10 Things to Watch out for when...Hiring a corporate lawyer
Price: Make sure you get a detailed indicator of price - how you are billed, what you are billed for, and the work you are going to get in return. Some lawyers will bill you for all time spent on your account, even time spent travelling to meetings. If this is the case, have your meetings in their offices.
Goals: If your legal need is fairly straightforward, consider whether you need a lawyer at all.
The Internet: With the depth of legal information and do-it-yourself legal forms and agreements available on the Internet, you can minimise business risk and handle many basic legal needs yourself while avoiding the high legal fees.
Preparation: Gone are the days when lawyers did everything down to routine paperwork. Now you can choose the services you want to pay for or only those you really need. Arrive with the necessary legal document ready for the lawyer to check, rather than create. This means less time spent by the lawyer preparing simple documentation and, more importantly, less billable hours on your invoice!
Control: Take control of the relationship from the start. Look for a lawyer who views you as part of a long-term relationship rather than a financial transaction.
'Copy and paste': Samantha Bowles, associate director of LegalStudio.com believes you should avoid the 'copy and paste' lawyers - the ones who supposedly draft documents from scratch but in reality are charging you a small fortune for recycling their archives.
Reality check: Do a modern-day reality check and ask them what their e-mail address is - if they stutter and fumble for their business card, you can guess they are a little behind the times.
Shop around: Like with any service, research what lawyers are charging and their records in the field in which you are looking to employ them.
Objectivity: Many people have a relative who is a lawyer. The conventional wisdom is to not use relatives as their judgment may be clouded.
Budget: Ultimately, hiring a lawyer can be costly. Make sure you or your company has a detailed budget for hiring one - and stick to it.
Graphic: trigagwz
