Small businesses are facing risky times, with Brexit on the horizon, and a general election due. Uncertainty is a difficult climate to do business in, and you may find yourself in the position of needing to take some legal advice so you can make the best decision about how to move forward.
You don’t just need to consult a lawyer if you’re planning on making a legal threat, or even taking someone to court. You might also want to seek advice if someone has threatened you: for example if your landlord has asked you to move out of your premises. When someone is using legal threats to try and get something from you, it’s important to not capitulate immediately (unless you know you’re in the wrong!) – often, if you consult your own experts you’ll find you have more latitude than the person opposing you wishes to admit.
Finding legal advice isn’t difficult these days, with over half the law firms in the UK being smaller, high street based efforts. This means reasonably priced lawyers are available, often within easy reach of your own business. As well as consulting them in times of crisis, you may also find them a useful resource for advice when you want to expand or are considering the future of your business: an experienced lawyer will deal with lots of firms in the area and will know the pressures they are under, and the opportunities that exist. While professional courtesy will prevent them sharing the details of other businesses, they may be able to help you network by connecting you with other local businesses in similar situations.
If you need to control your budget and the time you can allot to legal concerns, it may be worth consulting one of the emerging breed of online lawyers. Services like Lawbite offer different packages, from a ‘pay as you go’ service letting you consult them for a specific process and bill them for exactly the time taken (rather the traditional system, where you need to pay for a full hour long appointment regardless of how short or simple the task may be), to more involved subscriptions putting lawyers at your disposal whenever you need them.
With the law market diversifying more and more as time goes on, you should be able to the ideal lawyer to suit your pocket and preferences.