How solicitors can help small businesses in legal challenges
Especially when you’re just getting started, managing the legal demands of running a UK business is a minefield. Discover how solicitors can help small businesses get to grips with business law, tackle challenges and create lasting practices which ensure compliance.
Understanding regulatory compliance
Juggling the various UK business laws can be difficult, especially for small businesses operating without an in-house legal team. In addition to general guidelines such as company registrations, employee management and consumer law, you must be on top of industry-specific regulations as outlined by your trading body.
Hiring a solicitor in your local area to help you get to the bottom of regulatory compliance will optimise your operations, safeguard pipeline plans and give you peace of mind that you are working within the law.
Drafting company contracts
From agreements with suppliers to taking on new members of staff, you’ll face a consistent need to create contracts. Rather than muddling your way through one by one, a solicitor can assist with drafting templates for different situations, so you just have to update the details.
If you’ve had any issues with suppliers or staff finding loopholes in your contracts, you can get legal advice with rephrasing your requirements too.
Intellectual property protection
Head off any potential problems with companies stealing your original work by collaborating with a solicitor to establish legal protection. There are several ways to protect your intellectual property ranging from copyright which requires no application to patenting which takes around five years to approve.
Registering your trademarks, designs, work and inventions in an official capacity as soon as you’re able gives you more security if another business claims your assets as their own.
Swift dispute resolution
Businesses of all shapes and sizes struggle with disputes. If you haven’t already, chances are you’ll have to deal with issues such as contract breaches, confidentiality infringements and conflicts of interest – and employees and suppliers pushing back against accusations.
Employing solicitors to support your HR team with individual disputes ensures a swift resolution that’s fair to all parties in the eyes of the law. Having a legal presence can also make everyone feel more comfortable, especially in cases of dismissal. Solicitor support is essential for handling serious disputes such as negligence claims.
Improving risk management
Striking the right balance between risk and reward can be challenging, especially for smaller businesses with limited capital and less experience. Specialist solicitors can help you find the happy medium and offer valuable insight into the potential legal pitfalls of overlooking key risks.
For example, solicitors can help draft best practices for staff around data collection laws such as GDPR to help mitigate errors in data handling which can lead to damaging breaches and financial loss.
