If legal advice has not been sought early, or a deal looks like it will sour despite earlier legal advice, it is wise to seek legal counsel again. Most importantly, our legal system is full of statutes of limitation that require a plaintiff to bring a lawsuit within a set time or lose forever the right to do so. Different statutes of limitation have different time periods and different events can start the clock ticking. Even if a dispute later is settled peacefully to the satisfaction of all sides, it may be necessary to file a commercial lawsuit early in order to preserve the right to go to court if other forms of dispute resolution are not effective. At first glance it may seem that getting sued is worlds away from suing someone else, thus it may come as a surprise that responding to a lawsuit is similar to initiating one.
Lawyers are essential to protecting business interests in litigation.
The first chapter of this Guide , Selecting and Managing Counsel , describes an intelligent process for finding the right legal counsel for a business's needs. Individuals are always permitted to represent themselves in court, but representing oneself is only appropriate in a case in which there is very little money involved or in which the factual disputes are very plain. In all other disputes it is wise to hire counsel. In a number of situations, a corporation is required to hire an attorney to represent itself in court. Appoint Someone to be in Charge For larger companies, finding someone to be in charge is rarely a problem.