This is not only the best piece of advice routinely given to clients, it’s also the simplest: as soon as you think you might need a lawyer, make the call.
For instance, recently a landlord client called with a potential tenant problem. Two tenants, paramours sharing an apartment, broke up and one moved out. The remaining tenant could not afford the property on his own for long and called the landlord us to work out a solution before he was in trouble. In turn, the Landlord called us for assistance. Reasonably working out a negotiated lease termination allowed the tenants to end their lease without an eviction and credit impairment, while allowing the landlord to get new tenants in the property. The key is everyone did exactly what they should have, and the outcome benefited all. The tenant talked to his landlord before the rent was late or missing and the landlord called his lawyer for advice, rather than making a similar call a few weeks later when an eviction was necessary.
Everybody wins.
This principle applies to business disputes as well. Unfortunately, most of the business breakups we see are long, dramatic, and expensive. But every now and then a business comes to us early, recognizing things are not working. It’s much easier to dissolve the business and wind things up before there is financial hardship and hurt feelings. Early intervention saves everyone time, money and lowers the stress in what can be a very stressful event.
If you have a real estate or business issue, not yet a problem – just a concern, give us a call and we can talk it through with you.
Bergmann Law LLC 