The American Bar Association estimates that there are 449,000 licensed small business lawyers in the United States based on its 2022 survey. Large corporations seldom conduct business without lawyers due to the complexity of their operations.
However, small businesses often operate without attorneys because they don’t consider them essential to their company’s dealings. Additionally, lawyers’ services can be costly, so operating without one saves significant cash.
Therefore, all businesses need the services of a great lawyer for various good reasons. Here’s why your small business needs a lawyer.
Table of Contents
Lawyer Specialities For Small Businesses
Small business attorneys specialize in many areas of law. Be sure to choose the one best fit to help you with your small business needs.
- General Lawyer
- Labor and Employment Lawyer
- Merger/Acquisition Lawyer
- Tax Lawyer
- Intellectual Property Lawyer
- Contract Lawyer
To Select the Right Organizational Structure
You can choose to create a sole proprietorship, a limited partnership, a limited liability partnership, a corporation, or an incorporation based on the specific type of business you run.
However, it is prudent to seek the advice of an excellent local business lawyer when determining the best way to structure your business.
Your lawyer will help you arrive at the right decision based on multiple helpful and essential considerations, including your company’s size and growth potential and risk of liability.
You will eventually discover your error in the most unpleasant ways if you select the wrong business entity.
For example, your company may be sued, or an employee or partner will steal resources.
Therefore, it is always best to get a small business lawyer’s help when choosing your organizational structure to prevent legal problems.
Structure and Review Contracts
Your business enters into a contract each time it offers a product or service or makes a sale. Consequently, you need good contracts like refund and cancellation policies to protect your interests and ensure that clients do not exploit your business.
Furthermore, your enterprise will need to enter into contracts to operate effectively. Contracts may be necessary for hiring employees and setting up supplier and delivery agreements.
A good small business lawyer can carefully draft contracts to ensure that the terms are clearly stated and protect your company’s interest.
You may also need to structure deals on splitting the money with fellow investors, as is the case in real estate syndications. Fortunately, experts like https://syndicationattorneys.com/ can help you structure deals that protect you and your investors.
Small Business Lawyers Help During Litigation
Small business owners typically assume litigation is exclusive to large corporations. However, your company is always one contract dispute or employee relationship away from a lawsuit.
Indeed, the Small Business Administration estimates that 36% to 53% of small businesses are sued annually. Therefore, it helps to have an excellent small biz attorney in your corner to improve your odds of a successful outcome when threatened with legal action.
Protect Your Intellectual Property
According to research, 12,000 of the 18,400 cases filed in federal court annually are intellectual property cases. Intellectual property is crucial to your business if it thrives on proprietary technology, inventions, or creativity.
Therefore, you need a small business attorney to prevent and handle any intellectual property infringement that may harm your company’s chances of success. For instance, they will help you fight any misuse of your company’s logo, name, or tagline in court.
A great attorney can also advise you on how to take out patents or what to do to secure trade secrets and proprietary information.
Your Turn
Do you have a small business lawyer for your small biz? Have you had to use their services more than once when setting up your business or running your business? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below about it.
Does You Need A Proven Small Business Lawyer For Protection? Share on X
