Remember the past
The last couple of years have provided you with a new set of challenges. Perhaps you needed to lay off a percentage of your employees, close a branch of your business or just do more every day with an already overworked, if not smaller, staff. Odds are your attorney was with you during many of those moments — because even if you didn’t work more with your attorney in order to save legal fees, you probably called and talked more often.
That is, at least, what many attorneys are saying.
“It varies with the client, and in terms of clients that have in-house counsel, I think they’re trying to do more and more on their own as opposed to referring the work to external counsel,” Balmert says. “I’m not certain that’s going to change.
“It’s a situation that depends on the client and the client’s makeup — it varies with the client, just like a preferred form of communication varies with the client.”
The amount of work and communication required of some attorneys will also likely increase through the rest of 2010 and during the early months of 2011.
“The world is becoming a smaller place as far as business in concerned, with the Internet and globalization, and I see that creating opportunities,” says John K. Krajewski, managing partner, Stark & Knoll Co. LPA. “Companies will continue to be cost-conscious — and they should be, they should make prudent business decisions.”
Until then, the existing bump in bankruptcy, commercial litigation and corporate reorganization — sure signs of an economy that has seen better days, months and years — will likely continue.
And valuations are still historically low — though not as far in the cellar as they were during much of 2009 — which means now is still a good time to examine and consider estate and succession planning. What will your business do after you’re out of the top spot? Who will own the business? Who will be in charge? And were you able to take advantage of a down market to pass it along at a better rate?
There are plenty of other things you should consider with your attorney before the economy starts to bump up a little more.
