With the start of a new year, it’s a great time to take a step back and evaluate your business, especially from a legal perspective. Is everything up to date? Are you protected from lawsuits and other litigation? The best way to find out the answers to these questions and more is to perform a legal audit.
These audits don’t have to be formal or pressure packed, but they do help you ensure that you’ve addressed all of the risks that may exist in your business (and potentially uncover things you hadn’t previously thought of). The best part is that a legal audit doesn’t have to interfere with your day-to-day operations or distract the rest of your team from getting their jobs done. A good business lawyer (like the ones at Trembly Law Firm) can help you organize and perform your audit so that everything runs smoothly.
Below is a list of items that can be addressed in a legal audit. Keep in mind that some items may not apply to your business, and that’s okay. What’s important is that you remove yourself from your ownership position, put on your “advisor” hat, and look at your business objectively in these areas:
- Your business entity – You may have formed as an LLC, but maybe your current circumstances warrant a restructuring to a C or S corp. You can use this opportunity to explore your potential options.
- Intellectual property protection – Any big ideas you created over the last year that need to be protected? Now is a great time to get that IP protected!
- Human resources practices – Are your employee handbooks up to date? Are your hiring and firing practices efficient and conducted legally?
- Product liability – Are your products safe for your consumers and do they carry proper warning labels?
- Sales and collection practices – Are you legally collecting and reporting taxes on goods sold? Are you also properly logging invoices and reporting collections?
These are just a few key components of a legal audit, but there are certainly other items you’ll need to consider. At the Trembly Law Firm, we’re happy to help you conduct a legal audit of your business, and we’ll even help you plug up the holes where your business might be exposed to potential litigation.
Give us a call today at (305) 985-4571 and let us get to work for you.
Trembly Law Firm
9700 South Dixie Hwy Penthouse 1100
Miami, Florida 33156
(305) 431-5678
