If you ignore your problems, they will all just go away, right? Unfortunately not. Sticking your head in the sand is not an effective problem-solving strategy, particularly in the legal realm.
How Do You Know You Have A Legal Problem?
- Have you and your business partner stopped working together or communicating well with one another?
- Do you think you know where your property line is, but you’re not quite sure?
- Are you sure that document you pulled off the internet will keep your employee from competing with your business?
- Has that customer still not paid your invoice?
These are examples of problems we see every day. They start off small, maybe a nagging question or a disagreement; maybe 60 days late paying for goods or services received. But left unresolved, these problems continue to grow.
The Best Defense Is A Good Offense
There are many reasons you shouldn’t let these nagging issues continue to linger. Some benefits of taking charge and addressing the problem head on include:
- Drafting an iron-clad document is the best first line of defense.
We love when clients call before there is a lawsuit! Even better, when clients call when they are first negotiating an operating agreement, service contract, or employment agreement! This is when we can make the biggest difference for our clients. Because we litigate these types of cases, we know what contract clauses you must have, which ones to avoid, and what will actually hold up in court.
- Negotiations are more effective before a conflict escalates.
In many cases, we are consulted late in the game, when frustration levels are boiling over and lawsuits are threatened or already filed. At that point, our options and yours become much more limited. Clients are often backed into a corner, forced to choose between incurring legal fees to defend themselves or conceding just to make the litigation go away. (Of course, there are ways to regain leverage depending on the case, but it is often more difficult to do so at this stage.). When we are able to advise before a conflict escalates, we often can avoid litigation for our clients, saving them time, money, and stress. Plus, there are frequently more beneficial business solutions that can be entertained before a conflict escalates.
- You don’t want to be the one getting sued.
If a conflict cannot be resolved early, you want to be in the driver’s seat of any litigation. If you are the one who files first, you have more control over the narrative and the pace of the litigation, rather than waiting until someone else sues you.
Overall, our goal is to help our clients get the best results possible for them and/or their business. So don’t stick your head in the sand! Address and resolve problems as they come up so that you can focus on more important things.
