Hiring a Business Attorney: Getting Your Company Started Right

If you are planning to open up a new company, you will need to find a business attorney at some point. Yes, there have been those that have chosen to move forward without one. Typically, this ends in regret. When you begin a company, money is almost always tight, no matter how many investors you have throwing money at you. It can be frustrating to realize there is yet another matter that requires your cash. Nonetheless, this is one area where you shouldn't skimp. Neglecting to hire a good lawyer can result in spending a lot more money down the line as you retrace your mistakes and attempt to correct them. Before you make your hire, here are some things you should look for.

First of all, you don't necessarily want a generic "business attorney" to handle your affairs. The umbrella terms of "business", after all, covers a lot of ground. If you are a fledgling company trying to get your feet off the ground, you don't need to hire a firm that normally handles enormous international corporations. In fact, it's unlikely they would accept you as a client to begin with. So what do you look for? You look for a lawyer who has experience with the little guy. You look for someone who has a history of practicing the type of law you need. You can save a lot of time and frustration by pinpointing your search.

Make sure you understand everything about the fees you'll be paying before you put a business attorney on retainer. This includes the retainer fees, the fees for doing various forms of representation, and what you will pay should you find yourself in a lawsuit. Too many people wait until something happens before they get into the fee structure. By then, it's too late to negotiate and it will be too late to pull out and find someone else. These things should be settled long before any actual legal maneuvering needs to be done.

One of the most important factors in finding a business attorney is how easily they can be reached. In other words, you don't want to play phone and email tag for a week every time you need to contact your lawyer. While it is sometimes difficult to determine how accessible your lawyer is before the fact, you can certainly learn something during the initial hiring process. If a lawyer took a long time getting back to you as a potential client, it could reflect on how things will be down the road.