Hiring a business or commercial lawyer becomes essential when you have impending business disputes. If you don’t treat them on time, it costs you heavily with reputation and net worth. It’s best to hire such a business lawyer or attorney with a careful study of questions to put them under.
Thus, we give you the common and most important questions to ask your potential business attorneys. While they answer such questions, you will know if the chosen agency or business attorney is capable enough.
The Most Important Questions To Ask The Chosen Business Litigation Lawyer Are:
What are the type of cases they have solved to date?
You must know if the shortlisted can solve your business disputes and breach of contracts. To verify, ask them in detail about the cases they solved. Know the detailed process of the cases that match yours.
Most common cases handled by business litigation lawyers are related to:
- Data security,
- Intellectual property rights issues,
- Financial crisis issues, breach of duty,
- Breach of contract,
- Employer’s safety and welfare, including sexual harassment issues at workplaces,
- Partnerships,
- Shareholders’ interests and breaches, and other liabilities.
How much experience does the chosen lawyer have?
There is no point in hiring someone without knowing their expertise in every case they say they solved. If there’s too much at stake for your company, hiring a new attorney would be a dire mistake.
Hire those attorneys who are well-versed and who practice continuously. If these lawyers have ample experience, they won’t share the minuscule details about the complications and ease of your case.
What’s the cost they charge you per hour or per session?
If your company is already facing a financial crisis, don’t think that hiring a costly lawyer will save your boat from sinking. If you do this, there’s no last resort insight. Because there is no guarantee, a high-end or high-charging lawyer can surely save your company from the mess.
And if by chance, you lose the case, you would be in endless debt to pay the lawyer their fees. It’s best you go for the budgeted lawyer. Even if it’s a , you’re looking for. Don’t just go on hiring those who charge exorbitantly.
Check your company’s budget and then proceed with these discussions on the cost per session or hour. Also, ask for quotes from different lawyers and compare the same.
What are the business clients or firms they usually work with?
Companies often overlook this question. But it’s a smart move to know if your hired business litigation attorney works with freelancers, entrepreneurs, or medium to big-sized companies.
Supposedly, if the lawyer has more experience with freelancers, you can’t expect them to do well with bigger companies. They would certainly need time, more money, and effort. Your company might not have all those resources to invest in such a lawyer at present.
Hence, you should go for a business or commercial attorney who deals with companies with similar financials.
How many paralegals and legal assistants will be handling a particular case?
Every big-shot lawyer or attorney firm is full of legal assistants and paralegals. So, if you expect a single lawyer will help you solve a complicated case, you’re mistaken.
Better is that you ask the attorney upfront about these paralegals: their expertise, experience, and charge for their services (if any).
A trusted sexual harassment or legal business issues lawyer informs you about this in advance.
What is the reporting system to know the current stage of the case?
Just hiring a lawyer or their team isn’t enough. It’s only the first step for many ahead. After you’re hiring a team of business lawyers, you must be kept in the loop.
To prove that, ask the lawyer in the first few meetings only. Inquire them about the entire process and procedures related to the reporting and follow-ups.
Don’t be left out in the dark, and don’t be too naïve to act innocent and negligent. Hiring a lawyer bears equal responsibility to you. These lawyers should know that you’re their client and they can’t just forget to report back to you about important case findings.
So, be clear about the process from day one. It negates any confusion, breach of lawyer’s contract, and alike issues in the future.