Introduction
According to Matt Davies Stockton, for businesses, a wrong step that can put you at odds with the law can be devastating. While large corporations have unlimited resources to shield themselves from anything, even a tiny mistake can make small businesses lose a lot of money. Let’s check out the value of having a commercial attorney to represent your business.
The Discussion
- You get experts on business and commercial litigation laws – As a business owner you need to focus on your field of expertise to deliver a better product or service to your customers. Your limited time and resources don’t allow you to know everything, especially about laws. Average business owners may not know more than a few points of legislation. That’s where commercial lawyers come in.
They have spent years educating themselves about those laws and spent most of their time tracking changes in those laws. They know everything there is to know about business law and litigation. They can help you out when you’re in trouble and their legal advice can keep you from making mistakes that put you in trouble.
- Choosing a business structure – While most small businesses don’t need to worry about their business structure, medium-sized and large businesses do. If you don’t structure your business properly from the beginning, you will be in unnecessary legal disputes in the future. For instance, you may be exposed to more liability if you choose a different structure other than an LLC for your business. A commercial attorney can help you choose the right business structure for your company and help you understand your tax obligations, employee inquiries, liabilities, setup costs, and more.
- Drafting contracts – As a business, you need to draft several contracts for customers, vendors, employees, and more. A commercial lawyer can make sure that those contracts capture all the necessary items and protect you in every way possible. They can help draft your contracts after understanding your exact needs and deliver clarity on existing contracts so that they can be drafted with better terms in the future.
- Protect your IP -While some businesses have a competitive edge over their peers in customer satisfaction, market share, and other such places, a lot of businesses are based entirely on their Intellectual Property (IP). IP includes everything from product designs, logos, trade secrets, and inventions to business services and other original works. Depending on the type of IP you have, you may need to file a patent, copyright, or trademark. If you’re not careful with it, you may lose a key IP to the competition and lose a great chunk of your revenue. That’s where commercial attorneys can help.
Conclusion
Matt Davies Stockton suggests that you assess the above-mentioned benefits and figure out if hiring a commercial lawyer for your business is worth the money. While small family-run cafes may not need it, most small and medium-sized businesses would benefit from having a commercial attorney representing them.
