‘The Legal Crew’
Stellar Peeps — Part 5
“A good business attorney will provide vital assistance in almost every aspect of your business, from basic zoning compliance and copyright and trademark advice to formal business incorporation and lawsuits and liability.” — entrepreneur.com
Between our businesses currently and over the years, Jeff and I have had wonderful experiences and we’ve had absolutely horrible experiences dealing with lawyers.
It can cost you (as it has us!) unnecessary hundreds or thousands of hard-earned dollars if you hire just anyone. It’s imperative to interview, research and get to know their character a little (if you don’t already) before you put the trust of your livelihood in their hands.
Bottom line…make sure you like them. Ugh.
Yes, hiring a business attorney obviously costs money. But in the long run, having done the proper prep of prior inquiry, the benefit, peace of mind and longevity of your business will far outweigh the money put forth.
Here are five reasons to hire a business lawyer:
- They (and your accountant) can help you decide on best business structure. Will you incorporate? Choose a partnership? Or will you go ahead as a sole proprietor?
- They take care of the confusing paperwork of incorporating properly, contracts, deals, leases etc.
- A good lawyer will offer insight and suggestions for new laws in your industry…saving you time and money…and NOT continually nickel and dime you.
- Having your ‘ducks in a row’ with a credible lawyer and accountant, when or if you get into a legal issue, you potentially avoid further headache if you do have any problems because you have already taken the proper steps for your business which shows you are diligent with your operations. Also, having a lawyer BEFORE you get into any sort of hot water is what you want to do. Once you are already in trouble, it’s too late.
- They will (or should) find the best ways to do things while saving you the most amount of money. For example, while it may be tempting to file a trademark or incorporate your business on your own to ‘save a few dollars’, if you miss even a seemingly minor detail, it could cost you dearly. In the long run, you will always benefit from hiring the appropriate team for the job.
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Thank you so much to our current legal team. We appreciate you so so much and value what you do for us!
One of our businesses is incorporated in both B.C. and Alberta so we use an attorney in Calgary who holds our books as well as we use a couple in Kamloops and one in Ontario for other stuff.
Here are our highly recommended (mostly local Kamloops-based) ‘stellar peeps’ legal crew for personal (make sure you have a will people) and business dealings:
- Elmer Epp at Cates Ford Soll & Epp LLP Lawyers & Mediators
- Candace Cates at Cates Ford Soll & Epp LLP Lawyers & Mediators
- Matt Livingston at Fulton & Company
- Trademarking- (hands down the best!)- Marina Stipanac at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall’s Intellectual Property Group
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I doubt you’ll be disappointed with any of the above individuals. They care, get the job done, are honest, personable, kind and well…we like them ;)
Both Jeff and I previously learned the hard way in one situation when we lived in a remoteish city, there was very limited selection of whom to choose from and we got taken for a LOT of money. Besides ordering a meal out that is terrible and overpaying for it, nothing is much worse than paying exuberant amounts of money for something you know should never cost that much.
But…now we know better (I hope!).
And when you know better you do better…right? (at least most of the time ha!)
-Becky
