GonzaloLogo

There is a serious confidence that comes from having sound legal counsel for your business legal matters. This piece of mind cannot be replaced.

Bizman Reading

Three main reasons legal counsel will always outperform online templates are as follows:

1. Your Lawyer Should Care About Your Success.
For many companies, their business is a reflection of what they have spent the better part of their life building. They have invested a great amount of care and time into developing and growing what many refer to as “their baby.” Hiring legal counsel is better than downloading an online form because, you can select an attorney who truly cares about the success of your business. Your lawyer will prepare contracts tailored to the specific needs of your business and find the most effective ways to protect your company.
Sadly, many well-meaning businesses rely on online contract templates or services offering “legal like” assistance to create their legal documents. Although these services are an excellent option if you are conducting a small transaction such as selling furniture or low cost personal property. They are not your best choice when protecting your life’s work in business. For that you will want to rely on your own detail-oriented legal counsel.

2. Your Lawyer Can Help Prevent or Limit Future Expenses. The old adage that price is king still rings true for most businesses. However, making the investment in quality legal services from the start of your transaction, will help prevent the expense of correcting mistakes down the road. In addition, there are risks in relying on the lowest cost provider that are not always apparent. Oftentimes, online templates are broad and do not contemplate your specific situation. Also, they may not reflect the laws of the specific state where you will be using it.

As a result, if there is a dispute with the contract, your company may find itself litigating to settle unclarified issues.

That moment you realize you should have hired a lawyer first.

That moment you realize you should have hired a lawyer first.

Then a company will have to consider the average cost to bring or defend a lawsuit. If it is small that price can be from $5k-$10k on the low end and upwards of $15-$50k on the higher end. In comparison, the cost of preparing detailed and customized contracts can be several hundred dollars on the low-end to a couple of thousand on the high end. This is much more affordable. One may consider contract templates a good alternative for the convenience and price. Ultimately, hiring traditional legal counsel turns out to be the most affordable choice for the most protection.

3. Your Lawyer Can Provide Additional Counsel with Your Agreement. The advice your lawyer provides to help you execute your agreement can be invaluable. Even if the idea of handling your own legal matters may sound good, especially if it involves easy-to-use legal forms that require only filling out blank boxes, think carefully about it. Often generic templates do not take into account the additional legal counsel or specific business requirements that you should consider. For example, you may download a partnership agreement for your new accounting firm thinking that will be all you need. However, your business will not only need to consider drafting the partnership agreement, it will also need to consider the following:

PERMITS. The contract should confirm that the accounting professionals have the state required permits and licensing for CPAs.

EMPLOYEES. The agreement will need to set forth if any employees will need to be contemplated in the business operations. If so, the agreement should identify the person who will set-up the registration with the Unemployment Offices, Bureau of Workman’s Compensation, and Department of Taxation.

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. The agreement should outline if the Accounting business will be sending any direct mailers. If so, it must ensure that those mailers comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s regulations as well as those with the Consumer Sales Practices Act at the state and local levels.

TAX. If forming a partnership of any kind, the business owners will want to determine if there is sale tax collected or remitted in the business that would necessitate obtaining a vendor’s license and registering with the Attorney General.

These are just some of the considerations that downloading an online template alone cannot provide. Consequently, if companies want to add more detailed language to the contract, or negotiate a particular clause, template forms do not allow it. Contact a knowledgeable and effective lawyer to assist you today.

References:
1. The disadvantages of using standard contracts, by Kevin Johnston, Demand Media.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-using-standard-contracts-31472.html (Last visited 4/5/2016).

2. Understanding the pros and cons of standard form construction contracts, by Steven C. Beckman. 07/31/2010. http://www.macdonaldillig.com/understanding-the-pros-and-cons-of-standard-form-construction-co.html

3. Good contract terms and conditions are vitally important and need to reflect both good risk allocation and post execution contract, by X. Paul Humbert and Robert C. Mastice. http://www.europeanfinancialreview.com/?p=4102 (Last visited 4/5/2016).