What You Should Ask A Prospective Lawyer Before Hiring Them To Serve Your Small Business
Are you in need of a new lawyer to represent your small business? Here are a few important things you should ask when consulting with prospective lawyers.
How Do You Approach Conflicts?
It's important to learn how a prospective small business lawyer plans to handle any conflicts your business might find itself in before hiring them. If you don't know upfront how conflicts will be handled, you may find that you don't agree with your lawyer's tactics if for example someone sues you and threatens to take you to court.
And if you end up hiring a lawyer who doesn't have any experience dealing with conflicts, chances are that you'll end up on the losing end of any conflicts your business gets in to throughout the coming years. So make sure that the small business lawyer you hire has plenty of conflict resolution experience and a solid plan for handling your company's conflicts as time goes on.
How is Communication Handled?
You should also find out how communication is handled before hiring a particular lawyer to serve your small business. If you leave a message for your lawyer regarding a question or concern, how long should you expect it to take before your lawyer gets back to you? What contact options are available to you – phone, text, email, fax? Will you be notified beforehand if your lawyer plans to be out of the office for more than a day at a time? The more you know about how communication is handled, the fewer frustrations you're likely to face when working on important issues with your lawyer.
How are Costs Determined and Managed?
Not all small business lawyers charge for their services in the same way, so it's crucial to understand how costs will be determined and managed by the small business lawyer you decide to hire. Will you be charged for every 15 minutes of services, or is there a minimum (such as an hour) that you'll be charged any time you ask your lawyer to do something for you?
Will you be billed on a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis? You can avoid unwanted surprises by asking for a detailed outline of billing procedures before committing to work with a particular small business lawyer.
Schedule a consultation with a local small business lawyer to learn more about how their services work and how those services can meet your small company's specific needs and expectations. For more information, check out a website like http://www.clgnc.com/.
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