Why A Business Lawyer Should Be Part of Every Small Business's Team.And Why It Matters.
If you wait until your business has been sued to hire a business lawyer it may be too late. For example, if your website is not accessible to persons with disabilities you can be sued without notice. Get our free ADA website compliance guide to avoid that. Click on the button below.
According to a Small Business Administration (SBA) report, up to 53% of small businesses are involved in at least one litigation in any given year. Another report says 90% of all businesses are engaged in litigation at any given time. Many of the businesses that are involved in litigation would have benefited from having a business lawyer on board before the litigation started.
The average lawsuit will cost a small business, on average, $45,000-$75,000 at a minimum in costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees. A Forbes Magazine article notes that the median costs of a business lawsuit starts at $54,000 for a liability lawsuit, and can reach around $91,000 for a contract dispute.
If you haven’t experienced a lawsuit yet, you are fortunate but the odds are you may be next. One lawsuit can be enough to put a small business out of business. Legal rules and regulations seriously affect how a business operates and can determine whether a business makes a profit or becomes one of the many failures that small businesses suffer.
On top of all the litigation that small businesses face, onerous government regulations are also a huge problem that costs small businesses millions of dollars each year keeping up with what are often burdensome regulations that often don’t make much sense.
According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), government compliance requirements are the number one complaint that the majority of small businesses have.
The greatest exposure to small businesses and the need for a business lawyer are:
- Failure to comply with government regulations like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Especially, the lack of website accessibility compliance for persons with disabilities
- Claims for violation of wage and hour laws
- Lawsuits filed for discrimination within the workplace
- Employees suing for wrongful termination of employment
- Contract disputes that arise during business operations
Even if you don’t have employees, if you use a website to offer your services, you could be sued for ADA non-compliance.
Many of the business law issues that small businesses face could be avoided or at least lessen if they had a business lawyer that regularly represents them and advises them on issues of government compliance, contracts, and how to prevent a lawsuit and defendant against a lawsuit should that occur.
Unfortunately, small businesses often make the mistake of thinking they will not likely be sued and if they are sued they will retain a business lawyer then. This is unwise business thinking.
Instead, you should have an ongoing business relationship with a qualified business lawyer during your regular business operation.
The lawyer can help you make the right decisions in contract negotiations to foresee and avoid future expensive contract disputes. Also, the lawyer can provide guidance advice on how best to comply with business law regulations from a government entity.
Also, having a business lawyer as part of your team will send a message to any potential litigant that you likely will not roll over and just settle the lawsuit, but will fight and protect your business.
Having a business lawyer is just good business sense and it will very likely be less expensive to have a lawyer on retainer or on a prearranged hourly basis than waiting for a dispute or lawsuit to occur. In most cases, it will cost substantially more after litigation has started or the dispute has gotten to the point where resolution is less likely.
The best solution is to have business law compliance as part of your business strategy. Our law office specializes in business law and business development representation. We work with small businesses to ensure they proactively operate their business to prevent disputes and litigation and maximize asset protection.
Our services are affordable and can be designed to work with just about any small business budget. Our goal is to make sure your business can have the comfort of knowing it has a business lawyer on board that it can call upon whenever needed and get business law and related matters resolved quickly and completely.
Why A Lawyer Should Be Part of Your Business Team
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We are not only lawyers but entrepreneurs too. We understand the challenges you face and how difficult it is to operate a business and cover all of the legal issues that will like come up along the way. We can relieve some of the burden. We will work with you to create a plan that fits your needs and your budget.
Discover how to provide a legal shield for your business and at the same time decrease business operation costs and generate more profits with our law firm as part of your team.
You can have a lawyer on call. Contact us now and find out how easy it is to have an on-call business attorney on your team. We will be in touch with you within 48 hours of your request for information. Click the contact button below and get started now. You can also call us at 508-687-2058.