How and When Should You Hire a Business Attorney?
The cost of a lawyer to safeguard your business and keep it out of legal trouble is much cheaper than hiring one to fix a legal problem after it has emerged.
Lawyers… Nobody wants to deal with them. In the history of the human race, no busy business owner has ever said: “I wish I could spend more time with my lawyer”. Like politicians, journalists and policemen, you only want one when you need one when you REALLY need one.
But when the chips are down, the cost of a lawyer to safeguard your business and keep it out of legal trouble is much cheaper than hiring one to fix a legal problem after it has emerged. A business attorney can have as much influence over the profitability of your business as your accountant.
You shouldn’t need a lawyer involved in every aspect of running your business: you wouldn’t stand much chance of success if you couldn’t handle your own business plan and set up contracts with staff and customers. But do you have the time and energy to navigate Cayman companies law, comply with the requirements of the Cayman Islands company registry, or sort out any licences or permits you need to operate, without an attorney’s help? Sometimes hiring a lawyer can be cheaper and faster than doing it yourself.
Where a business attorney does become necessary is in areas where dealing with the law becomes too complex, taking up too much of your company’s valuable time, or there are liability issues that could cause severe financial distress to the business.
Choosing a lawyer means working out what sort of services you need but can’t provide in-house. Your first step should be finding a lawyer who specializes in your type of business. A designer or creative consultant, for example, would probably have a strong need for expertise in intellectual property — things like patents, trademarks and copyright. The owner of a construction company would be more interested in protection from liability for accidents, project delays, disputes over workmanship and subcontractors, plant hire, etc.
A company that is in a more diversified business has a lot of employees, offers services or goods to the public, deals with government departments, local or international regulations, etc., could require a number of specialist services that no single lawyer can provide. The specialization and size of the law firm you hire should be a reflection of the specialization and size of your business.
This is where you need to choose between a small boutique firm with skills in one particular area, that may be cheaper to work with, or a larger firm that has an army of legal specialists on hand with all the advice you need under one roof, but charges accordingly.
It should also go without saying that you need rapport with your attorney, who should understand your company’s business, its goals, and can explain things to you on an equal level without relying on legal jargon.
Keeping your legal fees manageable needs some preparation and work. Ask potential law firms for a free initial consultation, to get to know the firm, determine whether you have a good rapport with them, and find out their skills and fee structure. Don’t base a decision on hourly rates alone: a highly experienced attorney may charge more per hour, but may also complete the task in half the time of an inexperienced rival.
To keep a lid on costs and prevent any unwelcome surprises down the line, ask for a written breakdown and estimate for each task ahead of time. Ask law firms how they calculate increments of time. Is your five-minute phone call going to be billed as a 10-minute, 30-minute or one-hour consultation according to their fee structure?
Prepare for every meeting, making sure all necessary documentation and relevant information is sent ahead of time. If a firm has more than one lawyer working on your file, agree ahead of time how much each individual is charging per hour. Get itemized bills every month and read them carefully for errors.
Lawyers are a necessary evil in business and are far more useful to your success than just securing your Cayman islands company incorporation and basic filings. Don’t wait until something goes horribly wrong before consulting one. The chances are that the mess you find yourself in would probably be simpler to fix, or not have happened at all if you had spent some time beforehand consulting a business attorney knowledgeable in your field of business.
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