A knowledgeable lawyer helps your business solve problems. As a best practice, you should get advice or assistance from a lawyer if you have any hesitation around a legal matter. Being proactive, instead of reactive with legal matters can save a small business thousands of dollars. Expect to pay anywhere from $200 to $300 per hour for a local small business lawyer.
When to Hire a Business Lawyer
Think of a business lawyer as a part of your small business success team. In addition to legal disputes, they can also provide strategic advice. For legal matters, it’s always better—and more affordable—to work with a business lawyer before a legal dispute arises.
Consider this situation as an example: You’re about to start the process of hiring a new employee. You have the questions you’d like to ask candidates. You haven’t studied the laws around discrimination and are unaware one of your questions may violate the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Law.
A complaint filed with the EEO could cost you thousands (or possibly tens of thousands) of dollars. Asking an employment attorney to review your questions for possible violation of discrimination law would be a fraction of the cost.
For small business law, you can save money by being proactive, rather than reactive.
Tip: It’s essential to know the difference between a litigator and transactional lawyer. A litigator is involved with the judicial process. In contrast, a transactional lawyer tends to be involved with contracts, formation, and negotiation. A transactional lawyer helps build your business, whereas a litigator defends your business.
Now that you generally know when to hire a business lawyer, you should know what exactly a business attorney can help with.
What Legal Matters Do Business Lawyers Help With?
Here are situations where attorneys can provide assistance or advice:
- Intellectual property: Lawyers can assist with copyright, trademark, or patent submissions. Some attorneys specialize in patent law.
- Contracts: You may need an attorney to draft an agreement with specific legal terms. On the other side, you may need an attorney to interpret a contract provided to you.
- Business formations: Lawyers often help with the establishment of a business structure that is complicated, such as a C corporation. You may also need an attorney to draft an in-depth partnership agreement.
- Taxes: For general tax advice, you can receive guidance from a CPA. However, if a government agency, such as the IRS, is pursuing you for tax issues, it’s wise to lawyer-up.
- Real estate transactions: Typically when real estate is involved in a transaction, there is a lengthy contract. If you’re purchasing a building or renting a location, you may want an attorney to review the contract for any unfriendly clauses.
- Buying or selling a business: A lawyer will review the documents and contracts involved in a business purchase or sale to ensure you’re getting a fair deal.
- Employment law: There are many topics an attorney can help with when it comes to employment law, including hiring, firing, extended leave, and workplace safety.
- Finance: A business lawyer can assist with several-finance related activities, including structuring the business to obtain capital, collecting debt, or taking a business public (IPO).
- Government: When dealing with complicated government-related issues, it’s wise to get advice from a business attorney that has experience navigating the national, state, or local city government.
Common Legal Tasks: What to Do?
As a business owner, you’ll be presented with several legal tasks to complete. You may wonder if you should attempt to do it yourself, work with an online legal service, or hire a lawyer?
For more simple legal tasks, such as a straightforward business formation or a simple trademark, you can likely do the task yourself or work with an online legal service. However, if it’s a complicated matter or open to interpretation, such as a vendor contract, you may want to get advice from a business lawyer.
Here are common legal tasks and how you may want to resolve them:
Do-It-Yourself | Online Legal Service | Business Lawyer | |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple business formation (LLC) | ✔ | ✔ | N/A |
Complicated business formation (C corporation) | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Registering a business name with the state | ✔ | ✔ | N/A |
Trademarking a business name | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Creating a simple contract unlikely to be disputed | ✔ | ✔ | N/A |
Creating a complicated contract | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
HR violation | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Sale or acquisition of a business | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Federal, state, or local government investigation | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Lawsuit against the business | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Costs of a Business Lawyer
Most general business attorneys charge by the hour—around $200 to $300 an hour. If you’re hiring a more specialized attorney, such as in employment law, particularly in a larger city, then expect to pay more per hour.
You may find that business lawyers charge by the project. For example, a patent attorney may charge a flat fee to draft the patent documents and submit them to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In recent years, several online legal service companies have innovated with low-cost monthly plans for simple legal tasks, such as business formation, contract drafting, trademark, and patent protection. Here are popular companies and their prices:
- Rocket Lawyer: $39.99 per month for unlimited legal questions and unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters
- LegalZoom: $36 per month for legal contract review (up to 10 pages) and unlimited 30-minute consultations on new legal matters
- BizCounsel: $89 to $189 per month for unlimited consultations, registered agent service, tax advice, and contract reviews
- LegalShield: $39 per month for various services, including three 30-minute consultations, 20 document reviews per year, and five debt collection letters
- Counsel for Creators: $95 per month for free phones calls and free document reviews from an attorney
Keep in mind that these online legal services don’t include representation for legal disputes or more in-depth legal matters. Many services, such as Rocket Lawyer, provide a discount (up to 40% off) for a business attorney in their network.
Where to Find a Business Lawyer
The best way to find a quality, local small business attorney is through word-of-mouth. You should be networking with other local small businesses—what lawyer do they use for business matters?
Besides word-of-mouth, consider getting a recommendation from your local SBDC (Small Business Development Center). SBDCs are a government sponsored program that provide no-cost consulting to small business owners. The consulting is for both those starting a new business and those who are currently in business.They often have a list of professionals, including attorneys, that work with local businesses.
As a last resort, look to the internet. A simple “business lawyer near me” search in Google will bring up several attorney profiles in Google. Review their Google reviews and get a feel for how they treat clients and what services they provide.
If you’re running a business on a tight budget and need basic legal assistance, consider an online legal service listed above, such as Rocket Lawyer, LegalZoom, and BizCounsel. Remember, it’s always wise to get local, personal attorney assistance for more complicated legal matters.
Bottom Line
An attorney is one of the most important professional relationships to build for your business. A good small business lawyer not only helps with legal matters, but also acts as a consultant and trusted adviser. Find an attorney that is worth their hourly rate—they provide advice and recommendations that help grow your business.
