Owning a business comes with a lot of perks and benefits. It can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. It also gives you the opportunity to pursue your dreams.
However, owning a business also comes with a lot of headaches. There’s hard work, ups and downs, complications, and legal issues. While not all legal issues are bad, they can be quite difficult to navigate through without proper education.
Unfortunately, being qualified to own a business doesn’t make you qualified to handle all of the legal aspects of owning that business. This is where different types of attorneys come into play.
Different types of attorneys all have their own fields of expertise. An attorney’s purpose is to deal with legal issues that most business owners are incapable of understanding or dealing with themselves. They’re adept at ensuring business owners are doing things by the numbers, helping to avoid future legal complications.
Keep reading to learn the top five types of attorneys you might need for your business and how they can help you.
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Different Types of Attorneys
When you own a business, many people no longer look at you as an individual, they look at you as the business itself. Unfortunately, it makes you a little more vulnerable. It somewhat dehumanizes you.
Due to this change of perception, it’s easier for individuals, organizations, and businesses to take advantage of you. The fact is, at some point, you may get sued.
However, being sued doesn’t mean you have to lose everything, it doesn’t even mean you have to lose anything. Having the right attorney on your side can make the difference.
1. Corporate Attorney
Corporations differ from small business, as they’re much more complex. Corporate business owners would be wise to hire a corporate attorney. They can be work out of a law firm or be part of the corporation’s legal team.
Corporate attorneys are masters in commercial law. They ensure businesses ensure are performing within the confines of laws and regulations. This includes researching and evaluating any legal contingencies for companies when they are preparing to offer new products or services.
In the unfortunate event of a court proceeding, corporate attorneys make sure the necessary legal documents are in order. They also represent the corporation during court proceedings.
However, a corporate attorney’s main purpose is to avoid legal complications ending in court proceedings. They try to ensure the company is protected against legal risks and are avoiding violations of the laws and regulations involved.
Finally, due to their extensive business-related knowledge, corporate lawyers are useful when companies are considering new business partnerships and while negotiating deals with other businesses or clients.
2. Tax Attorney
Tax attorneys go through an exhausting amount of training and education in order to become specialized in tax laws. Additionally, most tax attorneys have backgrounds in business and/or accounting.
Tax attorneys are great to have on hand because of the complicated tax filing process that comes along with owning a business. There many more facets of filing your business taxes than filing personal taxes.
For example, businesses are able to write off a lot of expense as deductions on their taxes. However, it must be done in a certain way to avoid triggering an audit by the IRS. In the unfortunate event that the IRS does decide to audit a business owner, a tax attorney can help guide them through the process.
Tax attorneys help business owners organize their tax documents and records. They also handle and organize all of their bookkeeping information.
Finally, if the IRS files criminal charges against a business owner, or a business owner chooses to go to tax court, a tax attorney will be there every step of the way to ensure the best possible outcome for the business owner.
3. Employment and Labor Attorney
Of all the different types of attorneys, employment and labor attorneys are one of the most important to have both for the employers and the employees.
Employment and labor attorneys provide advice and guidance on legal standards set by the government. These are the standards for both employers and employees. This helps business owners avoid violations or unlawful treatment of employees.
A business owner may also elect to have their employment and labor attorney write their employee handbooks. These outline the standards of work and behavior employees are to abide by.
For employees, an employment and labor attorney will represent them in the event of discrimination, sexual harassment, or unfair labor laws. They are there for employees to make sure they are treated fairly and equally.
Finally, employment and labor attorneys provide guidance in the legalities during pension disputes.
4. Intellectual Property Attorney
One of the different types of attorneys businesses choose to hire are intellectual property attorneys.
Intellectual property refers to all ethereal assets a business has created. This includes all branding materials such as logos, names, graphic designs, technologies, etc.
Intellectual property attorneys help business owners license inventions. They also draft paperwork for licensing agreements and protect and establish intellectual assets. They also help negotiate any settlements that may arise, and deal with the transfer of technological property.
Intellectual property attorneys can also aid in legal complications if a business’s website is violating any WCAG guidelines used by the ADA. For clarity on WCAG and ADA standards, intellectual property attorneys can provide more information on laws and regulations.
5. Contract Attorney
Different types of attorneys, such as contract attorneys, are vital for businesses of any size and type. No matter what the business’s products or services are, there will be legal contracts involved. Legal contracts hold all parties to the standards and terms within the contract.
Contract attorneys help draw up and manage legal contracts between businesses and other parties. They ensure all necessary topics are covered and each party’s responsibilities are clearly outlined. They can also add any ramifications in the event that a party breaches the contract.
A contract attorney will also review another business’s contract to ensure it’s fair and legal before the business owner signs. Their main purpose is to safeguard the business owner’s best interests.
Don’t Leave Yourself Vulnerable
As a business owner, you are much more vulnerable to lawsuits and legal complications. Put yourself in the best hands and hire any of the different types of attorneys that best suit your needs and legal matters.
If you’re operating a business and haven’t sought out legal advice, you need to do so. You may be violating laws and regulations and not even know it!
Find an attorney today!
