There seems to be this nagging question in a lot of people’s mind “Why do I need a lawyer?”  “I’m not in trouble.”  Unfortunately, its is only when clients get in trouble that they call an attorney.

My firm’s motto is “Get the Legal Edge”.  What that means is solving your potential legal issues before they become a problem.

For instance, two friends decide to go into business together.  In the beginning the friends seem to agree on everything and be on the same page.  Months later when business is not doing so well, the friends start to disagree and eventually the business fails and the friends are no longer friends.  So, now is the time to get the lawyers involved.  Right?  WRONG!!!

Our two friends in the example above should have seen a lawyer before they started their business.  That way, all the things they agreed to in their minds eye’s “business plan” would be in writing.  That writing would not only talk about all of their big plans and how they would achieve those goals, but also, how they would deal with things when they started to disagree and, unfortunately in our example, how they would deal with the financial fallout when the business failed.  Had they done so, their legal woes would have been relatively minor.  This is because everything the friends agreed to in the beginning would have been in writing.  Yes, it would be terrible that that the friends business failed, but at least their friendship could possibly be saved. This is because there would be no disagreement about how to pay off the debts of the failed business – these issues were discussed before things went south.

With the internet, information is so easy to come by.  However, there is saying “A little knowledge is dangerous.”  What I see happen time and time again is that well meaning client’s attempt to form their own legal documents.  Individuals want to memorialize their intentions with business partners and client’s, but miss the mark terribly when those documents are challenged; either in Court or by the other business partner or client.

Lawyers are “wordsmiths”.  They can put to writing what you really want to say and agree to between your business partners and clients.  There is a reason why I had to go through seven years of school – TO HELP YOU.  So, the moral of the story here is – You don’t have to be in trouble to need a lawyer.  Sometimes a penny saved is thousands of dollars thrown down the drain.