

What legal services can an attorney provide your business?
-LLC: understand the benefits and limitations of this form of legal protection
-Multiple member LLC or partnership: draft operating and buy-sell agreements between partners
-Sub-S or schedule-C corporation: draft corporation buy-laws, buy-sell agreement between shareholders
How can you find a small business attorney?
Personal referrals: business associates, friends, small businesses in the same field
Cincinnati Business Courier: annual listing of largest law firms by number of attorneys
Cincinnati Magazine: annual listing of “Super Lawyers”, by specialty
Bar Associations: Local bar associations take various approaches to lawyer referral
Choosing an attorney – find one that fits and set the right expectations
When you call an attorney for an appointment, ask if they will charge a fee for the initial consultation.
Ask the attorney how much experience they have handling legal issues similar to yours. If the attorney is unresponsive, continue your search until you find an attorney with that experience..
At the conclusion of your first meeting, the attorney should outline a plan of tasks to be performed and provide a reasonably accurate budget of those legal services at an agreed upon hourly billing rate for the attorney. An engagement letter is often used by the attorney to confirm and communicate these fee arrangements, and serves as a contractual agreement between the parties. The lawyer may request a retainer, an advance payment for services. As work proceeds, you are entitled to an accounting of how this retainer and all future fees were spent.
Ask the attorney when they can begin work on your matter, how long it may take to resolve your situation, how they handle client communication (e-mail or phone), and how quickly they will respond to questions or issues that arise.
Tips on receiving the most value out of meetings with your attorney
If you would like to request a Cincinnati SCORE counselor please click here, for a Dayton counselor click here
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