Below are nine reasons why your business needs an in-house lawyer. Some of these points are also reflected in our earlier article on the benefits of an in-house lawyer over a private practice lawyer in which we suggest that, given the revolution in legal services that is occurring in favour of flexible freelance lawyers, now is a great time to obtain a flexible in-house lawyer rather than continuing to use a private practice lawyer. This list is applicable to all businesses but it is written with Small/mid-sized businesses, Startups and Entrepreneurs in mind. Cost effectiveness This is perhaps top on the list for many businesses; cost is a significant factor in why any business would have an in-house lawyer rather than either going to private practice lawyers or, worse, not going to a lawyer at all. An in-house lawyer represents an incredibly cost effective method of obtaining legal advice for your business and that is even more the case if you use a HPLpro freelance in-house lawyer. Value extraction Even with in-house legal resource, there may still be occasions when an external lawyer is required, perhaps in the event that you are purchasing property in Scotland or require advice on complicated Irish tax matters, and in those instances an in-house lawyer will be able to extract value from that external lawyer on account of knowing how long such work should take and a reasonable cost for such work. Risk management Perhaps the most important function of an In-house lawyer is the identification, management and review of the legal risks that the business faces and provide advice and solutions on the best way to minimise those risks in alignment with the strategies of the business. The in-house lawyer will also be able to weigh up the relative importance of those risks and prioritise the most fundamental. Whilst this is true for business of all sizes it could be particularly useful for start-ups and entrepreneurs to ensure that their business ideas start on the right track – indeed a business may not even be aware of the risks that it faces. Accessibility Given that an in-house lawyer is a dedicated business resource, that lawyer will be accessible to your business at the times that you require. With a HPLpro flexible in-house lawyer, you can have the best of all worlds: the accessibility of an in-house lawyer with the flexibility of using freelancers. Proactive Unlike private practice lawyers, In-house lawyers will be going beyond their brief to proactively analyse areas of the business for risks and solutions and be able to prevent mishaps prior to them occurring, including by helping to shape business strategy, rather than fire-fighting after the event. Alignment As an in-house lawyer is embedded within your business that lawyer will become aligned with the priorities of the business and will ensure that the legal solutions that he or she proposes will match the direction of travel for the business. Understanding In addition to aligning to the business, the in-house lawyer will also develop an in depth understanding of the industry that the business operates I, this is key to providing the best strategic legal advice for any business. Strategic acumen Given the training and experience involved in becoming an in-house lawyer, including being at the heart of business risk planning, in-house lawyers can add an additional element of strategic thinking, planning and organising to a company. Breadth of role In-house lawyers generally have seen and experienced an incredibly wide range of matters meaning that it would be rare for an experienced in-house lawyer not to have come across a situation or legal issue before. This compounds the benefit that they bring to any business, particularly entrepreneurial businesses where unusual situations arise all the time! Hope this was useful!
The HPLpro Team
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Six reasons why small/medium sized business and startups need flexibility from your lawyers11/3/2017
The legal world is changing after many, many years of stagnation. Firstly, the percentage of large companies who wanted their own lawyers working for them started to grow, primarily because employing your own lawyer is more cost effective than continually using external lawyers (see our earlier article of the benefits of in-house lawyers). Now there is a trend for those large companies to use freelance in–house lawyers instead of directly employing those in-house lawyers, and thus getting even more benefits. Here at HPLpro, we think that small and mid-sized businesses, entrepreneurs and start ups should take advantage of this cost-effective method of obtaining quality in-house legal support. Here are six reasons why using a freelance in– house lawyer gives you the flexibility that you need :
We live in exciting times
Ultimately, none of us really know what the future holds, as has been proven by recent major world events. Hiring a flexible HPLpro in-house lawyer will give you the flexibility that you need to turn that in-house legal resource on and off at will, something that is simply not possible with an employee.
Employment burden
Using a freelance in-house lawyer will also minimise the other burdens of traditional employees, such as pension contributions, bonuses, car allowances, holidays and so on.
Scaling
The beauty of using a flexible resource for your in-house legal requirements means that you can scale up that resource as and when necessary for any peak season or project work and then bring that resource down again upon the completion of the busy period or project in question.
Operating hours
When businesses actually operate in the day is changing rapidly, particularly now that so much business spans numerous time zones. With a flexible in-house legal resource, you can obtain a resource that will work to suit your business needs. You want one hour on a Monday morning? No problem. Three hours on Saturday evening? Fine. Our flexible resources can bend to match your requirements, whatever the time of day or night.
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