what does a small business lawyer do

by Dessie Nolan 7 min read

What Does Small Business Lawyer Do For Small Business?

  • Drafting and filing important legal documents. ...
  • Protection of small businesses from unexpected litigation. ...
  • Protecting the assets of small business owners. ...
  • Making sure employees receive paid wages and benefits. ...
  • Avoiding unexpected and expensive lawsuits. ...
  • Maintaining a good relationship with the Internal Revenue Service. ...

More items...

Full Answer

What does a business lawyer do?

A business lawyer educates clients on applicable laws and best practices, and represents them when an issue arises. Compliance & Risk Management – New and even established businesses benefit from an experienced business lawyer who can advise on compliance issues and develop systems to monitor and minimize risk.

What types of lawyers are available to small businesses?

People sometimes wonder what types of lawyers are available to them. Lawyers often specialize in either business law or personal law. For this reason, you should search for lawyers who have business law experience. The following sections describe six types of lawyers for small businesses.

How much money does a business lawyer make?

Business lawyers often offer legal services by the hour, with rates depending on the legal issue, type of law firm and region. The average base salary of a business lawyer is $139,825 per year. Chief legal officers typically earn higher salaries, while recent law graduates earn the lowest salaries.

How can an attorney help you protect your business?

An attorney in this area of the law can help you draft employee manuals and ensure safety standards are in place. Some of the employment aspects that could affect your business are wrongful terminations, workplace discrimination, and sexual harassment. This isn’t a complete list, which is why this type of lawyer can keep your business protected.

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What is a Lawyer?

Before we dive deep into business law, let’s answer what might sound like a simple question: what exactly is a lawyer? The truth is there are many, many types of lawyers with different specialties and skills.

What Does a Business Lawyer Do?

To put it simply, Portland business attorneys help business owners solve problems. Perhaps more importantly, business attorneys help business owners understand the problems they’re facing and which problems they might face in the future.

Do Business Lawyers Go to Court?

Yes– but only when we need to. Don’t get us wrong – it’s not that our business attorneys aren’t expert litigators who take great pride in representing our clients in court in Oregon and Washington. But frequently there’s a better solution to a dispute and save our clients’ valuable time and money.

How do Business Lawyers Charge for their Services?

At JJH Law (as a small business ourselves) we understand the importance of flexible fee structures that allow growing businesses to manage costs effectively. We offer:

What Does a Business Attorney Do?

In simple terms, a small business attorney helps us understand the necessary legal rules and regulations of running a startup business.

Different Types of Small Business Lawyers

Much like entrepreneurs, there are various types of small enterprise attorneys who specialize in different fields in the business context. Here are some of the different kinds of small business lawyers.

Do You Need an Attorney for Your Small Business?

As we mentioned earlier, hiring a small business attorney is critical since we do not know what legal obligations and challenges lie ahead of us.

When to Hire a Small Business Lawyer?

The situations you may need to hire a small business attorney include:

What Is the Cost of Hiring a Small Business Attorney?

Usually, small enterprise lawyers charge their services per hour. This could be anywhere between $140 to $325 per hour.

How to Find the Right Small Business Lawyer?

Now that we’ve looked at the importance of hiring a business lawyer, let’s look at how to find the right one.

Final Thoughts

Hiring a small business attorney is an excellent investment for your small business. They will help you navigate smoothly through many legal processes you may encounter while operating your company.

How much do lawyers make in 2020?

The median average pay for attorneys was $126,930 in 2020. The top 10% of lawyers earn around $208,000 per year, while those in the lower 10% make $61,490. The location and size of the organization or company that you work for will make a large difference to your yearly income. And the longer you stay on at a company, the more you’re likely to make.

What is the growth outlook for lawyers?

The growth outlook for lawyers is currently 4% for the 2019 to 2029 period, which is in line with the national average. Being a lawyer is a stable job, but they do tend to work long hours, including weekends and holidays. And if you’re on retainer you can expect to be called up at any time to sort out any legal emergencies that may occur.

What is a general business lawyer?

1. General Business Lawyer. As the name suggests, a general business lawyer can provide legal advice on a wide range of matters. This type of lawyer has a hand in every legal discipline. If your business doesn’t deal with special circumstances, a general business lawyer may be well suited to your purposes.

What kind of law do lawyers specialize in?

People sometimes wonder what types of lawyers are available to them. Lawyers often specialize in either business law or personal law. For this reason, you should search for lawyers who have business law experience.

Why is it important to hire a lawyer?

However, if your business is subject to a lawsuit, you’ll be relieved that you hired a lawyer. When evaluating lawyers, you should ask a lot ...

What is a CPA for a business?

Taxes for businesses can get complicated. For this reason, it pays to use a qualified tax professional, such as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). While a CPA can be beneficial when your business gets audited, there could be a situation where the tax authority decides to take legal action against your business.

What is an employment lawyer?

Employment and Labor Lawyer. Using an employment and labor lawyer only makes sense when your business has employees. If it does, your business should comply with state and federal laws. An attorney in this area of the law can help you draft employee manuals and ensure safety standards are in place.

What happens when you buy and sell a business?

When you buy and sell businesses, you’ll negotiate for the property and assets of those businesses. It may not always be clear what you’re entitled to during these negotiations. It pays to have a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer representing your interests in the transactions.

Can a lawyer review a contract?

In addition, some lawyers are knowledgeable about tax issues, even if they aren’t accountants. They may have handled legal tax matters for other business owners and can make sure you don’t run into the same issues.

What is a business lawyer?

A business lawyer—also called a corporate attorney, corporate lawyer or commercial lawyer—is a legal professional who focuses on issues that affect businesses, including taxation, business transactions and intellectual properties. These professionals might negotiate settlement terms, write legal documents or argue their clients' cases in courts.

What does a business lawyer do?

Lawyers help organizations or individuals throughout legal processes related to businesses. They help their clients file cases, prepare legal documents and oversee trial cases and hearings. Other duties include settling claims, sending correspondence and taking depositions.

Salary and job outlook

Business lawyers often offer legal services by the hour, with rates depending on the legal issue, type of law firm and region. The average base salary of a business lawyer is $139,825 per year. Chief legal officers typically earn higher salaries, while recent law graduates earn the lowest salaries.

Business lawyer job description example

Our private law practice seeks a reliable business lawyer for managing real estate and business transaction cases. They will be responsible for maintaining accurate and organized case files and working closely with our dedicated paralegals to satisfy court requirements for our growing list of valued clients.

How to become a business lawyer

To become a lawyer, you need to pass industry exams and meet the minimum educational requirements for the area you plan to practice law. Here are the typical requirements for becoming a business lawyer:

Related jobs

With a degree in business law and a license to practice law in your state, you can find jobs in related positions such as:

What is the role of a business attorney?

The primary role of a business attorney involves providing advice and other legal services that affect various aspects of a business. In general, business attorneys ensure that companies are in compliance with various business regulations and that all operations in a company are aboveboard. Business attorneys typically assist with matters, such as ...

Do business attorneys handle employment?

One important thing to keep in mind about business attorneys is that they do not specialize in handling the same legal issues as employment lawyers. Remember, business attorneys are concerned with business operations and the overall structure of a business. Employment, lawyers, on the other hand, deal with issues like employment discrimination ...

Do business attorneys work for corporations?

On the other hand, business attorneys who work for large corporations may specialize in certain areas of the business. For instance, there may be an entire in-house team of legal professionals who only handle compliance matters, or the corporation may choose to only hire outside counsel for litigation purposes.

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