Sorry Shakespeare, We Can’t Kill All The Lawyers

Despite Shakespeare’s rather wonderful line in Henry Vi, we can’t actually get rid of lawyers. This is particularly true for business owners. Business owners need lawyers, and it’s also worth pointing out that this is a line widely misinterpreted. In the play, getting rid of the lawyers isn’t a positive notion. It is intended as an action to send society into chaos and allow a rebel to rise to king. This line was actually meant as a compliment to the justice system. It’s apt then, because without the help of lawyers, business owners really would be in a lot of trouble.

There are plenty of business owners who feel that they don’t need a lawyer in their corner. The common reason given is that they don’t intend on breaking the law or even ever falling on the wrong side of it. While that’s an admirable goal, it is completely misguided to think that not breaking the law is simply a matter of not wanting to.

It is possible to get on the wrong side of the law by accident, and this is just one of the reasons why business owners need legal advice.

The Law Is Forever Changing

Are you aware of all the legal regulations and trading disclosures that could affect your company? Are you quite sure about that? You might find that legal regulations and stipulations have changed without you ever realising it. We’d be surprised if your knowledge of the law was even ten years up to date. The law changes not just on an annual basis but a monthly basis too. So, the info you knew last week may not be relevant in the coming days. A legal advisor can help you stay on top of things and make sure you’re not accidentally breaching any legal regulations.

This has become a particularly common problem for business owners when dealing with members of staff. You might think that you are aware of your responsibilities to staff members. But premises liability can be quite complex. And with the law forever changing, it’s difficult to know whether your business property would be considered safe. But a legal advisor will and they will make sure you’re not falling through any dangerous loopholes.

It’s A Whole Other Language

If you’ve ever been in a court case, you’ll know that it’s not always clear what’s being said. Firstly, despite how it may be displayed on television lawyers don’t treat courts as a theatre. They speak either to the judge or the jury. The rest of the people in the courtroom are often completely ignored. And why wouldn’t they be? Legal terms are complicated, and it’s quite difficult to understand what’s going on when you’re not legally trained.

That’s a problem because there will be times when you’re dealing with a lawyer on the other side of the table as a business owner. This is usually true when contracts and terms of a business partnership are being agreed. The only way you’re going to make sure you know what you’re agreeing to is by having a lawyer on your side.

Always Liable

With great power comes great responsibility and there are very few people in the world with more power than business owners. Unfortunately, this does mean that almost every action you take as the owner of a business is under scrutiny. If you make one mistake, you could cost your company a lot of money and even damage a well-built reputation. We can look at the example here of contractual agreements.

Working with a business partner, you might agree to certain terms and conditions within a contract. They to, will be looking at the contract and deciding whether the terms match their needs. If you break these terms, you can be held legally accountable for any damages the other business suffers and vice versa. That’s another reason why you need the help of a lawyer. If you want to change the terms of a contract or breach one, you need to make sure it’s not going to come back to bite you. A legal team can advise you on the best way to approach an issue like this.

The Best Defence Is A Good Offence

Finally, you need to think about growing your business and making it into what you want it to be. This is going to involve buying up new parts of your company, opening existing branches and buying out other businesses. It’s fair to say that you’re going to need a lawyer present for all of these transactions.

Alas then, for businesses lawyers aren’t an optional part of the team, they are essential figures who must be used.