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It’s no secret that we live in a litigious culture.  Everywhere you look there are lawsuits and other legal actions going on.  If you’ve been in business long enough you have probably needed to retain a lawyer to help protect you and you company.  Let’s face it, you’re not really in business these days until you have been sued.


While this doesn’t mean that you have done anything wrong, it does mean that you should know where to turn for advice and counsel.  For this reason, every business needs a good lawyer.


What does it mean to have a good lawyer on your side?  Well, it not only starts with protecting yourself in a legal action, it means having a trusted advisor on your team – one who can help with just about every aspect of your business.


Think about it.  How are you drafting agreements today?  Odds are that you have pulled a template offline and then trying to customize it based on your needs.  This is a dangerous game as putting together legal agreements without having a lawyer review them could result in all your hard work going down the drain.


Don’t let this happen to you, make sure your agreements are airtight.  This starts by sitting down with a lawyer and reviewing your contracts.  From there you can prioritize which contracts might hold the biggest liability and set about minimizing them.


Beyond that, an experienced lawyer can help you to identify the traps before you fall into them.  This can help you save time, money, and even get a leg up on the competition.  As such, you need to look beyond the monthly retainer and instead challenge your lawyer to see how they can help you build value.


It even goes beyond business law matters as lawyers see businesses in all stages of development and this means they are often in a good position to offer insight on what needs to be done from a tactical level to drive growth.


Another way that a lawyer can help is when you need help collecting past due payments from customers.  Sure, you can handle this on your own.  But if debt collection is not handled correctly, then you could end of not getting what is owed to you and potentially in civil or criminal jeopardy as well.  So, get a lawyer, get paid and do it without any worries.


Now, we get to the tricky bit.  What if your company is too small to onboard in-house counsel or to retain a lawyer on a full-time basis?  Well, you have a couple of options.  First, you can convene an advisory council and ask a lawyer you know and trust to join the group.


While professional ethics won’t allow them to give legal advice without being compensated, you can get the added benefits of their experience as you seek to grow your business.   This is a great way to lever up what a lawyer can bring to the table for you.


Beyond this, there is another way that a good lawyer can help your business – by the hour.  Instead, of paying a monthly retainer you can develop a relationship with a lawyer and then pay for their services as they need it.


Doing so will ensure that you have the knowledge and experience you need on-call without needing to float a monthly retainer.


So, let’s get back to the beginning.  You can’t really claim that you are in business if you haven’t been sued.  Now, this doesn’t mean that you have done anything wrong.  Maybe you are being sued because someone claimed the slipped on fell on your premises or maybe you are being caught up in an affair that has nothing to do with you.  For this reason, you need to have a good team on your side that will fight for you.


How do you pay for this help in a time of need?  This is where business liability insurance comes in as it will help to you to cover the cost or your defense.


Beyond that here are some final thoughts.  Get yourself a good lawyer because their knowledge and experience can help you and your business grow.  Get a good lawyer as they will help to shield your business from unforced errors by entering into dubious contracts.  Finally, a good lawyer will help you to protect your business from inevitable lawsuits.


What are you waiting for?  Get yourself a good lawyer and help your business to make it to the next level.