Law that Works for Business

NEALLY LAW

Our Service to Meet Your Goals

The Present:

The attorney/client paradigm has not changed much since the beginning of the profession.  The client has a transaction or a dispute where legal assistance is required.  The client talks to a friend or seeks out an attorney and finds Doe and Doe Law Firm.  The client sets an appointment and during the consultation, attempts to summarize a complex problem, details of the problem, and the client’s goals.  An attorney then comes up with a solution or plan which has been tried and true with many other clients and the relationship proceeds where each minute the attorney works with the client or researches for the client is billed to the client.  The attorney thinks of a new strategy, then bills the client for the research on the new strategy. 

The Present Incentives: This plan is designed to get the maximum amount of money for the attorney, but does not lead to the best service.   The best solution is in the incentives.  If an attorney bills per hour, what is the incentive?  The incentive, frankly, is for the attorney to work as many hours for which the client would be willing to pay. All of those hours can easily be construed as representing the client to the best of the attorney’s ability, and no ethical obligation would be breached.  As long as the attorney is legitimately working for that client and the direct objective for the attorney is not to bill more the underlying incentive can easily manipulate the attorney to work.  But, even with ethical obligations met, the incentive is to get the client to pay more.

The Present Service: There is another problem with this paradigm, the time and effort it takes to get the attorney up to speed on understanding the problem, the client’s goals, the client’s business, the evidence, etc.  In many cases if the issue is a dispute, all of the evidence in the case has already been established. Thus, the attorney is not helping to navigate to reach a goal, but to explain and argue to a judge or jury that what has happened should get the client to the goal.

A true tale:  A business owner rented the basement of a building, with a gas station above.  The gas station had a large cooler section that sometime after the business moved in and set up computer workstations, the coolers began to leak onto the desks below, and occasionally water would collect and break through the tiles drenching the workers below.  The business owner, of course, told the landlord that this was unacceptable and that it needed to be fixed.  The landlord did not fix the problem and it continued.  The business owner stated more adamantly that it was unacceptable.  The landlord still did not attempt to fix the problem.  So, after demanding to the landlord in a conversation that there was a problem that needed to be rectified and the landlord refusing to fix the problem; the business owner left and secured new office space.  The landlord sued for rent for the remainder of the term and legal fees.  After being served, the business owner sought an attorney to assist in the matter, thinking in every way that he was justified in terminating the lease and even knew the term would be constructive eviction.  The business owner did not realize one small detail that was required in order to perfect his claim. Put the demand in writing.  A very simple thing, really, but a small paragraph stood in the way of reaching the goals of the business owner.  The attorney that was hired after the suit already had been commenced was forced to argue the facts already established and attempt to negotiate a favorable settlement. 

The New Paradigm:

Large corporations have the resources and the legal work to make it worth investing in employed in-house counsel.  The Fortune 500 companies have counsel and legal departments dedicated to the work of that company, saving time, money, and allowing for a better service due to the attorneys understanding the goals, and inner-workings of the company.  The new paradigm in legal service gives small and medium businesses the power to leverage the resources of an in-house legal department, without the same Fortune 500-sized investment in money, time, and oversight.

In business, there are many traps in which a business owner or manager can fall.  Employment regulations, taxation, and compliance with local, state, and federal laws regulating business and specific industries are very complex and confusing, making it difficult for the business owner to be assured that they are navigating with low risk to the company.  Plans will be customized based on your company size and industry needs, so that your attorney can point you in the right direction and help you get to your goals in real-time.  The business owner in our true tale, would have been better served with counsel who will not bill for the phone call, email, text, or meeting. The business owner would have been better served by the counsel who is aware of the issue with the water damage, because the counsel has stopped in to say hi, and see how things are going, without billing for that time.

Many times laws change without much fanfare, or the statements about changed laws are confusing or incorrect.  The new paradigm of law service will allow your business to be updated on laws that affect your business or industry and advice is from a source that works for you. 

Your business is your livelihood, why not have Neally Law looking out for your interests ALONG with you?  We want to be involved on a deeper level, to bring you the most personalized attention your business requires, as well as strategic insights from the legal side.