When start-up businesses or small businesses face any type of legal action the costs can often be the difference in being able to keep operating or having to shut down. There are several ways that small businesses can cut legal fees while still ensuring that they are represented with a top quality legal firm.
The top legal firms get to be the top because of their outstanding reputation and their ability to get results for their clients. They are often the most transparent and open about their billing and fees, which allows the small business owner to budget for these costs.
Know Your Legal Firm
There are many different levels of experience, specialization and education within the legal profession. You may not always need the most experienced trail attorney at the firm to handle your legal needs. By using an attorney other than the top attorney you can often cut legal fees significantly with simple legal issues. It is important to clarify this with the firm to ensure that everyone has this understanding and knows which attorney is to handle the situation.
Keep Accurate Records
Having all the documentation and records available to your attorney at your first meeting or shortly thereafter is an excellent way to cut legal fees. This eliminates bills for multiple phone calls and emails to track down missing information. You can also provide copies of all documents to the attorney so you don’t end up paying for photocopying at his or her end. In some cases scanning documents and records and sending as a PDF may also work but you will often find that the firm charges for IT time as well as printing.
Be Clear, Precise and Honest
One easy way to run up a legal bill is to fail to tell your attorney the whole story or all of the information about the case. In this situation the attorney provides a fee estimate based on what they think is going to be involved, not on what is actually required in the case.
The more information you can provide and the more you know about your case the greater your chances to cut legal fees. In addition talking with the attorney about your payment options and how they will bill can also help to reduce costs or defer payment until a favorable settlement is reached.
Small business owners can take advantage of their business skills to help to cut legal fees.
