Here are resources that can help you get economic legal advice for small businesses. Here are examples of legal issues where LegalCORPS attorneys can provide advice and/or support: These programs are often run by lawyers and other professionals in the community who are passionate about helping small businesses succeed. There are also non-profit organizations and organizations that provide free or reduced legal assistance and services to certain groups such as minorities, military personnel, veterans and persons with disabilities. For low-income small business owners (or those looking to start a business), LegalCORPS` volunteer lawyers can provide the in-depth legal advice essential to the success of the business and prevent costly problems that can ruin a business. The owners of these websites understand that legal assistance can be very expensive for small businesses, which is why they offer legal advice at little or no cost. In this case, it is better to pay for future advice and hire a lawyer than to try to handle complex legal issues yourself. For free legal assistance, most local lawyers offer free initial advice or give you low-cost legal advice. This first chat could potentially help you with: Legal communities allow you to search for useful legal information or bounce your legal question off their members in a “ask a lawyer” way. These companies work a bit like consulting a professional lawyer in the way they provide information that pops the surface to help you get started.
Get help here, which consists of licensed lawyers who answer questions based on their area of practice. Note that these resources are free to find superficial legal advice for small businesses on a variety of topics. For more in-depth legal services to businesses, you`ll need to pay a small subscription or membership fee. RocketLawyer, for example, helps entrepreneurs file legal forms to start their business. For example, Nolo.com offers a free online course on the basics of business-related laws for small businesses, which you can take at your own pace or learn more about by visiting their website. Some lawyers also offer free phone consultations on certain days of the month or throughout the year. This can help you get free legal advice for businesses, but you`ll likely be limited by how accurately you can handle your questions during your session. We feel very comfortable with the laws that govern our daily lives – don`t speed up, don`t steal, don`t attack anyone – they`re intuitive and we don`t think much about them. But business law is different. For one, most of us don`t grow up knowing how to put it into practice and stick to it. It`s also more complicated and less intuitive than the laws we deal with every day. That`s why it`s important to get legal advice for small businesses from a qualified person: a business lawyer.
Just like your local small business association, you usually need to be a member of the Chamber to access this type of service. However, some chambers offer free membership to entrepreneurs just starting out. You can find your local chamber of commerce by visiting the website of an organization like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or by contacting your nearest Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for assistance. In fact, you may face many legal challenges in the business world, including protecting your intellectual property (e.g., patents, trademarks, and copyrights), defending against lawsuits that could land you in court, and much more. FindLaw also offers a free online course on legal issues and resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs. This one is specifically designed to help new business owners start their businesses and includes information such as forming an LLC or business, the type of licenses and permits you need to run a business in your state, how to hire employees instead of contractors (and vice versa), and more. If you`re looking for legal advice for small businesses, here are the top 10 legal issues every small business owner faces. Most lawyers offer an initial low-cost or possibly free consultation that will help you: websites like Nolo.com and FindLaw.com publish information that the general public, including business owners, can use for free legal advice. For example, Nolo offers a “Small Business” section with articles covering various business law issues, including tax regulations and litigation. FindLaw has several articles dedicated to protecting your small business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it includes tips on employer liability.
If you want to learn more about a specific area of business or labor law, it`s helpful to go straight to the source. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for example, provides a wealth of information on workplace discrimination and state anti-discrimination laws. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service website provides free tax information to businesses of all sizes. Finally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration offers free advice on safety and health and provides information on compliance issues and occupational health and safety laws. It`s best to always consult a lawyer to give an overview of legal issues before committing to a course of action, but this guide can at least give you an idea of some important issues to look out for. Legal advice is not cheap and is often out of reach for most small businesses just starting out. However, saying you don`t have the money for a legal advisor and ignoring things is simply not an option.
The risks are far too great. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center is a comprehensive resource that can provide legal advice to small businesses on everything from filing taxes to the impact of the Affordable Care Act and tax reforms on your business.