By Ellie Campbell, a freelance writer in partnership with Brodies LLP
IN many situations involving a legal dispute, challenge, or deal, you may not wish to risk your company going to court without the advice of an experienced lawyer who can help you out. In fact, while good legal representation may not be cheap, it will help your company from facing damning cases that you may never recover from, so it is important to have the best lawyer you can get.
1. Lawyers know how to challenge evidence better than you do
Without the proper legal training, you may not be able to know whether a key piece of evidence against you was improperly obtained or that the testimony of a witness contradicts an earlier statement. And did the crime lab properly handle the evidence every step of the way? Your attorney will find out and possibly have that evidence suppressed.
2. Filing the wrong document or following the wrong procedure could ruin your case and could cause long-term damage to your company
If you’re not an attorney, you may struggle with the deadlines and protocol for properly filing certain legal documents especially when you are trying to spend most of your time running your company. With one late or incorrect filing, you could derail your case, delay a given legal procedure, or worse – have the case thrown out altogether (and not in your company’s favour).
3. They have access to the witnesses and experts you’ll need on your side that you may not have
Attorneys depend on an extended network of professionals to help their clients’ cases. Most non-attorneys don’t personally know the types of professionals who can help with discovery or challenge evidence or testimony given by the opposing party.
4. A lawyer will present your strongest case
Pleading guilty or admitting fault isn’t the only choice, even if there’s evidence pointing directly at you and your company. This is when the lawyer you have hired to protect your company’s interest can explain all of your options helping you avoid potentially severe penalties even before a trial begins.
5. Lawyers are trained to negotiate settlements and plea bargains
An experienced lawyer probably has seen cases similar to your companies or at least knows enough to make a calculated guess about how it might get resolved at trial. Sometimes a settlement is the best choice, while other times it makes more sense to see your case through to trial. An attorney can also help negotiate a fair settlement with the opposing party.
6. The other companies will probably already have legal representation
Non-attorneys are generally at a disadvantage when squaring off against opposing counsel or doing business with another party that has legal counsel. As explained above, the law is complicated and an attorney representing your adversary (or even a non-adversarial party entering into a legal agreement with you) will take advantage of this inequity.
Need help to hire a lawyer?
It’s good to know there are experienced attorneys like Brodies LLP just a click away. Make sure when you are starting a company that you have a lawyer that has your best interest at heart.
