Mid-sized businesses will benefit from having an attorney or a law firm on retainer. Having a lawyer can help your business avoid litigation since you will always have an expert reviewing all your business contracts. Your company will always have someone who can identify any adverse or unfair provisions that may leave your business vulnerable to liability or losses. If your business is looking for a law firm or a lawyer to hire as a retainer, here are the top qualities you need to look for in their lawyers and in the firm itself.
Experience
When looking for a law firm, choose one with a reputation for being led by seasoned attorneys who have a world of experience in arbitration and mediation. One example of this is Duxton Hill Chambers, a group of practices in Singapore that boasts of the presence of renowned former judicial officer V.K. Rajah SC. The members of the chambers have particular expertise in corporate, commercial, and financial litigation, as well as public law, arbitration, and public international law. While not a law firm, the chambers are formed by individual independent practices. When looking for someone to entrust your business with, make sure they have a reputation for having a full spectrum of work in corporate, commercial, and financial law.
Credibility and reputation
Closely related to experience are credibility and reputation. Check the lawyer or the firm’s education and experience by checking their website to see where they went to school and if they passed the bar. Don’t hesitate to call or E-mail their office if you have more questions about their background, such as their achievements and awards. You can also inquire about the big settlements or notable cases they have won. Before hiring a retainer, make sure their business is legitimate. Don’t hesitate to ask for references as well—you need to be able to discuss competence, fees, and service.
Excellent communication skills
Observe a potential retainer from your very first meeting. How are their communication skills? Are they verbally articulate? How about their correspondence—what does it say about their written communication skills? They must also be a good listener. Good communication skills are key to being able to argue convincingly on your behalf. Your lawyer needs to defend you before judges and juries, and being able to communicate in clear, concise, and systematic ways is essential. Aside from speaking and writing skills, your lawyer must be able to analyze your predicament well, which means they must also have the capacity to listen well.
Research skills
Your lawyer and their team must have impeccable research skills because they need to understand you and your needs, and they need to be able to provide you with foolproof legal strategies. For a legal team to come up with a solid strategy, they need to comprehend and absorb massive amounts of information and data all at once. They need to distill all that they know into something useful and manageable to protect your business and give you the best possible deal.
Analytical skills and creativity
Aside from the ability to find something useful out of large quantities of information, lawyers and their team need to draw more than one reasonable conclusion out of every case, and they need to find more than one precedent that can apply to resolve the situation. A good lawyer is someone who has excellent enough evaluative skills that they can always choose the most suitable deal for their clients.
Creativity also works hand-in-hand with analytical skills because being resourceful or creative plays a big part in effective problem-solving. In some cases, the best way out is not always the most obvious, and good lawyers need to outmaneuver their challengers by thinking outside the box.
Perseverance
Students often have to jump through hoops to finally become a lawyer. They need to devote at least seven years of their lives to studying, training, taking exams, and finally getting their license. It goes without saying that anyone who becomes a lawyer is naturally persevering, but you need to find someone willing to complete the work needed to drive your case to a successful finish.
Businesses can get into various sorts of legal troubles at any time, even when owners work hard to keep everything above board. Find the best lawyer to protect your business’s interests at any time. It’s an added layer of protection for you and your business.
