A relationship with a business attorney is an integral part of creating and running a successful business. Business attorneys are different from a general practice lawyer because business attorneys focus only on matters that affect businesses. While general practice lawyers are certainly important members of society, they often practice in multiple areas and may not have as much focused experience on business matters. In this article, you’ll learn about 7 issues that should be handled by a business attorney.
Contract Drafting, Review, and Negotiation
Contracts are an important component of running a business. Standardized contracts, contract negotiation, contract drafting, contract review, and contract amendments are all tasks that a business attorney can help with. Standardized contracts are used by your business, and may be presented to your business, as a way to streamline the creation of a contractual relationship. They’re meant to be used by the business over and over again. There are times when contracts must be negotiated to help ensure that the parties to the contract are being treated equitably and that the terms of the contract help support a friendly, professional relationship between the parties.
Contract review isn’t just about reviewing contracts offered to your business. It also refers to reviewing the contracts used by your business. Multiple changes can cause the need for internal contract review. Contracts may need to be amended to better serve the needs of your business.
Reviewing Leases for Commercial Space
Commercial space leases can be complex. They’re always written in a way that is most beneficial to the landlord. Before signing a commercial lease for your business, the lease should be reviewed by a business attorney. A business attorney may be able to help you negotiate more favorable terms for your business.
Software and Technology License Agreement Review
Software and technology license agreements can be complex. A business attorney can help by explaining the licenses available so that you can choose one that is best for your business. Licenses may be per-user, lifetime, styled after a subscription model, or may take other forms. For software and other technologies, it may or may not include the right for your business to build upon the existing code or technology to better serve your needs.
Related: Medical Technology Licensing and Royalties
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Being in business automatically has an assumption of risk. While there may be some risks that are easy for you to determine, there may be some that you’d notice. Working with a business attorney means partnering with someone who is experienced enough to help you identify risks and find ways to eliminate or minimize them. Preplannning for risks can help improve your profitability in the long run.
Encouraging and Supporting Friendly, Professional Relationships
Business attorneys are often known as transactional attorneys. It’s less about litigation and more about negotiation. This actually works better for your business because negotiation and supporting professional relationships is less expensive and more beneficial than going to court in most cases. A business attorney can act as an intermediary who represents your business to third parties. Business owners get to focus on the daily processes involved in running your business while knowing that they have someone who is looking out for the best interest of their business while also working to maintain supportive and friendly professional relationships with others on behalf of the business.
Assistance with Compliance Matters
There are federal and state regulations that businesses must abide by. Additionally, there are many industries, such as the healthcare industry, that include additional regulations. While laws and regulation don’t change quite as fast as technology, they do change. Even what seems like a minor change could result in serious consequences for your business. Creating a relationship with an experienced business attorney that understands the laws and regulations that affect your business and keep you advised. They can assist your company by monitoring compliance and giving you a plan on how compliance matters are best addressed to protect your long-term success.
Provide Insight for the Long-term Vision of the Company
In addition to risk management and compliance advising, a business attorney can provide insight for the long-term vision of your company. The experience that a business attorney has working in your industry can help you understand what the future may home. This could help you better prepare for the future and may even help with the creation of a 5-year plan. This is a valuable service for a business of any size.
When Should You Hire a Business Attorney?
One core concern is when a business attorney should be hired. More specifically, should a business hire an attorney on a per matter basis or should they engage in a long-term partnership with one? Generally, the driving decisions related to hiring an attorney is experience in the matter presenting itself and the cost. Since experience is a given, let’s move straight to cost. Initially, it may seem better to hire a business attorney on a per-matter basis. However, this may result in several issues. For example, you may not be able to find an attorney who can meet the specific deadline or who can get back to you on a timeline you need. You may need to pay a premium to have your matter treated as a priority. It could end up costing more than you expect. Whereas, partnering with a business attorney who is available when you need them becomes more cost effective as you have someone who is available when you need them. They also get to know your business and its goals. This, in addition to experience, adds value. You don’t spend your time explaining what you need or your goals every time you need a business attorney. You have someone on your side who takes the time to get to know your business and puts thought into what is best for your business.
Larsen Law Offices, LLC: Your Experienced Business Attorney
If you’re looking to partner with an experienced business attorney, contact Larsen Law Offices, LLC. Susan Larsen has over 30 years of experience as well as holding degrees in law, technology management, applied communication, and accounting. To schedule your consultation, call Larsen Law now at 303-520-6030.