What Is a Financial Attorney?

What do you know about financial law as it pertains to your specific business? This branch of law regulates such industries as investments, insurance and capital marketing. Further, financial law also deals with project finance, private equity finance and real estate finance. Does your company deals with any of these areas or something similar? Consider working with a financial attorney to help with financial matters and uncover business opportunities.

What Tasks Do Financial Attorneys Commonly Perform?

Besides standard banking matters such as mortgages, bank disputes and loans, financial legal professionals handle several additional tasks. For instance, financial attorneys help clients navigate bankruptcy. Business owners going through insolvency must understand their rights and know how to protect their company’s assets and their personal assets.

Some legal advocates specialize in collections and debt. They help clients comprehend legal debt collection practices for a specific state according to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Financial attorneys also help indebted clients draft a settlement for all their outstanding debts.

Don’t wait until tax season rolls around. Work with a financial legal representative throughout the year to determine how the latest tax laws and regulations impact your business and overall tax bill. Another task these legal advocates commonly perform is helping entrepreneurs understand their annuity contracts and commercial insurance policies.

Perhaps you want to leave your business to an heir or beneficiary. If so, a financial lawyer can assist you with learning your state’s estate laws and making sure you handle all estate planning tasks properly and legally. They’ll ensure the validity and a smooth transfer of ownership.

Financial attorneys also know securities law. This insight proves helpful if you want to sell, buy or create securities interests; you must adhere to the most current state and federal regulations and laws.

What Sets Financial Attorneys Apart From Other Attorneys?

With legal matters, you must find the right professional familiar with whichever area of law you need help with. After all, when you need an HVAC technician for your house, you do not look up auto HVAC specialists. Financial legal representatives don’t just take the LSAT and attend an accredited law school. They also later complete specialized courses in bankruptcy, business taxation, corporate finance and securities. Depending on the depth of legal assistance and expertise your business requires, you may prefer working with a lawyer with a voluntary American Board of Certification designation, such as bankruptcy.

Before contacting a financial attorney, identify which legal issues you need help with. That way, you can further narrow the legal defendant you need.

What Legal Situations Can a Financial Attorney Keep You and Your Business Out Of?

Bankruptcy

Even if you do not have an immediate need for legal counsel, should you consider having a financial lawyer regularly check your business’s financial health? Occasionally bringing in your legal advocate can help avoid several unfortunate scenarios.

For instance, financial attorneys can not only help after you file for bankruptcy, but they can also help you avoid bankruptcy altogether. Your legal representative and your accountant can work together to help keep your organization on financial track. That way, you have a better idea of when a potential bankruptcy may loom on the horizon for your company. This allows you to take action to avoid or minimize the fallout.

Exploitation

These legal advocates also help you sidestep potential exploitation during finance-related cases. Depending on the situation, a judge may force you to pay damages to the other party for a crime that you did not commit. When you are the plaintiff rather than the defendant in a legal case, working closely with a financial attorney better allows you to receive full and fair compensation.

Penalties

You may already know how many penalties a company may rack up by dropping the ball on bank accounts, tax identification numbers, contracts and credit card numbers. With the right professional help in your corner, you do not have to worry as much about accruing unnecessary penalties, fines and fees. No matter the size of your business, nor how long you have been in business, you never know when you may accidentally slip up and open yourself up to monetary punishment.

Contracts

Before entering an agreement with another business owner, entrepreneur or vendor, have a legal advocate look over the contract. You do not want to risk signing an illegal agreement. You also do not want to enter a contract with a difficult business partner. A legal representative can help you perform due diligence so that you know what kind of people and companies you desire to work with.

Copyrights and Trademarks

What do you know about copyright laws in your state and for your industry? A lack of knowledge could leave you vulnerable to an intellectual property theft case if you do not properly or quickly register your services or products. A financial legal practitioner can assist with registering so you have the proper copyright protection and federal trademark. Even if something should go wrong later, your representative can handle the legal battle for you while you focus on running your company.

Do You Need to Work With an Attorney When You Have a Commercial Accountant?

You already have a commercial accountant, so do you even need a financial lawyer, too? Accountants can handle many of the financial aspects of operating a business. However, they do not possess training in legal analysis or laws.

For instance, your accountant can aid you in filing paperwork to leave an LLC. But, she or he may not submit all the necessary documents. You must decide what liabilities and assets remain with the business and which remain with you when you depart. As the departing member, you want to properly take your name off security interests and liabilities. You must also fully disassociate your name from anything like outstanding tax obligations. Miss any of these steps, and you may have trouble in the years ahead with securing personal financing if an unpaid company credit card that still bears your name goes to collections.

Work With an Experienced Local Lawyer

Could your company use help from a financial attorney? Submit a request online or call us today at (866) 345-6784 to get in touch with an experienced lawyer in your area!