I was looking for abusiness attorneyin the Palm Beach area and had so many questions that a business advisor and entrepreneurial coach could not possibly answer with the authority of a business attorney.
I not only needed advice on proprietary trademark and copyright law, but I needed someone to look at a plethora of contracts. Entangling alliances, as George Washington warned, can be a dangerous thing, so I needed legal representation to ensure that my decisions were in my best interest. I knew that I had a sharp mind and a fine business acumen, but law was a field that I believed should be practiced by experts. Law can be technical and confusing. Because of this, hiring an experienced, driven business attorney was a priority to myself and those involved with my business.
While workshopping the idea among the board and justifying the legal expenditures, the scope of my need expanded. We decided that it would be judicious to explore our options so that the law could be our aide and not our hindrance. We decided that it would be helpful to have a business attorney adept at zoning law, licensure, incorporation and partnership law, liability, and tax law.
What happens to the business if someone misinterprets a contract? How much could that cost us? What if there are disputes over management and/or control? We didn’t have an expert on the Uniform Commercial Code (USS). Should we? We knew we needed to be safe when conducting business across state lines in an increasingly national and international business environment. What if breach of fiduciary duty is alleged? In cases like these, we believed it was better to be prepared than to be in a crisis.
From that point, our search had begun. We certainly had many options. America is a world leader in attorneys per capita, but with whom should we tie the future of our business? Though our business was new, we desired an experienced business attorney who could be counted on to protect the interests of the business with honest, sound legal advice and direction. We wanted someone who was an insider, someone who had the valuable contacts needed if there was an even more difficult issue at hand. We needed to know if our choice was representing any competing interests and valued our goals and our mission. Would they be willing to spend the time needed to teach our partners the techniques necessary to stay out of legal trouble? And, to be practical, we needed someone that would be flexible in their billing practices—we were a new business trying to get off the ground, after all. All of these considerations weighed heavily on our final choice.
Our decision to keep an experienced, meticulous, and formidable business attorney permanently linked to our company was one of the best choices we ever made as a team. Everyone has been more than pleased with the mutually beneficial relationship and we all hope the positive relationship lasts throughout the duration of the business.
Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.
