If you’re the owner of a small business or are looking at launching a business this year, there’s a good chance that hiring a business lawyer isn’t very high on your to-do list — though this might need to change.
Of course, there are other pressing issues of marketing, business development, logistics and more. However, a business lawyer for small businesses is also an incredibly valuable team member to have, even if they’re only contracted on an infrequent basis.
That in mind, if you’re not too sure about how a legal team such as LegalVision Business Lawyers can help a small business — or you are looking to learn a little more about why you should consider working with a business lawyer — we have some tips for you below.
Intellectual property assistance
Off the top, it’s expected that if you’re starting a new business, you do have something to offer your clients and customers. If this ‘something’ has been developed or invented by you or features a tagline that you’ve come up with — you need a business lawyer to help secure your rights to these things.
A business lawyer is going to take care of all the processes required to protect your intellectual property and keep you in the green when it comes to reducing your risk of accidentally ‘stealing’ someone else intellectual properly too.
For example, you may have a tagline and brand name ready to go; however, someone else in the city or across the state may already have this name. Without a business lawyer, you might not even know about this, and open yourself up to a lawsuit or have to undergo a costly rebrand right away.
To end, there are also assets that you may need to have protected such as your software, devices and other inventions. Your lawyer will be able to work on trademark and patent registrations for you and keep you covered should there be any issues with infringement down the line.
Company formation proceedings
If you’re not in the know about business formation, then a business lawyer is undoubtedly someone you should work to hire or contract on a routine basis.
From the start, you want your business to get up and running with as few issues as possible, and that means doing things right from the get-go.
With your lawyer on deck, you’re able to work on building your brand with a business structure that suits your business the best, reduces your liability in the event of a problem and also keeps taxes and other financial requirements to a minimum.
Your business lawyer will also be someone that you’re able to rely on to incorporate your business correctly. That in mind, you’ll be starting off with an excellent legal footing from the very beginning.
Corporate governance
As we mentioned above, your lawyer will be able to assist in launching your business and helping you decide on the structure.
With this in mind, you will need to remain operating within this structure to be legally compliant, which means that you will have some requirements. Those could be keeping employed staff to a particular maximum number, holding stakeholder meetings and more.
A business lawyer on call will be able to help you better govern your small business and make sure that you’re following all of the right rules and regulations to remain compliant and reduce your risk of breaking the law when it comes to business partners, etc.
At the end of the day, with a corporate governance lawyer on your side, you’ll have someone there to help you understand what needs to be done and you’ll effectively be running your operations in a way that doesn’t lead you to be sued or liable should an issue occur.
Privacy policy compliance
In today’s world of endless user and consumer data collection, there are more rules and regulations about this data than ever before.
Keeping this in mind, there are a tonne of requirements here, and a business lawyer is going to be able to help you out when it comes to being transparent about the data you’re collecting from customers in-store and online.
You’ll want this legal advisor to assist you in dealing with things such as the development of privacy policies and data storage that is compliant. With these aspects taken care of, you’re keeping user data safe but also ensuring your customers have someone they can trust when shopping with your business.
Client agreement assistance
As your brand becomes more successful, you’re going to be working with several clients and relying on contracts to keep everyone as honest and committed to their agreements as possible.
There’s no better person to draw upon for these workflows than your business lawyer.
When it comes time to work with new clients and also protecting your own business, you’ll want to have your legal advisor develop client agreements or contracts with some pretty clear terms and clauses that go over everything from the outset. With this, you’re far less likely to be dealing with costly disputes, disagreements and misinterpretations down the line.
The takeaway
All of those points above in mind, it’s plain to see that business lawyers are for more than just the big end of town and can really assist small business owners in ensuring their workflows and clients are kept happy.
You’re going to be less likely stuck dealing with client and customer disputes, lawsuits and accidental oversteps of requirements from governments and local councils when you have a lawyer on your books.
Regards,
Chelsea Rogers
Guest Post Contributor