Outsource Lawsuits
Far beyond the increase in revenue and the number of employees, the growth of a business also brings a number of challenges for its managers. One of the biggest of these challenges concerns the construction of a more robust legal structure, capable of maintaining the company’s operations within the law and representing the organization in case of legal demands.
The outsourcing of lawsuits can be the most viable option for most small and medium businesses and also for large companies that do not have the habit of litigating in court. That’s why we have prepared this post with everything you need to know about the subject. Check it out in the sequence!
In what situation may my company need a lawyer?
Normally, companies seek law services with two specific purposes: consulting or judicial representation (acting in litigation). The consultancy is important from the beginning of the business and can help the manager to formalize correctly.
In addition, this type of consulting also helps to shape the company’s projects according to the limits of the Law, avoiding future problems. The legal consultancy can also point out the best way to be followed so that the company pays less taxes and is exposed to a lower labor risk, for example.
On the other hand, the performance in litigation does not have this preventive character and usually happens when the company causes an injury to the rights of a third party, who seeks Justice to obtain a remedy.
It can be, yet, that the company will have its own rights threatened by other companies, by the State or even by clients or suppliers. In such cases, of course, a lawyer is also needed to formulate an initial petition and file an action to safeguard the interests of the organization.
What is better: to hire a lawyer or to outsource?
Before anything else, it is important to stress that one attitude does not exclude the other. It is perfectly possible to have your own legal department and, even so, to bet on the outsourcing of the lawsuits and, in fact, this is what happens in the majority of the great companies.
However, we can affirm that, for the majority of the small and medium companies, the best is to outsource completely. Have you ever imagined to be without employees to attend the clients because you decided to keep a lawyer on the organization’s payroll?
What does a legal department do?
As we already mentioned, the corporate lawyer or the legal department of a company is responsible, in synthesis, for two primordial tasks: to manage judicial processes in which the company is part and to elaborate opinions for the direction and other organs of the company in an advisory character.
Even if the company hires an outsourced law firm, its legal department must continue to monitor the processes, in order to inspect and evaluate the quality of the service provided. The legal department also has the function of making a bridge between the office and the company’s board.
At the same time, this department also serves to remove legal doubts from other sectors within the organization. It may be, for example, that the company’s marketing director needs the lawyer present at meetings regarding a new product or project, since the legal feasibility also needs to be evaluated, making the legal department increasingly a strategic sector.
What does a hired law firm do?
The hired office, in turn, has a much more restricted set of tasks, which are usually provided by an express contract for fees and legal services.
In litigation, the most common is that a different contract is drawn up for each lawsuit delegated to the firm, although it is not uncommon to conclude contracts by batches of cases. The office’s function becomes to act on behalf of the company within that process, attending hearings, providing information to the judge, preparing petitions, appeals, etc..
In the consulting area, a law firm can function like any other type of consulting firm. A contract is signed in which the firm undertakes to get to know the company and prepare an opinion with everything that can improve the legal structure.
What are the advantages of hiring a law firm?
The outsourcing of legal or part of it can bring an immense range of advantages to the business. Perhaps the first great advantage is that the company can always count on an expert to guide its actions and represent its interests in court. Even if it has a legal sector, it is unlikely that the company will have a professional specialized in each area of law.
Another great advantage is the reduction of costs. As the company grows, the problems grow together. Have you ever thought of sending the company’s lawyers to every corner of the country to hold hearings and other procedural steps? By hiring a local lawyer, it is possible to cut travel expenses as well as daily expenses.
Finally, we must mention that judicial disputes are certainly not part of the corporate purpose of any business. Therefore, outsourcing lawsuits can help the company focus on what really matters: pleasing the client.
What are the necessary precautions when hiring a law firm?
It is necessary to take some care so that hiring a law firm does not become another problem for the company. Try to research a little about the history of the office and also about the suitability of the professionals who work in it.
Another important factor to try to estimate the quality of service provided is to evaluate the structure of the office. It is important that there is, for example, a physical structure capable of receiving the bailiffs and lawyers of the opposing party, if the possibility of a friendly solution arises.
Besides the physical structure, it is also interesting to observe what is not in front of the eyes. We are talking, of course, about the technology employed by the office in its day to day. We know that the provision of good legal services depends, currently, on the availability of appropriate technological tools.
When your lawyer has access to state-of-the-art technology, the outsourcing of lawsuits is simpler, the service is much faster and more efficient, which means that you won’t stay long minutes on the phone or an entire day waiting for an e-mail just to get simple information, such as the updated progress of the process.
