The 6 Different Types of Lawyers For Small Business Owners
People sue businesses for many reasons, and it’s likely that most business owners will experience a lawsuit during the life of the business. Due to this, you should fully understand the types of small business lawyers that your business could work with.
In this post, we’ll cover six common business lawyers that can help protect your business.
The Importance of Lawyers for Small Business Owners
It’s well known that hiring a lawyer can be expensive, making it challenging for some small business owners to retain their services. However, if your business is subject to a lawsuit, you’ll be relieved that you hired a lawyer.
When evaluating lawyers, you should ask a lot of questions and determine how they've helped other businesses similar to yours.
Hiring an attorney can also help ensure that your business is operating legally. They can review contracts and documents that you would otherwise assume are legitimate.
In addition, some lawyers are knowledgeable about tax issues, even if they aren’t accountants. They may have handled legal tax matters for other business owners and can make sure you don’t run into the same issues. Of course, you should have your lawyer consult with your accountant.
6 Types Of Lawyers For Businesses
People sometimes wonder what types of lawyers are available to them. Lawyers often specialize in either business law or personal law. For this reason, you should search for lawyers who have business law experience.
The following sections describe six types of lawyers for small businesses. When you read the sections, you’ll have a better understanding about which is right for your business.
1. General Business Lawyer
As the name suggests, a general business lawyer can provide legal advice on a wide range of matters. This type of lawyer has a hand in every legal discipline. If your business doesn’t deal with special circumstances, a general business lawyer may be well suited to your purposes.
When considering this type of business lawyer, ask questions about various scenarios that could affect your business. If you aren't confident that your business would be covered in those scenarios, you may want to choose a more specialized lawyer.
2. Employment and Labor Lawyer
Using an employment and labor lawyer only makes sense when your business has employees. If it does, your business should comply with state and federal laws. An attorney in this area of the law can help you draft employee manuals and ensure safety standards are in place.
Some of the employment aspects that could affect your business are wrongful terminations, workplace discrimination, and sexual harassment. This isn’t a complete list, which is why this type of lawyer can keep your business protected.
If you feel you need to terminate an employee, you can discuss the issue with your lawyer. They can determine the best way to handle the situation. If there’s still a legal issue, the lawyer can step in and represent your company.
Employment law is one area that changes often, but it’s your law firm's job to monitor these changes so that you don’t have to.
3. M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) Lawyer
When you buy and sell businesses, you’ll negotiate for the property and assets of those businesses. It may not always be clear what you’re entitled to during these negotiations. It pays to have a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer representing your interests in the transactions.
M&A lawyers understand the nuances associated with mergers and acquisitions. The opposing party will try to negotiate the best deal for their benefit. M&A is a complicated process, and trying to do this without an M&A lawyer is not a wise decision.
The documentation process is another complicated aspect of M&A deals. It’s likely for small business owners to overlook the needed documents. M&A lawyers know about the documents and filings. These lawyers are also knowledgeable in the laws concerning pensions and employee rights associated with deals.
Deals that involve intellectual property may require the expertise of an IP lawyer. Some M&A lawyers have this expertise, but it should never be assumed.
4. Tax Lawyer
Taxes for businesses can get complicated. For this reason, it pays to use a qualified tax professional, such as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
While a CPA can be beneficial when your business gets audited, there could be a situation where the tax authority decides to take legal action against your business. For this, you’ll need to hire an experienced tax lawyer.
Another reason to use a tax attorney is when you decided not to use the services of a CPA, or you discover that the CPA you chose was not qualified or crooked. Both of these situations could cause the IRS to pursue legal action.
When searching for a tax attorney, choose ones that have experience in dealing with tax law. They should be licensed to be a lawyer and have gone through tax law training, preferably a master’s degree. If you belong to an association for your business, consider asking around for a referral.
5. Intellectual Property Lawyer
If your company has trademarks and patents, you’re likely to need anintellectual property (IP) lawyer. These lawyers are qualified to handle matters concerning copyrights, trademarks, patents, and even brand recognition concerns.
An IP lawyer can also work to make sure your business isn’t infringing on the IP concerns of other companies. Most business owners aren’t trained to know when they’re in violation, which makes the IP attorney a valuable entity. IP violations are some of the highest payouts for lawsuits.
Information is considered intellectual property. People believe they can exchange data freely on the internet, but often find themselves faced with legal troubles for sharing the wrong data.
For example, if you use terms such as “Just Do It” or “Taco Tuesday,” you’ll likely hear from an IP attorney. Both of these terms are trademarked and highly protected by Nike and Taco John’s, respectively.
6. Contract Lawyer
Many business owners use templates found on the internet for their contracts. These may work, but could cause your business legal problems, as templates won’t cover the specifics for your business.
A qualified contract attorney can determine the right contracts for your business. Most deals require provisions not covered by templates.
Using templates could pigeonhole your business into unwanted obligations. The legal language contained in any contract, including templates, is complicated for the layperson to understand. You would be required to fulfill these obligations, which could cost your business much more than anticipated.
Remember, small business lawyers cost far less than what you'd pay for unwanted provisions. If your business uses contracts, consider hiring a contract lawyer to review them and make sure your business is represented properly.
Attorneys You May Face Litigation From In Business
The information in this article can help you when you face a legal situation. When you learn about the case details, you’ll know which type of lawyer you’ll be up against. You can then work with a business attorney to determine the best plan to handle it.
The most common lawyer that you’ll face is the one for general business. The upside is that the damages are likely to be the smallest with this type of lawyer.
As states are protective of their citizens, you can expect that employment lawyers will go after your business. The constantly changing landscape of employment law is fodder for these lawyers.
Legal issues from intellectual property are rarer than the others mentioned. However, this type of law is subtle; it can creep up on you for something seemingly innocent.
Contract law and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will only affect your business if you deal in these areas. If your business is subject to contracts, then you increase the risk. M&A lawyers are probably the least likely you’ll face but could cost you the most as damages from deals are usually for large sums of money.
Resting Our Case
After reading this article, you should understand the benefits of hiring the right business lawyer. By hiring the right lawyer, you can protect your business in the long run and have peace of mind.
Editor’s Note: This post was updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness in May 2021.
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