Every business requires certain things to run. The obvious things being a manager, advertising, a building to operate from, supplies, and several others. There are also things that are always immediately thought of such as a lawyer. Every business should have an attorney on hand for many reasons. One reason is that you can have easy access to legal advice, something that is often needed in business. Another reason is that, the longer a business is in operation, the more likely it becomes that someone will file a lawsuit against the company, perhaps even against you directly. When this inevitably happens, you will have an attorney ready to defend you or handle the situation in whatever way it warrants legally. Also, having a lawyer at your disposal means ease of drafting contracts and other important documents. This will allow you to ensure that you are doing everything by the book so to speak and you will have someone to guide you if you get off track. Because having a business attorney is important, it is equally important to ensure that you find the very best one available. To do this, you will need to follow a few basic steps to help you with the process and ensure you are hiring the best business lawyer that you can. What you will find here is a list of the steps you must take and how to accomplish each one. Finding the best lawyer for your business is not an exact science, but thankfully there are ways to improve the process.

The first thing you need to do is determine whether you want to hire a law firm on retainer or hire an attorney to work exclusively for your business. There are several factors that will go into this decision, but the primary consideration is the size of the business. Small businesses generally do not need nor can they afford to hire someone to work exclusively with your business. Larger companies and corporations, on the other hand, should heavily consider hiring an in house attorney to handle the regular influx of legal tasks. Another issue is the budget. Even larger businesses do not always have the funds necessary to hire a permanent lawyer into the company. Whereas a small business could be incredibly profitable and the owner may decide to hire an exclusive attorney. Other considerations may include the current need. If the company is currently dealing with a lot of legal related problems, consider hiring someone in the house, at least for a while. As a general rule, most companies choose to hire a firm on retainer, but this does not mean that you must follow the masses. You know your business and your situation better than anyone else ever could. Because of this, only you can make this decision.

Once you have decided what type of business lawyer to hire, you need to find out what is available. Depending on your needs, you may even want to consider a telecommuting firm. Many things are now possible through the internet, including a lawyer’s ability to act via a video chat or conference call. Also, you can email regularly to keep all information accurate and up to date. Either way, you need to compile a list of possible firms of lawyers. Thanks to the advancements of technology, the best way to get this information are to perform a basic search through your favorite search engine. All you have to do is input a few keywords and you will find all of the information you need. First, it is important to note that not all lawyers will be an option. Only some practice specifically to act as counsel to businesses. Because of this, you will need to be specific about the type of lawyer you are looking for in your search. Be sure to include the term “business lawyer” or “business law firm”. If you are specifically looking within the area where your business is located, you will need to add some type of location descriptor to your search. An example of this is “Chicago business attorneys”. If your first search does not yield the results that you need, change your keywords a bit and search again. Continue alerting and searching until you find what you need. Although, you will likely find what you are looking for with no more than two searches.

Once you have a list of potential lawyers or firms, it is time to begin comparing each one to a set of requirements. Obviously, they need to be a business attorney, but there are other aspects to consider as well. For example, if you are hiring a firm on retainer, be sure to find the best rate available. Different firms will offer different retainer fees, some specialize in providing retainer services to small businesses and as such have lower rates than others. Some cater to large corporations and therefore have higher rates than others. Firm size is also important to some. Inevitably some firms will be smaller and some larger. As such, there will be slight differences including availability.  Also, consider that yours will not be the only business the firm is working with if you choose to go the retainer route. This means that there is no guarantee about availability at a moment’s notice. You can add any considerations that you feel are important, just be sure that it is actually important before you start comparing firms.

Finally, look at reviews. Yes, even the law office has been reviewed online. There are dedicated review websites where people leave reviews for any type of business you can imagine. Also, there are review blogs to consider as well as social media pages. All of these will hold important reviews that will give you insight into the different law offices and lets you assess each one in a whole new way. When looking at reviews, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, never jump to conclusions if you find a bad review. Before really reading the reviews themselves, compare how many reviews there are overall and then compare that number to the ratio of good reviews to bad.