Business Law and Business Litigation in South Florida

Every business needs legal counsel and hiring a proven business attorney to advocate for and protect the interests of your company saves money and brings peace of mind. There are an unlimited number of situations in South Florida's commercial environment that involve business and legal procedures, but the panorama can be broken down into traditional categories.

Whether the subject matter involves services or goods, agreements are an indispensible component to business transactions. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that the art of drafting and interpreting contracts is the foundation of all business law.

One of the major functions of the business law practitioner is to provide comprehensive and accurate review of the provisions to an agreement and ensure that the parties understand the terms of the transaction into which they are entering. Similarly, a trained business attorney is skilled at listening to the parties and writing contractual clauses that clearly and precisely reflect their intentions. The attorney's ability to accomplish these tasks directly bears on both the likelihood of disputes arising between the parties down the road and the possibility of incurring penalties as a result of non-compliance with rules and regulations.

Bear in mind that parties to an agreement will always have at least some adverse interests. Accordingly, in most instances contracts should be reviewed, negotiated, and/or drafted by separate counsel representing each party individually. The reality is that the party with the more skilled business lawyer is likely to come away with certain advantages.

Another real-life consideration is the business attorney's demeanor. Business negotiations are a very delicate matter. One of the fears business professionals have is that after they have laid the groundwork for a business relationship with another party, their attorney will show up and wreck the deal by aggressively seeking more favorable terms and/or by bringing up issues that lead to conflict. To be fair to the attorney, he or she is only trying to look out for the client in this situation. However, the bottom line for the client in such a case is that the deal is gone. It requires a certain amount of wisdom and grace on the part of business counsel to ascertain the situation, weigh the consequences of making certain statements against not making them, and choose the appropriate comportment in order to walk the fine line that leads to true advocacy of the client.

The subject of business litigation is one that must be fully and frankly considered since business ventures and business relationships often do not work out as planned. Some business attorneys focus their practice on litigation and dispute resolution. Such practitioners are business litigators, and they have a different skill set from the transactional lawyers that draft and negotiate contracts.

First, the steps involved in litigation are complex, and failure to following proper procedures invariably leads to delay, expense, and/or defeat. To further complicate matters, there are several different codes of civil procedure that apply depending upon the issue, amount in controversy, and the county. Many times you may need a business attorney just to determine in which courthouse to file the lawsuit.

A business litigator knows the correct legal forms to use and the proper procedures for each courthouse. Also, the litigator is adept at presenting the facts of the case and the legal support for the client's claim both on paper, in the form of a pleading, and before a judge, in the form of oral arguments. Each of these can be daunting tasks for a business professional without legal training and experience. Where the amount of money in question is relatively small (under $5,000 in Florida's Tri-County), the business professional may bring the matter in Small Claims Court pro se, where some judges may have more patience with non-lawyers. Many times, however, it is a bad idea to go into even a small claims matter without a qualified business attorney. Some judges dislike non-lawyers representing themselves or their companies because they invariably make mistakes and end up wasting the court's time. Once the amount in controversy gets over a certain limit (over $15,000 in Florida's Tri-County), the court will require that business entities be represented by legal counsel and failure to do so will mean losing the case.