Do Small Businesses Need Lawyers?

Having an experienced small business lawyer is essential for any small business. Whether your company has been flourishing for decades or you’re still in the planning stages of your new startup, a small business lawyer is just as important as a trustworthy accountant or any other skilled professional whose services help your business thrive.

A small business lawyer understands you and your company’s needs. Perhaps even more importantly, a lawyer helps identify your blind spots, reduces the risk of running into legal issues, and works to help you come out ahead when lawsuits or other issues arise.

When an Established Business Needs a Small Business Lawyer

If you’ve successfully run your business without a small business lawyer, you might doubt whether hiring one is necessary. Unfortunately, many small business owners make the mistake of not hiring a lawyer until they need one.

Often, situations that lead to the need for a lawyer could have been avoided if one had been working to protect your business’s interests from the start.

Legal Issues

Legal issues are the most common reason for an existing small business owner to suddenly hire a small business lawyer when they haven’t worked with one in the past.

Small businesses frequently encounter a wide range of legal issues and lawsuits. Some of the most common include:

• Compliance issues
• Breach of contract
• Wage disputes
• Intellectual property lawsuits
• Personal injury lawsuits
• Sexual harassment lawsuits
• Wrongful termination lawsuits
• Discrimination lawsuits

Legal disputes like these can bring high legal costs. They also frequently end with a small business facing consequences like financial penalties or loss of license.

While a small business lawyer can help significantly reduce a business’s potential consequences, having a lawyer overseeing company affairs often helps businesses avoid costly legal challenges entirely.

Service Agreements and Contact Disputes

Small businesses rarely do business in a vacuum. Most small business owners find themselves bound by a variety of contracts and service agreements. Common examples include:

• Property leasing contracts
• Equipment leasing contracts
• Service agreements
• Independent contractor agreements

Having a small business lawyer review the terms of these agreements is an essential step for protecting your small business. When one of your business partners breaks a contract or accuses you of doing so, your small business lawyer handles the case to help mitigate the unwanted consequences of a dispute.

Firing Employees

Small business owners must tread carefully when it comes time to fire an employee. Disgruntled employees often attempt to seek revenge by filing for wrongful termination or alleging that their termination was due to discrimination or harassment.

A small business lawyer helps ensure your business has clearly defined guidelines for disciplining employees and documenting problematic behavior. This ensures you have evidence on file to justify the termination if you need it.

A small business lawyer also helps identify and protect your business’s specialized needs. For example, a lawyer can help draft a non-compete agreement to help ensure trade secrets are kept protected when an employee leaves your company.

Small Business Lawyer Services for New Businesses and Startups

While existing businesses have no shortage of reasons to work with an experienced small business lawyer, startups and new businesses have an even greater cause.

Creating a new business from the ground up is no small feat. Without solid legal legwork paving the way, your fledgling company risks falling before it can fly.

Small business lawyers work with new business owners at all stages of new business creation. They offer legal advice in the planning stage and support navigating a new business owner’s many legal hurdles.

Planning Business Structure

Creating a new business begins with planning out the business structure. Small business lawyers offer insight and advice in areas that include:

• Choosing a business structure
• Drafting your business plan
• Identifying tax requirements
• Identifying zoning and licensing requirements
• Protecting against potential liabilities

An immense amount of work goes into this initial planning stage. If your business will depend on external funding, every detail must be ironed out in the early stages as you work to prove that your business will eventually achieve financial self-sufficiency.

A small business lawyer brings the experience you need to help ensure the blueprint for your new business is strategic and secure.

Legal Applications and Business Documents

Once it’s time to begin making your new business a reality, there’s no shortage of legal hoops you must jump through. A small business lawyer assists with tasks such as:

• Verifying your business name is available
• Helping with the patent and trademark application process
• Acquiring an EIN
• Setting up your business accounts
• Applying for licenses and zoning permits
• Drafting leasing and service agreements
• Drafting employment agreements
• Assisting in the creation of an employee handbook

A small business lawyer guides you through the many required steps of forming a new business, helping ensure your business is in legal compliance and protected from many of the potential pitfalls a new business faces.

Allowing a small business lawyer to assist in overseeing this process is an investment in your business’s future. Once you know that your bases are covered, there’s a much higher likelihood that getting your business off the ground and running won’t meet with unforeseen legal obstacles.

A Small Business Lawyer Protects Your Business

When you own a business, it’s only a matter of time before you find yourself facing a situation that requires the services of a small business lawyer. However, the nature and scale of the legal concerns your business faces often depend on your timeline for involving a lawyer.

In the world of business law, offense is the best defense. Working with an experienced small business lawyer from the start protects you from issues you might not even anticipate.

Waiting until you’re facing a lawsuit to hire a small business lawyer is a far less effective business strategy than hiring one to proactively mitigate the risk of lawsuits, liability, and other concerns that can harm your company’s finances and reputation.

Don’t wait until legal issues arise. Contact Pearlman, Brown & Wax, LLP today and discover how our experienced small business attorneys can help safeguard your business interests, navigate complex regulations, and pave the way for success. Let us be your trusted legal partner on the journey to small business success.