Almost nobody starts a business in order to have more encounters with the law. Unfortunately, that’s one of the biggest effects of having your own business – you encounter more legal issues than you did before.
You might not think your business is the kind that will run into legal issues, but if you look at the list below, you will see that almost every business is likely to encounter some type of legal issue over time.
Choosing a Business Structure
Choosing a business structure is likely the first legal issue your business will face.
On the one hand, you might think it’s easiest and simplest to just be a sole proprietorship, but doing so might put your personal property at risk. Your car, your home and your other valuable assets all become vulnerable in the event of a business lawsuit or your business’ outstanding debts.
During business formation, you should consider business structures that will protect your personal property. While you’re at it, you should consider what might be most favorable from a tax perspective, and which structure best suits the way you imagine operating your business.
Trademarks and Intellectual Property Protection
Many people decide to start a business because they have a brilliant idea. Perhaps it’s a product design. Maybe it’s a bit of software that does something more effectively than other code that’s out there. It could even be a unique ice cream recipe that you dreamt up one day.
Whatever your intellectual property is, the odds are that it’s the most valuable thing your business will ever own. You know that you wouldn’t leave your store’s doors unlocked and open all night, but not taking steps to protect your IP can cost your business far more than any physical robbery.
Employment Law Issues
Once your business gets too big for you to do all the work yourself, you’re going to need employees. With employees comes employment law issues. You’ll have to be prepared to deal with payment disputes, discrimination claims, workers’ compensation issues and more.
Some people think that they can just sidestep this issue by only working with independent contractors. Unfortunately, that can be a recipe for trouble, too. If you don’t fully understand the laws surrounding contractors, you can find yourself in trouble for misclassifying people who are truly employees as independent contractors.
Regulatory Compliance
Another big legal issue your business is going to face is regulatory compliance. Almost every business is governed by numerous overlapping regulatory agencies, and you must comply with a variety of local, state, and federal laws. Violating any of these regulations can cost your business dearly (and lead to a loss of personal property if you didn’t take steps to protect it).
Deciding When You Need a Contract
You might be a “My word is my bond” kind of person who never needs more than a handshake to compel you to live up to your promises. Unfortunately, many people do not operate that way in the modern economy. If you don’t have a contract to compel someone to live up to their promises, you will find yourself without payment, without supplies, and without a recourse to be made whole from the party that didn’t fulfill their end of the deal.
Keep in mind that contracts aren’t just for enforcing promises. They serve to clarify what exactly each party is agreeing to. A contract can keep you from accidentally overpromising or overdelivering in ways that can cost your business.
Product or Service Liability
Whenever you provide a product or service to someone, you are exposing yourself to potential liability if that person believes that what you delivered is faulty in some way. If they believe that the fault led to injury, property damage, or other costs, they might try to recover those costs from you.
It’s important to consider what potential liability your business is exposed to, then work to protect yourself from it. Using a contract to spell out your liability is one powerful strategy. You also need to understand the regulatory framework your business operates within, because not complying with regulatory requirements can expose you to greater liability.
Obtaining Business Real Estate
After your IP, real estate is likely going to be your business’ most valuable asset. The decision of whether to buy or lease real estate is a big one for your business, and it depends on a variety of factors, not the least of which are the terms you are able to obtain for a lease. Leases can contain many restrictive terms that will affect your business’ operations now and in the future.
A lease is a contract, and it’s important to have this contract reviewed by a lawyer before signing. Having a lawyer review your lease and negotiate terms can save your business a considerable amount of money while giving you flexibility to meet your current and future needs.
Let the Law Office of E.C. Lewis Handle Your Legal Issues
As a business owner, you’ve already got more work than you can handle. You need all the hours in the day to handle the actual running of your business. You don’t have time to devote to dealing with these legal issues. Plus, your business is the work you’re skilled in. You likely know little about the law, which can lead to costly mistakes. Instead of wasting time and money trying to handle legal issues, have a small business lawyer handle those issues for you.
Elizabeth Lewis is an experienced business attorney. Since 2007, she has been helping many small and medium businesses in Denver and across Colorado to deal with these and other common legal issues. She’s dedicated to the success of her clients, and she can help you successfully found your company and navigate it through the difficult early growth stages.
To learn whether Elizabeth is the right lawyer for your business, please contact us today for a consultation.
As a business owner, you are responsible for complying with numerous regulations, have countless expenses, and are juggling several roles in your business structure. You are often rushing through your day, and it can be hard to identify scams that sound like (or are related to) real requirements for your business. Scammers make it seem as if you have to pay them or else you’re breaking the law.
Here are some of the more common scams we see and how to avoid paying the scammers to keep your business in compliance.
Labor Posters
Compliance with employment laws includes posting certain information in areas visible to employees. So when someone calls or sends you an official looking notice by mail and tells you that you have to buy their posters to be in compliance, it can be hard to say no. Plus, the cost isn’t that bad. These posters range from $10 to $50 each, plus shipping, which may be another $10.
However, there are a few problems with this. First, you can download all the required posters for free from either the Colorado Department of Labor or the US Department of Labor. Second, while you might be tempted to delegate the work of getting up-to-date labor posters to someone else, there’s no guarantee that these posters you’re paying for are actually accurate. Finally, sellers of these posters use them as an opportunity to upsell you on near-worthless additional services like compliance insurance. Once you buy their posters, you can expect to be bombarded with numerous additional sales calls, mailings, and emails.
Trademark Registration
Registering your trademark is an essential step in protecting your company’s valuable intellectual property, including software licensing. It’s not surprising that it would also be a tempting target for scammers.
Scammers will often call, email, or mail you, saying there’s a problem with your application that you must resolve immediately to avoid losing your trademark rights. Others might tell you that they can file your application or represent you, even though they’re not a lawyer. These scams can sound convincing because the scammers take information that is publicly available about your application to try to scam you. In some cases, the mail or email you may receive may even be drafted to look like it is coming from an official source.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) wants you to know that its employees will never ask for personal or payment information over the phone, in an email, or in a text. They also don’t want you to send payment via check or money order to third-party addresses.
If you’re getting pressured by someone to act in a way that you think is a scam, don’t engage with them. Contact the attorney handling your application or the USPTO directly or reach out to your business attorney to ensure that what you are receiving is legitimate before you turn over your hard-earned money or personal information.
Paying for EINs
You know you need an employer identification number (EIN) for tax purposes, and if you search online, you will come across numerous websites that offer to help you get an EIN for a fee. However, providing an EIN is a free service from the IRS. Note that if you use a pay service to apply for an EIN, not only will you be out the $300+ that they charge for the service, but any information you provide in the application is potentially compromised, setting you up for identity theft and other more expensive scams later.
Company Seals
Another potential scam is when people tell you that you need a company seal in order to legally do business as a corporation, LLC, or even a sole proprietor. They will likely frame this as a tiered scam: so much to file the paperwork, and wouldn’t you like to have your seal professionally designed, and here is some letterhead with your seal watermark, and don’t you want a fancy desk embosser?
There is currently no legal requirement for companies of any type to obtain a seal during business formation. If you want to have a seal, that is your choice, but you should make sure you work with a reputable company that isn’t trying to improperly charge or upsell you.
Paying for Meeting Minutes
You may get a worrying email or other notice saying that your LLC, nonprofit, or other corporation is required to file meeting minutes with the Secretary of State. The notice might tell you that because you’re delinquent, you have a substantial fee or penalty due. They might also refer you to a service that can prepare your minutes for filing.
Colorado does not require reporting entities to file meeting minutes. There is an annual report required, which you will file through the Colorado Secretary of State’s website, using their form. The cost to file your periodic report is $10.00. Filing late can result in a $50.00 penalty.
Elizabeth Lewis Can Protect You from Scams
All these scams have one thing in common: they are parasites on real legal requirements that your business must adhere to or had to adhere to in the past. Telling the difference between real legal requirements and scammers can be exhausting. This is where your small business lawyer can help. Your lawyer will advise you about how to remain in compliance. Then, if any questions arise, you can refer the potential scammer to your lawyer or call your lawyer for further advice prior to remitting any information or payment to the person requesting it.
Elizabeth Lewis has been serving small and medium sized businesses in Denver and across Colorado since 2007. She’s seen all the scams and knows how to avoid them. She can help your business stay in compliance with all genuine legal requirements from your foundation through all stages of your company’s successful growth, while providing the important legal protections you need throughout the life of your business.
To schedule a free initial call to see if the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C is a good fit for your legal needs, please contact us today.
7 Essential Items Your Business Needs an Attorney For
For many small businesses, it’s normal for the owner to take on a lot of jobs. You’re the accountant, the HR manager, maybe even the janitor.
You might be tempted to operate as the lawyer for your business, but that’s an impulse you should reconsider. The law is very complicated, and making legal mistakes can be very expensive for your business. That’s why you should hire a lawyer, especially in important situations.
Starting Up
There are many complicated aspects of business formation that would benefit from consulting with a lawyer. From protecting your personal assets to structuring your business to filing proper paperwork with the authorities, there are many things an attorney can help with when starting your business. Not handling these things right at the beginning can lead to messy complications later, so it’s essential to talk to a business lawyer before you start.
Neglected this step? It might not be too late: talk to a lawyer now to manage your legal risks.
Writing and Reviewing Contracts
Most of the relationships your business has with other entities – suppliers, clients, landlords, employees, and more – should be governed by contracts. In some cases, it will be your responsibility to supply the contract. In other cases, the other party will give you a contract to sign.
In either case, you’ll want the help of a lawyer. A lawyer can write contracts for your business to protect you from bad actions by the other party, including not following through on promises or trying to change the terms of your relationship later. A lawyer can also review contracts provided by the other party to make sure that all the terms are in your best interest.
Ensuring Compliance
You probably have no idea how many regulations there are governing how your business operates. However, ignorance of the law will not protect you from the consequences of noncompliance. If you aren’t in compliance, you might be forced to stop business immediately and may not be able to reopen until you not only get into compliance, but also go through legal procedures proving compliance. You may also face fines and/or jail time, depending on the infraction.
Instead, it’s essential to consult with a lawyer about what regulations you need to adhere to when operating your business. The best time to do this is before you start your business, but if you haven’t yet, now is better than later.
Dealing with Legal Disputes
Properly written contracts can reduce your business’ involvement in legal disputes. With a contract defining what’s expected of each party – and the consequences of failing to meet expectations – people either live up to the contract or deal with the consequences. But sometimes there are disagreements about what needs to be done. Some of the most common disputes are between employers and employees.
In these cases, it’s necessary to get a lawyer involved. Bringing in a lawyer can help you get what you’re owed by the other party or protect you from their assertions that you didn’t live up to the terms of your contract. A lawyer can often help you resolve the issue without going to court.
Legal disputes also include when authorities allege that you didn’t comply with regulations or broke the law in some way. A lawyer can help you avoid fines, jail time, and other possible consequences.
Restructuring, Merging, Buying, or Selling a Business
Changes to your business often come with legal complications. A business lawyer can ensure that these complications are resolved properly and don’t result in future liabilities for you.
Sometimes you need to change the structure of your business. Perhaps you didn’t set it up properly at the beginning, or maybe conditions have changed so you want a new structure. A lawyer can help you resolve any obligations from the old structure and handle all the proper procedures to transition to the new structure.
Sometimes it makes sense to merge with another business. A lawyer can help you ensure that the merger is fair in terms of what value each business is bringing to the table. They can also help you resolve conflicts in the merger, such as what the new name and logo will be.
On the surface, buying a business might seem like a profitable course of action, but it’s important to get a lawyer involved. They can review the agreements and help ensure that everything you think you’re buying is actually included in the sale.
You might think selling your business automatically removes you from responsibility for anything it does after that, but it doesn’t necessarily. A lawyer can help you draw up a sales contract that maintains only the ties you want with the old business and doesn’t expose you to unnecessary liability.
Real Estate
Whenever your business is involved in a real estate deal, you need a lawyer there to make sure everything is in the best interest of your business. They’ll help you write, review, or negotiate the contracts, make sure everything is properly documented, and help you understand what you’re really getting.
Making a mistake in a real estate deal can cost your business a lot of money, so it’s best to get a lawyer involved to protect your business.
Protecting Intellectual Property
Your intellectual property is probably the most valuable thing your business owns. Unfortunately, it’s also highly vulnerable to infringement and theft. Taking proper steps to protect your intellectual property can save your business.
A Dedicated Small Business Lawyer
Elizabeth Lewis believes in helping businesses thrive in the complex legal environment that is the modern economy. She believes in building relationships with businesses, so if you work with her now, she’s happy to help you later.
Elizabeth has extensive experience addressing the needs of small businesses. She’s been serving small and medium-sized businesses in Denver and throughout Colorado since 2007, and in 2010 became a small business owner herself by opening The Law Office of E. C. Lewis, PC.
Let Elizabeth show you how her results-oriented approach can help resolve your disputes and difficulties efficiently and effectively. To learn how she can help you, please call us or use our online form today to request an appointment at the Law Office of E. C. Lewis, P.C. in Denver.
12 Topics to Discuss with a Lawyer Before Starting a Business
Starting a business is exciting. You’ve got a great idea, and your future success is so certain that you can see it in your mind. You want to get started looking for shopfronts or office space and put up your sign right away.
Not so fast. Before you get started with your business’ physical space, you need to consider the legal space in which your business operates. Talking to a business lawyer should be the first step in creating your business. Elizabeth Lewis is a business lawyer who has helped many people lay the legal groundwork for their successful business. She can help you consider all these issues in detail so you get your business started right and give yourself the best odds of success. Here are some questions you need to ask a lawyer before starting your business.
What Business Structure Is Best for Me?
There are many different ways to structure your business, such as LLCs, S corporations, C corporations, and more. Which one is best for you will depend on many factors. Talking to a lawyer is the easiest way to sort out the issues. They can listen to your goals, concerns, and business plans to determine which is the best choice for creating a business that matches your vision.
They can also help you understand the tax ramifications of each different structure, and what business developments might warrant restructuring.
What Legal Actions Are Necessary for Starting My Business?
After choosing the right business structure, there are still many essential tasks to complete before launching your business. There may be founding documents that you have to file with local authorities, the state, and the federal government.
Do you need to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN)? Are there other steps necessary for handling local, state, and federal tax responsibilities? What licenses and permits are required for your business? Not getting these initial steps right can lead to expensive penalties or fixes later.
How Can I Protect My Personal Assets?
Starting a business is risky. These risks can extend beyond the money, time, and other resources you’ve invested. If you’re not careful, all your personal assets may be at risk if your business fails or gets into legal trouble.
Make sure you take steps to protect your personal assets or else you could lose everything.
How Can I Protect My Intellectual Property?
For many businesses, the most valuable property they own isn’t their inventory, their fixtures, or their equipment – it’s their intellectual property. Software companies especially need to work hard to protect their intellectual property because that is the company’s main asset.
A business lawyer can help you take steps to protect your intellectual property before you accidentally expose it or turn it over to the public domain.
Is This a Good Name for My Business?
Speaking of intellectual property, your trademark is a valuable part of your business. Choosing the right name and protecting it with a trademark can make all the difference in the success of your business.
A business lawyer can help you understand whether the name you’re considering is, first, available, and second, a good choice from a legal standpoint.
How Can I Protect Investors?
If you’re hoping to secure additional investors in your business, they are going to want assurances that they aren’t exposing themselves to unnecessary financial or legal risks. Make sure you have appropriate safeguards in place before you ask for investment capital – it will make you look more professional and help you secure backers.
How Do I Make Sure Owners All Do Their Part?
If you have partners, co-owners, or investors with an ownership stake in the business, you’ll need to clearly lay out the responsibilities of each party. For some owners, their responsibilities might end with their financial contributions, but others might have specific duties and obligations.
A lawyer can help you draw up agreements so it’s clear what everyone is expected to do, and what are the consequences of not fulfilling their obligations.
Do I Need Bylaws for My Business?
It’s not just owners who need clear definitions of their role. The business itself needs rules for how it will operate, such as who has the power to make certain decisions, and what procedures must be followed to vest this power in a different individual or group. This is especially important for corporations, which need clear descriptions of how and when stocks will be issued, how shareholder meetings will be governed, and how to handle ownership changes.
What Regulations Must My Business Comply with?
As important as your business’ internal rules is the regulatory environment surrounding your business. Each business exists at a complex overlapping of different regulatory regimes: state, local, federal, and sometimes international regulations determine how you can run your business. Failure to comply with relevant regulatory standards can doom your business. Particularly egregious offenses can even sidestep the safeguards you put in place to protect your personal property, so make sure you know what regulations your business must adhere to.
What Insurance Do I Need for My Business?
Like driving a car, running a business often has insurance requirements to operate legally. In Colorado, all businesses need workers’ compensation insurance, and you may need professional liability insurance, depending on your business. In addition, there are types of insurance that are just a good idea to protect you and your co-owners.
A lawyer can help you understand what insurance is required.
What Contracts Will My Business Need?
Whenever your business interacts with other entities, including suppliers, employees, and landlords, you may want a contract defining those interactions. Whether a contract is necessary depends on the value of the relationship and the possibility of problems. If you run a store, for example, you don’t need a contract with everyone who buys a $10 item, but contracts become necessary when you’re providing ongoing services, and it’s a good idea to protect your business with a contract when selling complicated and/or expensive equipment.
Can You Be My Lawyer If I Need You Later?
Your business is likely to need a lawyer on many occasions. By talking to a lawyer when forming the business, you’ve eliminated some of them, but others are likely to arise. Having access to a lawyer when they do will make things go more smoothly.
Many business lawyers are prepared to handle legal issues that come up, but you might be expected to pay a retainer to guarantee an immediate response.
Get Solutions to Your Business Formation Problems
The Law Office of E.C. Lewis has extensive experience helping small businesses at all stages of formation and growth. Elizabeth Lewis has helped many businesses navigate the difficult legal requirements of starting up. She’s also seen how complicated it can be when businesses don’t take care during these early stages. Since 2007, Elizabeth has been helping small and medium sized businesses with their legal needs. She knows how important the early legal requirements are, and she can help you navigate this critical phase of your new endeavor.
For help getting your business started, please call us or use our online form to schedule a consultation.
Top 8 Reasons Why You Need a Small Business Lawyer
We understand that when you’re starting your business, money can be tight. You might be looking for ways to save money to help your business get and remain profitable. You might think that a business lawyer is a smart item to cut from your budget.
However, that would be a mistake. Here are 8 reasons why you should have a small business lawyer as soon as possible.
1. You Can Be Sued at Any Time
Nobody likes to think about the prospect of being sued, cited, or summoned to appear in court. However, the truth is that this can happen to you and/or your business at any time, and when it does, it’s too late to look for a lawyer.
By having an attorney at the beginning of your business, the hope is that you can structure your business and its services such that you will never need to face a courtroom. However, if it happens, it’s best to have someone that can help you navigate the process – whether it is with them as your litigation attorney or with them playing a supporting role and helping you find a litigation attorney.
Protect yourself and your business by having a lawyer before you need one.
2. You Are Constantly Dealing with the Law
Part of the reason why you can be sued at any time is that your business is constantly dealing with the law. If you have employees, there are numerous legal complications with employment law. Any product you produce or sell has standards it must meet. Any client you work with might present you with a contract that you’ll want to review before signing. There are zoning laws and environmental regulations and building standards to consider.
Having a small business lawyer will make it easier to navigate all these legal complications to protect your business.
3. You Have Intellectual Property to Protect
Your business likely has intellectual property. This could be something as simple as a logo or a family recipe. Or it could be something much more complicated, including software, a unique manufactured product, or a unique manufacturing process.
A lawyer can help you file the proper paperwork to protect your intellectual property, help you license or sell it, and go after people infringing on your property.
4. You Need to Buy or Lease Commercial Real Estate
Real estate is expensive, and making mistakes in buying or leasing commercial real estate can make it much more expensive for your business. A small business real estate lawyer can help you go through the proper steps in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating agreements. A lawyer can help you get proper inspections before committing to purchasing or leasing property. They can also help you get any zoning issues out of the way to ensure the property will be useful for your business. Finally, they can make sure any agreement is free of burdensome terms that might doom your business.
5. You’ll Be Working with Businesses That Have Lawyers
Why do burdensome terms get put in contracts? Because other businesses have lawyers who are always on the lookout for ways to help their clients. If you don’t have anyone looking out for you, you might find yourself held to terms that harm your business. Whenever another business gives you a contract, you will benefit from having a lawyer to review it.
6. Making Legal Mistakes Can Be Expensive
Remember when we mentioned that you are constantly dealing with the law? Well, every one of those dealings can easily become a major legal liability if you don’t know what you’re doing. Running afoul of an employment law, municipal code, or environmental regulations could cost your business thousands of dollars, or potentially much more depending on the legal issue.
In comparison, having a lawyer available to review your documents and consult with about the law is relatively inexpensive. It will save you considerable money over time.
7. You Don’t Have Time to Study Law
Running a business is at least three full-time jobs rolled into one. Most business owners work extremely long days for several years before they can afford to find someone to take much of the burden off your shoulders. With all this work, you don’t have time to try to squeeze in legal studies on the side. The law is extremely complicated and takes years of dedicated work to master. Even if you dedicate all your free time to studying the law, you’re unlikely to master it in time to save your company from making a major legal mistake. Just like you want to be the expert in your field for your clients to turn to, having a seasoned business attorney ensures that you have an expert in the legal field to turn to.
8. You’ve Got Enough Other Things to Worry about
In addition to being a lot of work, owning a business is a lot of worry. You have employees that count on you. You have expenses to keep track of and a budget to manage to ensure that all your employees get paid. There’s competition to watch out for and inventory to track. Whenever you can get a worry off your mind, it’s best to do it.
Having a business lawyer will eliminate many worries so you can focus on the critical tasks necessary to ensure your business grows and thrives over time.
Why Choose the Law Office of E. C. Lewis
If you are looking for a business lawyer who understands the needs of small businesses, then you’re looking for the Law Office of E.C. Lewis. Since 2007, Elizabeth Lewis has been helping small and medium sized businesses in the Denver area navigate the complicated legal landscape to chart a course for long-term success. Elizabeth focuses on developing relationships with businesses. She wants you to succeed, and she’ll always be here when you need her. She offers a wide range of legal services and can help with any legal challenges your company may face.
If you are ready to talk to the Law Office of E. C. Lewis in Denver about representing your business, please use our contact form today.
A business attorney can literally help save your business. They can help with real estate transactions, licensing your intellectual property, and day-to-day legal compliance in ways that will make all the difference to your business’s survival. Therefore, it’s critical that you have a business attorney, even when you might not know that you have a specific need for one.
But how do you find the right business attorney for you? Here’s a step-by-step guide that can help.
Ask Colleagues for Recommendations
Asking for personal recommendations is always a great place to start. If you have colleagues that you trust, ask if they would recommend their business attorney. This can be especially useful if you know a colleague who has navigated some legal hurdles recently.
Make sure to collect lists of both attorneys your colleagues would recommend and those that they would not recommend.
Search for Results Online
Your list of personal recommendations is just a starting point. Don’t just go with someone that your colleague recommended, especially if you only got one recommendation.
Instead, do a quick online search for business attorneys in the area. Make your search specific to your needs. For example, if you need an attorney for a real estate transaction, search “business attorney for buying commercial property,” or “business attorney to renegotiate commercial lease,” depending on your needs.
Also look up the websites of the attorneys your colleagues recommended. You might find, for example, that an attorney has retired, or that a recommended attorney no longer works at the recommended firm.
Evaluate Their Expertise and Experience
Take time to peruse the website of each lawyer you’re considering. Figure out what areas of business law they focus on and how that overlaps with your business attorney needs. At a minimum, a lawyer should mention the industry or transaction you need help with. Ideally, they should devote considerable space to it on their website in the form of one or more pages or blogs unless you have a novel idea that hasn’t been dealt with before, of course.
Make sure a lawyer has experience dealing with your type of business. There are lessons that are best taught by experience, so it’s best to choose a lawyer who has been practicing for several years as a business attorney.
Read Testimonials and Reviews
Any good attorney will generate positive reviews. If an attorney doesn’t have testimonials and reviews that you can easily find, make sure you do a lot more homework to make sure they are qualified.
Don’t just look at the star ratings of reviews. Instead, take the time to read the reviews so you can understand what people value in the attorney. If it’s what you’re looking for in a business attorney, make sure that person is at the top of your list.
Case studies, sometimes called customer stories, are another important resource. These detailed descriptions of how the lawyer helped a business can help you understand how their services can help your business.
Schedule Consultations
After looking at websites, you should have a short list of lawyers you’re considering. Schedule consultations with these lawyers. Many business attorneys will offer a free initial call to see if it is a good fit – for both you and for the attorney. These calls may be short in length, but it can give you an opportunity to hear a lawyer’s voice and get a personal introduction to why they think they might be right for your business.
If you don’t get enough information from these initial consultations, don’t be afraid to schedule an in-person consultation or a longer consultation if needed. Yes, in many instances attorneys will charge for a longer consult, but spending a small amount of money now may save you considerably over choosing the wrong business attorney.
Make Your Decision
Now it’s time to make your decision. To do this, look at each lawyer you’ve been considering and ask three questions:
Are they right for your business? Choose a lawyer that is right for your business. This means that they have the right experience and expertise for the legal work you’ll ask them to perform. If you’re looking to incorporate, find someone who’s helped businesses get incorporated. If you’re licensing software, make sure you find someone with expertise in software licensing.
Will they care about your business? Make sure that the attorney you choose is one that will really care about your business. You’ll find this in reviews and testimonials, but also in the lawyer’s manner during your consultations. Avoid picking a firm for your small business just because they seem impressive. For example, unless a larger firm has multiple lawyers dedicated specifically to small business clients, you might find that while a big firm has great views from their conference room, the large firm never has time for your small business.
Do you feel comfortable working with this lawyer? Finally, it’s important that you choose a lawyer you feel comfortable talking to – and one that you feel is really listening to you. Often, legal issues can turn on small details, and if you don’t feel comfortable talking about the details with a lawyer – or if you think they’re not listening – you might be setting yourself up for trouble later.
If none of the lawyers you’re considering meet your needs, start the process again. It’s worth it spend as much time as needed to find the right lawyer, rather than rushing through the process and working with the wrong one. The hope is that once you find an attorney, that attorney should be able to be with your business for the long run and become a valued resource for you and your business.
Why Choose the Law Office of E.C. Lewis as Your Business Attorney
Since 2007, Elizabeth Lewis has helped many small businesses with their legal needs. She understands the specific issues facing small businesses, and how they differ from the legal needs of large corporations. She can help your business navigate all the challenges that you will face as you’re starting it and steering it through its challenging first years.
Elizabeth takes a results-oriented approach. She wants to help you and your business accomplish your goals, and she knows how to get the law on your side, for protection from threats as well as leverage in achieving your goals.
Finally, Elizabeth focuses on building relationships. She wants your business to achieve long-term success, and she plans to be there for every step in the process. She’s not just going to help you with a one-off task now – she’ll be here when you need her in the future as well.
Talk to Elizabeth Lewis about Your Business Attorney Needs
Don’t let the process of choosing a small business attorney keep you from advancing your business. You can schedule a free phone consultation with Elizabeth to learn whether she’s the right business attorney for you.
Use our contact page to get started. The Law Office of E.C. Lewis serves small and medium sized businesses in Denver and throughout Colorado.
