Small Business Lawyer

There are 2 key professionals that every business needs in order to become successful – an accountant and a business lawyer. While the motive behind hiring an accountant is pretty obvious, the reasons for employing a business attorney are still not so apparent. Well, in order to become a booming small business, it is essential that you get the right legal advice and guidance because it will eventually enable you to understand the lawful consequences of your business actions, formulate smarter and better business decisions and protect your business’ legal interests.

As a matter of fact, the law practices for small businesses encircle certain substantive areas which may include contracts, intellectual property (patent, copyright, and trademark), business formations, real property transactions, taxes, environmental law, labor and employment law, water law, franchise law, business transfer and succession, and banking.

Needless to worry, a good, professional and well-certified business attorney can give vital legal assistance to business owners in almost every aspect, ranging from copyright, trademark advice, and basic zoning compliances to lawsuits, liability, and formal business incorporation.

A business lawyer often plays a crucial role in the formation of successful businesses. In fact, small businesses can really benefit from the legal guidance and advice of a professional business lawyer. These attorney professionals not only help in protecting all parties involved in different business transactions but also assist businesses with avoiding any disputes or legal issues.

It is important for you to know that virtually, every aspect of your business actions creates potential legal issues, and therefore, employing the services of a business attorney is imperative to ensure the success of your local business.

What is a Small Business Lawyer?

Considered as an indispensable part of every small business, a small business lawyer is a law professional who specializes in resolving the legal issues of small businesses, entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs. In fact, a good and professional small business lawyer plays an essential role in the formation of successful businesses.

Unlike regular commercial law professionals, small business attorneys are highly erudite and more familiar with the legal rules and complexities of operating a small business, and hence, they are able to offer the right legal assistance and specialized advice to business owners.

So, if you’re a business owner and looking for someone who can give you the right legal assistance regarding your business’ legal issues, then hiring the best business attorney could be the right idea. A good, professional, and a certified small business lawyer can help you with the following:

• Choosing the right business name and getting it registered.
• Locating the right source of finance.
• Creating all forms of employment contracts, non-disclosure agreements, shareholders agreements, etc.
• Exercising proper due diligence.
• Protecting your intellectual property.
• Complying with all relevant laws, rules, and regulations.

Small business lawyers can easily work to protect your personal as well as business interests. In addition to this, a professional business lawyer can explain all pros and cons of setting up a business as a corporation, a limited-liability company, in-partnership, or any other business form. Other services of these law professionals may include acquiring business operation capital, licensing, assisting in renting commercial space, consulting services, and generating business operational contracts with clients, vendors, or government agencies.

It is essential for you to know that small business lawyers are more likely to take active roles and interest in ensuring the success of your business and are usually less expensive than regular commercial lawyers. However, just like the local corporate lawyers, small business lawyers are also regulated and licensed by the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority), the Bar Standards Board, and the Law Society.

What Do Small Business Attorneys Do?

With so many different things that a small business attorney can do for a business, the services of these business law professionals can be critical. Their practice of law covers different substantive areas. In fact, it’s better to find a law professional who is well-skilled and specialized in dealing with all types of legal issues related to business operations.

• Contracts – As a business owner, you will need someone who can quickly understand your business and at the same time, prepare all standard form contracts that you might need with your clients, customers, and suppliers.
• Real Estate – Leasing of commercial spaces is very much complex and this is where a good, professional, and certified small business attorney could be of great help to your local small-sized business.
• Business Organizations – Having a small business lawyer who can prepare all the necessary paperwork and help you organize your business successfully could be a big put on for your small-scale business.
• Intellectual Property – If you own a design, media, or other creative-type business, then having a professional small business lawyer could be of great help because these law professionals will eventually help in registering your products and services for copyright protection and federal trademark.
• Taxes & Licenses – Even though business accountants are meant to prepare and file your annual business tax returns, having one of the best litigation attorneys will help your business to get registered for state and federal tax identification numbers alongside giving you a better understanding of tax consequences of your business transactions.

How are Small Business Lawyers Helpful for Businesses?

Although it is quite easy for small businesses to miss out on hiring a business lawyer as certain issues like business operations, marketing, and advertising seem more crucial, there are many legal issues that are of immediate concern to business owners. Therefore, it is immensely important to hire the best business attorney because these law professionals can eventually help small businesses in many ways.

1. Business Formation

There are many crucial matters to be handled at the commencement of the business. For instance, if you want to set up your business in such a way that limits your personal liability, then all you need to do is to consult a good and well-certified small business lawyer. These law professionals are the right person as they can assist you through the process of business incorporation and ensure that your business embarks on strong legal footing and flourishes successfully in future times.

2. Intellectual Property

It is highly important for every business to take the necessary steps to protect its intellectual property, which may include the business name, business logo, brand name, and other key business aspects. There are other tangible assets also that need to be protected, such as creations, computer software, devices, and architectural blueprints. So, a small business lawyer can help you with acquiring all the necessary patent, copyright, and trademark registrations, thereby ensuring the complete safety of your business’ intellectual property.

3. Non-disclosure Agreements

It is evident that business owners are required to enter into various agreements with different parties during the beginning of their business. However, the main concern of these business owners is to ensure their trade information and business ideas are well-protected. Now, this is where the best business attorneys come to their rescue by drafting non-disclosure agreements. It eventually helps the businesses to spread out without having to worry about their valuable information.

4. Employment Agreements

Small business attorneys usually assist their clients with summarizing employment agreements, which may include employment contracts, non-compete agreements, and non-disclosure agreements. Since different states have different rules regarding the duration of employment agreements, it is important that you contact the best litigation attorney to help you draft all necessary agreements for your business.

5. Benefit Programs

Small businesses usually require assistance in formulating benefit programs for their clients and employees. A good small business lawyer will not only assist you with generating rewarding incentive plans and benefit programs for your clients and employees but also offer the right legal assistance regarding your business responsibilities.

Points to Consider While Interviewing Small Business Attorneys

Hiring the right best business attorney is not much difficult. Even though your first step should be to conduct a thorough and refined research about the top-rated small business attorneys in your area, there are certain points that you need to consider and ask your business attorney before hiring them.

• Experience – Your lawyer’s experience is of the utmost importance. Therefore, while hiring a small business attorney, make sure to ask direct questions about your attorney’s experience. For example, if you want your business attorney to incorporate your business, you can ask them questions about their previous experiences of handling incorporation.
• Is he well-connected? – Your small business attorney should be someone who can easily diagnose your business problems and resolve them using the right tactics or strategies. Therefore, it is important for you to find out whether or not your business attorney is well-connected with business laws and has specialized legal needs. You can also look out for law professionals who are familiar with all special law areas and have working relationships with other renowned professionals.
• Past Clientele – It is important for your small business attorney to be familiar with your industry, as well as its legal environment. So, while hiring a business attorney for your small local business, make sure to ask your lawyer about his previous clients from the industry. In this way, you’ll be able to figure out whether or not your business lawyer is the right person to handle and represent all legal issues of your business.
• Lawyer Charges – It is important for you to know that most business lawyers usually charge a flat one-time fee from business owners for their routine matters. So, make sure to ask your lawyer about their flat-fee charges and fee disbursements beforehand. You can also look out for law professionals who offer flexible fee options to their clients. Although business law professionals are quite expensive, you can do a thorough research and use different cost-cutting strategies to find a reasonably priced small-business lawyer for your business.

Where to Start Looking for a Business Attorney

Even though small business lawyers play a crucial role in the formation of successful businesses, finding the best business attorney is not that easy. Fortunately, you can start your research with the American Bar Association. ABA’s website includes complete information about all professional and certified lawyers who have been registered, and therefore, it is really a great place to start your search for the best small business lawyer. You can go to the ‘Hire a Lawyer’ section where you can find all information on public and commercial service lawyers and other referral programs.

You can also request a search on the National Lawyer Regulatory Data Bank of the American Bar Association (ABA) and get information about the fee structures of different law professionals. Although it is apparent that business lawyers are expensive, the good part is that there are several ways through which you can keep a lid on their service costs.

You can start by learning their ways of billing that may include a flat fee, hourly or per-diem free, monthly retainer, value billing, and contingent fee. Once you’ve understood their ways of billing, you can easily discuss it with your lawyer and make more flexible billing arrangements to save your costs alongside meeting up with your business needs.

Get in Touch with the Best Business Attorney

Having a good, professional, and certified business lawyer right from the beginning of your business will eventually make your business operate smoothly. So, make sure that you engage the services of a knowledgeable and well-experienced small business lawyer in order to get your business issues resolved in a timely manner. Besides protecting your business’ intellectual property, a good small business lawyer will diagnose and unravel all your business’ legal matters and help you save a lot of money.

As a business owner, you won’t probably need an attorney for each and every lawful issue that arises in your business. However, when you do, it is imperative that you find and hire the best business lawyer for your business.  So, get ahead of the curve and pick from among the best business lawyers that we have for you. Our contact details are given below.