There’s always a sense of unsteadiness when running a business. So many things happening at once, providing endless opportunities for something to go wrong.
Nothing will ever go perfectly. That doesn’t mean you can’t take the best effort to avoid negative effects. A risk management lawyer can ensure that you know exactly what legal risks your business is suffering, and how to handle them so they fit in with your business objectives. This guide provides five questions to ask a risk management lawyer, useful when searching LawPath’s lawyer directory for risk management lawyers.
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1. What type of clients do you normally deal with?
Risk management is a massive area that varies depending on what type of risks are being handled. Small, medium, and large businesses, all have different risks that need to be handled in different ways. This means that the advice, and approach, taken by lawyers, can vary a lot depending on where their experience is.
The first step is to ensure that the lawyer you are speaking to is suitable for your business. There’s not much practical value in hiring a lawyer that specialises in large businesses when your company is a small enterprise.
2. What are your strategies for handling risks?
You always want to be on the same page with your lawyer. Lawyers have different ways of managing risks, whether it is a more conservative or radical approach. Whilst lawyers are also useful for finding risks you may not have considered, you ultimately want a lawyer whose approach aligns with your business plan.
For example, if you have no interest in moving away from a sole trader structure, a lawyer who primarily wants risk mitigation to be done through incorporation will not lead to business satisfaction.
3. What are the legal costs?
Insurance claims can be financially draining, and the last thing you’d want is also to be drowned in a wave of legal fees. However, you also want to balance costs with getting the right lawyer that can provide you the relief you need.
Insurance lawyers are generally paid in three different ways.
Billable hours
Billable hours are when the lawyer charges for every hour spent on your issue. You should try and get an idea of how many hours the lawyer expects to take. Keep in mind that even a short five minute conversation can add much more than that into your final charge.
Flat fee
A flat fee provides a clearer picture of what you pay. The flat fee, however, may not cover all legal costs such as filing documents in court.
You can connect with a risk management lawyer using LawPath’s lawyer directory. You can also learn more about how lawyers charge clients by reading our legal guide on how much you should pay a lawyer.
4. What are the consequences of adopting your plan?
Eliminating a set of risks, creates a lot of new ones. Asking your lawyer the new environment that you are working allows you to not only decide whether that is what you want, but also the types of risk you have to account for in the future. For example, if the lawyer advises you to incorporate to manage your risks, that plan may affect your relationships. Some people to consider include:
- Accountants;
- Suppliers;
- Government departments, and;
- Public
Understanding how risk management changes your business on these levels is an important part of finding the right lawyer.
5. How can you help my future risks?
Risk management is not a one-time thing, but rather an ongoing process. Today’s risks can create tomorrow’s burden. A good risk management lawyer will be able to help your business identify risks in the future, well after your current situation has been handled.
Try and get a lawyer who will ensure you are always prepared for your legal risks.
Conclusion
A risk management lawyer is critical to protect your business from avoidable losses. These questions will narrow down your search for risk management lawyers and ensure that your business remains on top of risks, now and in the future. You can begin searching for risk management lawyers on LawPath’s lawyer directory.
Need an risk management lawyer? Use LawPath’s lawyer marketplace to compare and choose from Australia’s leading insurance lawyers and get answers to your legal questions.
