire the business law attorney and when not to can help you save both time and money. The following are some guidelines regarding the same.

When it is time to hire the attorney:
  • Forming a corporation-forming a corporation with shareholders and with a board is a complex process and may need you to look for and hire an experienced business law Attorney.  Where on one hand, articles of incorporation can be filed without lawyers, on the other hand, management complex legal and tax requirements may need a corporate attorney’s services.
  • Buying or selling a business-a corporate lawyer can be very helpful with negotiating sales agreements and lease agreements as well.
  • Filing a patent-patents are both time consuming and expensive and may take years without a professional. This is why it is important to consult a patent attorney so that you can evaluate your product and also understand what kind of rights you will achieve.
  • Litigation-litigation includes dealing with lawsuits by former or even current employees, customers, environment lawsuits, discrimination or harassment lawsuits and others.  This process too will need you to hire a professional attorney.
When not to hire a lawyer for your business:
  • Naming your business and claiming trademark-one of the situations where people tend to hire lawyers but can possibly do it on their own is when naming their business and claiming trademark.
  • Setting the legal structure of business-it is actually easy to enter into a partnership and form an LLC without the help or guidance of a business law attorney.  It is definitely wise to consult one if you have already hired someone but you can also use online broker services for the same purpose and thus save both money and time.
  • Filing paperwork to start a business-filing and registering paperwork to start a business can also be done on your own without the guidance or services of a corporate attorney. The processes and steps involved in this work can be found on the internet on government sites.
If you are someone who needs to hire a professional business law attorney, then you must remember to check for the firm’s or lawyer’s experience, skills, reputation and reviews. Using the internet for research is a good way to find the maximum information. You can visit Lorren T. Johnston to hire one of the best business law attorneys in Virginia and also one of the most experienced and affordable ones.