Where Can I Find a Business Lawyer Near Me?

Find a business lawyer by seeking referrals, researching credentials, and ensuring they specialize in your industry’s legal needs. Schedule consultations to assess their expertise, compatibility, and pricing structure before making a final decision.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

Email | Call (800) 484-4610

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

Table of Contents

1. How can a business lawyer help your company?

2. Find a Reliable Source to Give You a Referral

3. Learn as much as you can

4. A first appointment

5. Decide on a pricing plan

6. Evaluation by comparison

How can a business lawyer help your company?

The kind of legal knowledge that will be most helpful to your company will depend on its goals and activities. For instance, if you run a tech company, you might be fine with a corporate lawyer or agency that focuses on intellectual property rights and licensing, even if they don’t know much about other facets of corporate law. A contracts expert may be all that’s needed to help a more generalized manufacturing or service company with things like client negotiations, agreement drafting and finalization, correct corporate record keeping, and so on.

You can clarify your company’s legal goals by asking yourself:

How can I protect my business from potential legal trouble in the future? (Advice on issues like workers’ compensation, independent contractors, taxation, government regulations, and customer warranties)
In what areas of day-to-day operations does the organization lack competence or efficiency?
How do I envision the company’s future, both now and in the future?
Is it necessary for the business to seek more funding?
Is it necessary for the company to buy or rent some sort of commercial property?
Should the company reevaluate its current capitalization or debt?
Are there any assets that the company needs to have acquired or sold?
Should I think about selling the company or going public with it?
Does the business need to set up more divisions or subsidiaries?

In order to move forward with your attorney search more efficiently, it is important to clearly define your company’s needs.

Find a Reliable Source to Give You a Referral

To narrow down your search for a lawyer, it’s best to talk to someone who has been in your shoes, whether that’s a current or former lawyer, a friend who has hired lawyers before, or even better, someone who is a friend and a lawyer. To increase your chances of discovering a lawyer with the qualities you’re looking for—competence, diligence, and trustworthiness—a referral from a trustworthy friend or attorney is a great way to start.

Your reliable source (or sources) should ideally recommend multiple attorneys to you. You shouldn’t expect to hear from litigation attorneys unless your company is embroiled in some sort of legal dispute. Although the majority of the public associates lawyers with the stereotypes of judges, juries, and courtroom dramas seen on television, the reality is that there are many more kinds of attorneys than just those who focus on litigation.

A transactional corporate attorney, who may lack litigation expertise, is likely to be the most suitable legal counsel to assist you with general business matters or with the day-to-day operations of your company.

From starting a company from scratch to advising you on its formation, operation, strategy implementation, initial public offering, wrapping up operations, and everything in between, transactional lawyers are your go-to legal experts for all things related to business. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyers can be helpful regardless of whether your company plans to acquire other businesses anytime soon.

Accounting, corporate governance, IP, RP, environmental, insurance, and taxes are just a few of the many business considerations that M&A attorneys need to be well-versed in. By doing so, they can quickly determine the level of knowledge required to handle your case or refer you to the appropriate legal professional. However, you can rest assured that your reliable source will suggest a lawyer or lawyers who will be able to meet your unique requirements.

While looking for a lawyer online is an option, you should exercise caution and conduct your own research before making a final decision. You should be sure to locate a business lawyer who is well-versed in your specific industry because there are many subspecialties within this field. To find a lawyer in your area, you can use one of several useful online directories that categorize attorneys by practice area and geographic region.

Learn as much as you can

After you have received recommendations for attorneys, the next step is to conduct research on each attorney and the law firms that they work for. The website of the firm ought to include information about the lawyer’s educational background, areas of knowledge, years of practice, and any noteworthy publications or deals. There is a growing trend of attorneys and law firms having profiles on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and others.

For more information, you can also visit the website of the state bar association that represents the attorney. You can check the attorney’s disciplinary record and ensure they have a valid license to practice law on the state bar website. Last but not least, you can learn any additional relevant details, good or bad, about the attorney by doing a quick Google search of their name.

A first appointment

First, before you hire anyone to represent you, it’s a good idea to schedule an initial consultation to go over all of your legal concerns. If at all feasible, you and the attorney should meet face-to-face for this initial consultation, and the lawyer should even offer to cover the cost. (But before you hire them, be sure that the first invoice doesn’t mention anything about the consultation).

A number of goals should be accomplished during the initial meeting. Provide your attorney with a detailed description of your company’s objectives and the function you expect them to play. If you want to make sure the attorney has the skills and passion to handle your company issues properly, don’t be afraid to ask them lots of questions. People frequently use the term “baby” to describe their business because they consider it an extension of their family. Find an attorney who will care for your company as if it were a family member.

On top of that, you and your attorney should have a good enough relationship that you can approach your conversations with both the friend and confidant roles, but also with the customer role of someone who expects first-rate service. When people respect one another, it leads to more respect and the desired outcome. The meeting is an opportunity for you to set reasonable expectations for each other. Regarding your general management style and the time and attention you’ll need from your advisor, it’s important to be honest and upfront with them.

Similarly, your prospective attorney should be very forthcoming with information regarding their usual approach to the attorney-client relationship, including the amount of personal involvement they intend to have, the amount of authority they may delegate, and any other relevant details.

Decide on a pricing plan

It is perfectly acceptable to broach the subject of fees during an otherwise productive initial consultation with an attorney. Since this is a major factor that might determine the success or failure of a future attorney-client relationship, it is wise to be upfront about it from the start. There is a wide range of possible fee structures proposed by attorneys and law firms; however, solo practitioners probably have the greatest room to maneuver and be creative. You typically have the option to choose between an hourly rate or a flat fee, depending on your company’s needs. Flat fees can be monthly or for a specific transaction.

Keep in mind that many attorneys accept contingency fees, meaning they take a chance by working for free up front, and then they get a cut of your settlement if your case wins. Nevertheless, representation in transactional law is typically not applicable to this fee structure. Also, don’t take offense if the lawyer asks for a retainer before starting any work for the company; it’s just standard practice for attorneys.

Though there are a number of factors to think about, including the attorney’s level of aggressiveness regarding the retainer, the amount of the retainer, and the availability of initial services for a trial run before requiring a retainer.

Evaluation by comparison

Ultimately, it comes down to gut instinct when deciding on an attorney for your company. You should keep looking if you have any concerns regarding any candidate. Because of this, it is ideal to get several referrals from people you trust before deciding on a lawyer. This will help you and your company find the right lawyer.

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

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