A small business owner may encounter many disputes, but not all require a lawyer’s help. You need to balance practical and financial issues if you’re constantly on your phone with your attorney and the dangers of not getting them involved early in disputes so they can be defused now instead of blowing up later. In the below sections, our friends at Focus Law LA outline when it’s appropriate to seek legal advice for business disputes to protect your interests and maintain compliance.
Dispute With A Partner
No matter what legal entity owns your business, you should have an owner’s agreement. It should spell out how the conflict between co-owners should be resolved, including how the venture can be terminated or how one can buy out the other owners.
Calling your attorney is a good idea if the conflict involves a fundamental issue of managing the company or a substantial amount of money. One problem that deserves attention is if you think your partner’s embezzling or stealing from your business or mismanagement threatens the company’s existence.
Before going into details, talk to the attorney about whether they should speak to you. Are they retained to work for the business or you personally? If their client is the company, they may be ethically unable to help one co-owner to the detriment of the other co-owner, so you may need to hire a personal attorney. But they may be in a position to try to help the two of you work out a resolution.
Dispute With A Customer
You can’t live without customers, but you may have some you’d rather not live with. Unless a minimal amount of money is at issue, it’s wise to have a contract you and the customer agree to, spelling out each party’s rights and responsibilities. Each side should know what to expect from the other and how disagreements can be resolved.
Calling an attorney may be a good idea if a customer is far behind in payments or is threatening to withhold business from you unless you provide extra products or services without additional compensation. Making a call after a customer threatens to sue you may also be worth your time because you may not know if there are legitimate grounds for legal action or if they’re just very unhappy and throwing a tantrum.
Dispute With An Employee
There are federal and state laws covering the employer-employee relationship. State laws vary. Some strongly protect employees, while others may offer little or no protection. A wide range of issues can get you into legal trouble. They can include wage and hour disputes, discrimination claims, disability accommodations, family medical leave, retaliation claims, and nondisclosure and non-compete agreement disagreements.
It’s better to get professional legal help with employment law issues earlier than later. Mishandling the problem or the employee may make a weak or non-existent case against you, one that won’t go away. The situation may have many moving parts, and you don’t want to get caught up in the gears. The best option may be to let the attorney deal with it and get out of their way.
Your business litigation lawyer can be a critical team member helping you run your business. They can’t help you if you don’t keep in touch and tell them about your problems.
