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WHY YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD HAVE A BUSINESS LAWYER TO PROVIDE ONGOING LEGAL SUPPORT AND CONSULTATION
Business lawyers specialize in legal issues that relate to business including but not limited to transactions, commercial contracts, intellectual property, commercial negotiations, corporate finance, business structuring, and business compliance. Having an experienced business lawyer on retainer can have benefits for your business including:
Risk Mitigation – A large part of a business lawyer’s job involves the protection of a business from future legal liability. An experienced business lawyer will be familiar with your business, have strong knowledge of rules and regulations that apply to businesses in the province of Ontario, and regularly evaluate and analyze your business for potential exposure to legal liability. Examples of legal liabilities include deficiencies in contracts, non-compliance with provincial or federal rules, and lack of protection for your business’s intellectual property.
Improved Business Decision-Making – Sometimes a business owner or manager just needs to discuss a potential business opportunity or challenge with an experienced business lawyer prior to making a final decision on the matter. By discussing the matter with your business lawyer prior to proceeding, you are more likely to make an informed decision that is in line with your business goals and priorities while ensuring compliance with rules and regulations. Some companies have in-house business lawyers that are involved with most of the important decisions made at the company. If your firm is not able to have in-house counsel available for all decisions, it may be worth considering running important business decisions by an experienced business lawyer on retainer with your company.
Increased Profitability – It is almost always less expensive to hire a business lawyer from the start than to hire a lawyer to fix issues after they have arisen. For example, while a well-drafted shareholder agreement drafted by a business lawyer may cost your business a considerable amount of money at the start, our experience shows that shareholder disputes in situations where a shareholder agreement was never drafted and signed can turn out to be much more expensive and sometimes detrimental to the survival of the corporation.
Professional Network – An experienced business lawyer will have many professionals available at the disposal of their clients. Such professionals include but are not limited to accountants, lawyers specializing in other fields of law, financial advisors, insurance brokers, mortgage brokers, business brokers, business valuators, private lenders and investors. Having the right professionals by your side will be instrumental to the profitability and success of your business. By hiring and developing a relationship with a business lawyer, you may gain access to their large network of professionals.
Improved Negotiating Skills – Business lawyers are often familiar with best practices related to conducting negotiations. An experienced business lawyer, in addition to having comprehensive knowledge of laws relevant to businesses in your province, will have strong negotiation skills. A good negotiator will almost always be a great communicator, will present alternatives, and be cognizant of the negotiating power of the parties and industry norms related to your business. By having a business lawyer conduct negotiations on behalf of your business, you increase your chance of negotiating better results for your business while complying with laws and regulations.
Navigation of the Legal System and Legal Compliance – Legal compliance for entities conducting business within the context of a modern and globalized economy can be immensely complex. Most large corporations have internal departments including in-house business lawyers that ensure legal compliance with policies and rules in place within a jurisdiction. For businesses that do not have internal legal compliance departments, it may be worthwhile to consider outsourcing this responsibility to a business law firm that will ensure legal compliance with legislation in your industry. Examples of enterprise ventures that require legal compliance include privacy, data security, cybersecurity, employment law, import and export legislation, taxation, and advertising laws existing in the jurisdiction of operation.
Contract Management – Businesses manage their relationships with other businesses or individuals through the execution of various types of contracts. Examples of commercial contracts include franchise agreements, non-compete agreements, shareholder agreements, profit-sharing agreements, service agreements, employment agreements, and confidentiality agreements. An experienced business lawyer will be highly skilled at drafting, reviewing, and negotiating various types of business agreements. There are convincing reasons why your business should have a lawyer draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts. By having a business lawyer review your business’ commercial contracts you mitigate legal risk to your company while increasing your chances of profitability at the business venture.
Financing – Lawyers will advise and represent your company through financing transactions. Whether you are conducting equity or debt financing, a lawyer will ensure the transaction is legal and provide you with legal advice through the financing transaction. There are various documents that need to be drafted and a business lawyer can help you negotiate the terms of the financing transaction with the lender or investor.
If you are considering hiring a business lawyer to provide your business with ongoing legal support and legal consultation, contact us today to book an initial consultation during which we can learn more about your business and answer any questions you may have about our law firm.