When running a company, it’s essential to hire a business lawyer to help with all aspects of your organization – including management and marketing issues.
Hiring, firing, and retaining employees can raise a lot of legal issues that you need an expert to help navigate. You also want to ensure your company’s brand and products are legally protected and that you are abiding by relevant policies and laws.
Some common areas where business lawyers can help your company in regards to marketing and management are:
1. Creating contracts
While sealing a deal with a handshake is a nice gesture, you need to have legal documentation backing it up. Whether you are making an agreement with an internal resource like one of your employees, or an external resource like a third-party vendor or client, make sure you have a business lawyer draw up a contract. Having this agreement in writing can help you later if there is confusion over the terms. This can help you avoid litigation.
2. Settle Employment Disputes
While you should retain an employment lawyer for large legal issues, there are problems a business attorney can help you resolve, as well. Some of these problems can include:
§ Contracts: A lawyer should review contracts you have employees, contractors, interns, and other staff members sign. This will ensure the verbiage is accurate and complies with all relevant laws. Having a lawyer review irregular employee contracts is especially important as these contractors fall under a different set of laws than full-time employees.
§ Policies: Your company needs policies in place to ensure workplace standards are upheld. This can include hiring practices, processes that need to be followed, workplace rules, time-off policies, disciplinary actions, dress codes, and more.
§ Safety issues: If there is an accident at the facility or an instance of company negligence, you need a business attorney to represent you during any potential litigation, and to ensure you are following the correct protocols.
§ Privacy: It’s essential to keep your employees’ information secure and private – from their social security information to their wages to their annual reviews. You should work with an attorney to determine processes of how to ensure this information is kept private, and to document who is allowed to access this information – and how.
§ Agreements: To protect your company’s information and assets, you should work with an attorney to draft non-disclosure and non-compete agreements. These will protect your company in case an employee
leaves the organization. These prevent him or her from sharing private information and knowledge he or she gained at your company. For example, they cannot go to one of your competitors and share information about a product you are working on.
3. Protect Brand, Trademarks, Intellectual Property
The marketing team at your company works hard to ensure your customers – and potential clients – see your brand and your products to attract new business. To make sure the brand they are marketing cannot be copied by another company, you need to work with a business lawyer to file the necessary applications and documentation to ensure you own the brand. This also applies to any products or trademarks you own. It’s essential to work with a lawyer to properly register trademarks and apply for patents on your products. This will protect your company’s intellectual property.
Why Hire Us
When you need a business attorney, let the experts at Johnstone Adams LLC represent your company.
Ranked in the 2022 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list regionally in 12 practice areas, we have experts in many areas of law to give our clients top-notch representation. In business for more than a century, our firm can mix its experience with the ability to evolve with the changing times.
To get started, contact us at 844-682-7682, our online form, or info@johnstoneadams.com.