I’m friends with these two sisters. The older sister is an accountant, and the younger one just graduated from law school. They also have another sister who’s studying to become a kindergarten teacher. I secretly call her the Mother Teresa of the family of professionals. Anyway, let’s focus on the second born. When the second sister was in law school, she had a lot of problem with the blood-sucking stereotypical image of lawyers. Now that she’s about to enter the work force, she vows to prove to the world that there are lawyers in heaven.
Of the two experts, an accountant and a lawyer, I’m recommending every business to have, the lawyer is the less obvious one. As with having an accountant, there are many benefits with having a lawyer. A good business lawyer can assist you with setting up the most suitable form of your business; they can advice on the copyright and trademark issues of your products and/or services; they can also help with basic zoning compliance, commercial leases, and taxes and license. Lawyers can provide vital assistance in almost every aspect of your business.
Most small business owners put of hiring a lawyer, though, as “they are expensive” (hence the stereotypical blood-suckers), and does not seem necessary at the early stage of a business. When businesses do need one, it’s when they’re being sued. Unfortunately, that’s just a tad too late. Yes, lawyers can be expensive, but an important truth to embrace is that the fee a lawyer will charge to keep you out of trouble is only a small fraction of the fee a lawyer will charge to get you out of trouble once it’s happened.
If the cost is a major concern for you at the moment, there is more reasonably priced legal advice you can find: the Legal Services Society provides legal aid in BC. The priority goes to people with a lower income, but many of their services are available to everyone. The least is that they can refer you to someone else. Another possible legal resource is law firms with a faith mission. For example, some Christian lawyers will be willing to provide legal advice at a reasonable rate.
Perhaps along with my lawyer friend, all these people are also working hard to prove that there are lawyers in heaven…