Hiring a Lawyer for Your Business

By E. Andrew Jordan

Your business needs to incorporate? Need to fire someone? Build a building? Collect a debt? Or, heaven forbid, defend your business in litigation? You probably need to hire a lawyer. Here's how.

First, don't wait until bad things happen before choosing and establishing a working relationship with a lawyer. By the time bad things are happening, its often too late for an attorney to provide effective assistance. It is almost always less expensive and less disruptive to have an attorney prevent a problem than to solve a problem after it arises.

Often the most effective preventive measure is a legal audit: an examination of corporate documentation, personnel policies, sales and collection practices, contract forms, and other legal affairs of the business. Competent business counsel can save you significant cost and aggravation by identifying potential legal issues before they become problems.

How do you choose an attorney? Government agencies are often obligated to select lawyers and other consultants by formal solicitation processes. Private businesses are not so constrained, but that doesn't mean that they need not use a well-conceived selection process. Referrals from friends, associates, or the State Bar are often the best start, followed up by development of a "short-list" and interviews of prospective attorneys. Attorney-client relationships are built on more than just reputations, promises, and salesmanship. They are based on trust and the other standards you apply in choosing your partners... even your friends. That takes time, and it starts with an interview and investigation process designed to ensure that your choice of counsel is consistent with your business interests, needs, style, and principles, as well as the nature of your potential legal issues.

Before seeking counsel, identify your needs and the particular skills necessary to meet those needs. Seek those attorneys who have significant experience in your industry and who can demonstrate that experience by references. It's one thing for an attorney to declare an expertise in a field; it's another to demonstrate that expertise. Always insist on such demonstration.

Identify your priorities. Are you most interested in cost or quality? Do you need specific expertise that can be provided by a single lawyer, or the breadth of legal services that can usually be provided only by a larger law firm? In your selection process, make sure that each of your priorities is identified and addressed by prospective counsel. Remember that a "jack of all trades" is rarely a master of any.

Ask who will actually do the work. The busier the lawyer or the larger the firm, the more likely your work will be performed by an associate or paralegal. That is not necessarily bad. In a firm that employs experienced paralegals, for example, less complicated legal work can be performed at a fraction of the rates charged by a partner-level or even associate attorney. But when a matter requires the direct attention of a particular lawyer, make sure that the lawyer actually has the time to devote to your matter and commits to personal service.

What should be the terms of your attorney-client relationship? Most law firms have standard engagement or retainer agreements explaining rates, budgeting, payments, means of communication, conflicts, deposit requirements, and other issues that define the services to be provided. Don't be afraid to identify your own expectations and insist that they be included in those agreements. A lawyer who will provide the best service should be willing, even eager, to tailor the agreement to both your needs and your expectations.

And finally, insist on a budget or at least an estimate of the probable cost of any legal service. A lawyer who will not estimate the likely cost of a project has probably not handled such projects in the past.

This article is intended to inform the reader of general legal principles applicable to the subject area. It is not intended to provide legal advice regarding specific problems or circumstances. Readers should consult with competent counsel with regard to specific situations.

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