John Krajewski is the managing partner of Stark & Knoll and a member of its business services group. With more than 25 years of industry experience, his practice areas include general corporate, business succession, taxation and nonprofit organizations. He is a member of the Akron and Ohio State bar associations.
Q. What can a law firm do to help a business in the current economic state?
We try to go in at least annually and have what I like to call a legal audit with each of our clients. For instance, regarding their insurance coverage, we make sure they have the proper coverage of what they need and go through a check and balance of all the various areas. Another instance is that a lot of companies have gone to electronic ordering, which is fine, but what some of them have failed to do is make sure the terms and conditions of an order with respect to liability — the fine print, the warranty — is right on the purchase order. When that’s only on the Internet, that often doesn’t happen. So we try to take a look at the business as a whole, assist them and make sure they’re doing what they need to do in order to prevent litigation.
Q. What other things are important right now?
We can help them with contract preparation, employee relations and succession planning. We can help them not just in a narrow term of the next three or five months but of the next three or five years. Are you going to sell to a competitor? Are you going to turn it over to a family member? Is a key employee going to buy it? None of that can happen in a short time frame. You have to plan ahead and structure it to make it happen.
Q. What should a business do if it isn’t receiving the level or quality of legal service it wants?
Even if times are tough for a business, they shouldn’t be dealing with a law firm they’re afraid to call because they’re going to immediately get a bill. They need to have a relationship where they can call regularly. If they’re afraid to do that, that’s a sure sign they need to switch and make a move.
