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As a business owner, you will face several legal risks during your business journey. Some legal risks could impact your trading and the future of your business. However, you can take steps to reduce the legal risks your business could face. One of the key steps is to work with experienced solicitors who can guide you and help you avoid legal pitfalls. This article will explore how working with a solicitor can help you reduce legal risk.
Why Should Your Business Seek to Reduce Legal Risk?
You will take on several obligations and potential liabilities when setting up or running a business. A business is likely to face various types of risk during its journey, whether that be from contracts with its customers or employees.
These types of risks are present for all businesses, regardless of size or industry. These risks could result in various grave consequences. For example, damage to your reputation, significant costs, and stress which disrupts your business operations.
As such, it is important to take proactive steps to prevent potential legal risks. This could save you time and money, avoid problems and give you confidence and a sense of security when trading.
How Can Working with A Solicitor Reduce Your Legal Risk?
Working with different types of solicitors can help reduce different legal risks. For example, solicitors can help you prepare contracts to prevent disputes and help resolve any disputes that arise. Here are some key examples of how working with a solicitor can help reduce your legal risk:
1. Contract Drafting and Negotiating
Business contracts are vital documents to protect you from legal risk. The type of contracts your business uses and their provisions are critical. For example, as a supplier, your contracts will help you get paid on time and afford you remedies if your customers breach their obligations.
A solicitor can help you prepare tailored and robust contracts to protect your business from risk. A solicitor will be able to help you anticipate potential risk issues and prepare your contracts to mitigate against those potential risks.
When entering new contracts (be it with suppliers, customers, or partners), a solicitor can also help you negotiate contracts, protect your best interests, and warn you of risks arising from each new business venture.
2. Legal Compliance
There are also various laws surrounding contracts, which can impact their drafting. For example, contract laws and consumer laws. Solicitors can help you by preparing watertight agreements that reflect your business objectives and comply with any applicable laws.
Rules and regulations can be complex, and the types of rules to follow will depend on the nature of your business and its activities. For example, several rules apply when selling products or services to consumer customers. A solicitor can help you understand your regulatory compliance obligations and any legal rules your business needs to follow.
An experienced solicitor can also help you keep on top of changes in legal rules, which you need to be aware of. For example, data protection law is a highly fast-developing area that businesses often need help understanding. Without the expert advice of an experienced solicitor, your business may be unaware of these laws and fall foul of them. This could cost your business – for example, you could face investigations or fines for breaching mandatory legal rules.
3. Preventing and Resolving Disputes
Working with an experienced dispute resolution solicitor can help prevent disputes in various ways. For example, a solicitor can guide you in navigating and resolving customer problems. They can help you negotiate and resolve problems outside of court.
In the worst case, a solicitor can also help represent you during claims in court. Court claims can have severe consequences, including bad publicity, reputational damage, and significant costs. A solicitor can provide helpful advice about a potential claim and its merits and help you avoid pitfalls and errors during the court process. Working with a solicitor who is experienced in litigation may give you better representation and chances for success.
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Key Takeaways
As a business owner, you are exposed to several legal risks. Working with experienced solicitors can help you reduce risks in several ways and put processes in place to help manage any risks that arise. For example, solicitors can help guide you on the legal rules you must follow, prepare robust contracts to protect you and help prevent disputes. Seeking legal advice at an early stage could help you avoid future problems and save your business significant time and money in the long run.
If you need advice on reducing legal risk, our experienced contract lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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