Finding a solid Business Lawyer
There are a lot of legal issues involved in running a business, if you own a company you will need a lawyer. Things like contracts and litigation will need to be handled by a lawyer, and there advice on things like tax law and labour law can save you a lot of trouble down the road. A lawyer should be part of your business plan from day one. That way any potential problems can be headed off before they become serious issues. Finding a good business lawyer is an important part of getting your business up and running.
The first decision that you are going to face when choosing a lawyer for your business is whether you want to work with a large law firm or a small one. This will depend in large part on why you need a lawyer and on the size of your business. There are lot of different aspects to the legal profession and few lawyers are good at all of them, writing up complex contracts is very different from litigating a difficult case. A large law firm can provide specialists in all of these areas, however they often come at a very steep price. The other issue with a large law firm is that they won't get to know your company since you will always be dealing with different person. A small firm will allow you to deal with the same lawyer every time, but he won't have the expertise of a specialist, he is more of a general practitioner. The rule of thumb is that large corporations will want a large law firm and small companies will want a small one, but this is hardly set in stone.
Really the only person who can assess somebodies legal skills is another lawyer, so you will want to get a referral from a lawyer that you trust. In order to make sure that the firm you are considering is a good fit for your company it is a good idea to ask them for a list of companies that they represent. Ideally you want to find a firm that represents companies that are similar to yours, certainly in size and possibly even in the same industry as you. You will also want to ask about their experience and their education. And ask for references with their contact information, and actually contact the references.
The next step is going to be to check with both the American Bar Association and your states Attorney General's office in order to make sure that your potential business lawyer is in good standing.Both the ABA and the Attorney General's office will be able to tell you if any complaints have been lodged against a lawyer. Now that you have found a lawyer who you believe could be a good fit you will want to meet with them. This meeting should discuss your companies needs and how the law firm can meet them. Most importantly you should make sure that you feel comfortable with your new lawyer.