One call, that’s all
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009I have a restaurant franchisee client. He recently successfully pursued adding another location to his portfolio. He has, in the past, used a law firm to help him in various areas as he initially purchased his franchise, negotiated lease agreements, contemplated selling, and explored expansion. He used this same firm to help him navigate the lease agreement waters with this current location.
I’m by no means a pro attorney guy. We’ve all heard the lawyer jokes (my personal favorite: How do you know if a lawyer has taken Viagra? He gets taller[rim shot].). But I’ve seen how these law hawks have helped protect his interests.
In the case of his current expansion efforts, he was having some trouble with a couple of key elements of the lease. All I know is it involved a lot of multi-syllable words. As my business law teacher used to say, “Why use a small word when a big one’s even better.” I used to think of that little gem every time one of my tax professors would use the term ‘bifurcate’. Oh, you mean ‘split?’
Anyhoo, my client had had his lawyer review and tweak some of the language of his lease agreement. It ended up saving him considerable build-out delays, money, and emotional headaches when the conflict with his landlord occurred.
Are they costly? Yep, usually. Are they pompous? Child, please. Will they save your legal hiney? My client sure thinks so.
Some things are good candidates for do-it-yourself, like car oil changes, opening ketchup bottles, and washing your hair (lather/rinse/repeat). But a good business law attorney can be well worth the cost. A few hundred bucks now for lots of REM sleep later. Or as my uncle, Russell L Mahan, esquire would say, “An amount equal to two (2) or three (3) hundred dollars, U.S., in the present tense, in the exchange for a large quantity of completely restful, rejuvenating, natural state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended.”
