It’s one of those indisputable facts: every business needs legal advice.
Whether you’re already aware of the value that a corporate solicitor can offer to your company, or feel you are exempt (at least for now) from needing their guidance, read our list below to get your facts straight.
1. Setting Up the Business
Corporate solicitors aren’t only needed for fully-fledged businesses undergoing periods of change, dispute, or upheaval. Those initial stages of starting and running a business are some of the most pivotal. From choosing the business’s structure to getting straight on the regulations that will have an impact on your business, a corporate solicitor can help not just to put you on the best possible path, but to save money and protect your business from the outset.
2. Shareholder Disputes
Shareholder disputes are very common, even within family-owned businesses where each shareholder is part of a close-knit, personal relationship. They can be worked through, and don’t need to represent a decisive moment in the business’s past, present, and future – but they can significantly undermine an otherwise strong professional relationship, and need to be handled carefully from the very beginning. A shareholder’s agreement is a vital document business owners should invest in to help mitigate risks if a dispute does arise further down the line.
Should a dispute arise, a mediator can be a good person to help resolve any issues before speaking to a litigation lawyer. As a neutral third-party, they won’t be drawn into the same high-tension, high-emotion whirlwind that you and the shareholders are circling and will try to find common ground. A solicitor can also help to navigate a way through that is fair for all parties, and adherent to the shareholder agreement parties all signed onto.
3. Restructuring
Restructuring a business is an incredibly big decision to make, and it’s an undertaking that is certainly not for the faint hearted. At the same time, however, it can be the key to success, to evolve into a business that is much better suited to today’s world, and the market you are working within.
There are, of course, always going to be downsides, risks, and pitfalls to avoid at all costs, but anticipating them – and knowing how to navigate around them – is something corporate solicitors can help with when deciding if a business restructure is needed.
4. Asset Management
There are very tight regulations surrounding asset management for businesses – and for good reason. A corporate solicitor is there to keep on top of these regulations, and to make sure you are compliant in order to avoid you losing money – or suffering damage to your business’s reputation and ability to continue on – from the outset.
5. Employment
Taking on employees is a pivotal moment in a business’s timeline, and it’s one of the most tangible signs that your business is on an upward trajectory.
But, as you no doubt know, becoming an employer isn’t just about adding a World’s Best Boss mug to the collection. Employment law is a complicated and nuanced field, and nobody is in a better position to advise you on everything you need to know than an employment solicitor with specialised knowledge of the area.
Even just drawing up employment contracts – the first of many duties an employer needs to see to in order to protect their and their employees’ interests – is a complicated process, so don’t try to do it alone.
6. Issuing Shares
There are many benefits to issuing shares and diluting ownership of your company amongst shareholders. It represents a decisive step toward growth and development, without forcing you to incur debt in the process.
But anyone who is daunted by the prospect is right to be. It represents a major change, and you’ll want to have a solicitor by your side throughout the entire process. Each shareholder needs to be subject to the same agreement, for instance, and that agreement must protect the core needs of the business, or everything will eventually start to crumble under its own weight.
7. Succession Planning
A succession plan is the most significant document you can create for your business’s future. It details key talent you have identified to see the business through the stage that comes after your role has come to an end and, for that reason, will prove critical to a smooth transition and business continuity when the time comes.
A succession plan is the mark of any strong, forward-looking business, but creating a document that will prove truly valuable necessitates the help of someone who knows exactly what is expected of it, and what your business will need in the future.
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