Staying Calm Legal Dispute

Staying Calm: Navigating a Legal Dispute in Your Small Business

You likely had a few goals when starting your small business. Making money was at the top of that list, of course, and you might also have been motivated by the idea of doing good for a certain community or group. Financial success while making a positive impact on the world is a hard combination to beat.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, however, was likely another goal – staying out of legal trouble. No business owner wants to find themselves in the middle of a legal dispute, as these situations can be as stressful as they are expensive. Taking steps to stay away from legal issues is a smart move, but sometimes there are things that are out of your control you might find yourself caught up in a legal battle whether you like it or not.

If you are currently in the middle of a legal dispute, or if you see one coming on the horizon, it’s important to stay calm and assemble a plan for how you’ll deal with the situation. Legal advice for business owners should always come from qualified professionals so reach out to Fisher Stone today if you need help.

Slow Down and Assess the Situation

The world might feel like it is spinning a bit faster the moment you are hit with a lawsuit or some other type of legal action. You will start to worry about things like the future of your business, what impact this could have on your family, and more. Those feelings are natural, and you’ll need to work through them and settle into the process of dealing with this matter.

Once the initial wave of emotions has passed, you can start to look at the situation for what it is and think about how you are going to proceed. Gather all the information you need to clearly understand the issues the other party has with your business. Do you fully understand their grievance? Did they make a clear request as to what they want you to do to resolve the issue?

Every legal issue feels like a major event, especially if you aren’t used to dealing with these kinds of problems. Once you slow down and look at the realities of the situation, however, you might find that it doesn’t look so scary and it starts to feel like something you can handle. Of course, turning a blind eye and just hoping the problem will go away isn’t the right approach, so your next step is to prepare yourself to confront the challenge head-on.

Talk to Legal Professionals

As a small business owner, you probably take pride in being able to solve problems on your own. You don’t have the same kinds of resources that are available to big corporations, so you have to make do with what you have, figure things out, and keep moving forward. That often means taking the DIY approach instead of reaching out to a professional.

Such an approach to business is admirable but it is a recipe for disaster in this situation. With legal matters, you want to be working with a small business lawyer who is going to stand up for your rights and fight back against the issues at hand. Trying to represent yourself or otherwise get through this without a lawyer is only going to lead to trouble – and could even endanger the future of your business entirely.

From the moment it becomes clear that you are going to face a legal challenge, you should be talking to a lawyer or two about the situation. Most law offices – including Fisher Stone – will be happy to provide a free consultation so you can go over the situation without even spending a dollar. It’s often the case that business owners start to feel a lot better about this matter as soon as the free consultation is complete, as they will see that someone is available with the knowledge and experience needed to navigate this process successfully.

Communicate Openly and Regularly

You might think that you would want to cut off all communication with the other party in this legal dispute, but that’s typically not the case. Maintaining an open line of communication can be helpful in finding a way to solve the problem quickly with as little damage done to both sides as possible.

Of course, you probably aren’t just going to be picking up the phone to give them a call or send a text. Often, the ongoing communications will be between the legal representatives of both sides. This ensures a proper filter so that no one’s emotions get the best of them and things can remain civil and respectful. If you do get involved with communications directly at any point, make sure to remain professional and focus only on working things out rather than airing personal grievances or other issues.

From the start of any legal situation, you should always keep an open mind to the possibility of settling the matter out of court. While there might be a part of you that wants to fight all the way to the end without giving up an inch of ground, that isn’t necessarily the best path. The costs involved with the fight, and the potential of losing in the end, need to be weighed. Working closely with your attorney to consider all possibilities will help you come away with a satisfactory resolution. This could mean going through a process such as mediation or arbitration to resolve the matter quickly and at a lower cost.

Keep Your Business in Focus

Plenty of business owners throughout history have wound up struggling to keep their business running not because of the damage done by a lawsuit, but rather because they lost focus on operations while facing a legal challenge. Yes, a legal matter involving your business is serious and needs some attention, but you can’t let it consume everything about your days for weeks or months on end.

One of your top priorities during this time should be making sure that your business keeps running smoothly while the legal action is ongoing. Continue to put time and effort into your operations and don’t allow the stress or anxiety from the legal situation to spill over into how you run the business. This won’t necessarily be easy, but it is something that you need to rise above and face head-on while going through this phase.

Depending on the size of your business, you might be able to lean into your managers and other important employees to take on a bit more responsibility as the legal matter pulls you away more than you would like. Between the people who work for you regularly and the legal representation that you secure, allow other people to help you through the process and life should get a little easier and a little less stressful.

Learn from the Experience and Make Changes

There is one way in which you should adjust your business operations in response to the legal situation. If you notice that something about how you are operating has opened you up to the lawsuit in the first place, consider making a chance to tighten up that vulnerability. For example, this might mean updating your business policies to stay away from the type of issue that has popped up.

As a starting point, go back to the beginning and chart out what happened that has led to the dispute. Is this a situation that is likely to pop up again moving forward, or do you think it was a freak occurrence that almost certainly won’t repeat? If it’s something you could see happening again in the future, it’s certainly worth taking a look at how you can prevent it from becoming an ongoing issue. Talk to other people in your business, or even people who run other businesses, and come up with as many ideas as possible to reduce the risk in this area and save yourself from going through the whole thing again.

You may also find that new staff training is required to get everyone up to speed on your adjusted procedures. So, even staff who have been with you for years might need to be scheduled for a specific training session that is designed to target the matter at hand. That could be something to do with how customers or clients are handled, how certain actions are performed safely in a store or warehouse, and on and on.

Call Today to Learn More

More than anything else, when dealing with a legal matter in your business, you need a strong small business attorney on your side. To chat with the Fisher Stone team about your situation, simply get in touch and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free consultation. We appreciate your time and wish you all the best in this matter.