Picture this: You own a small business. Everything is going well until one day, it doesn’t. A couple of months go by, and the dreaded event occurs: your company has been served with a lawsuit. Now the timer truly begins, and you have twenty days to answer the suit.

You call up a friend in your industry, and they recommend an attorney that they used in a similar situation. You call the attorney and set up a meeting for the following day. What do you need to bring to that first meeting in order to set your lawyer (and your company) up for success?

What Documents and Information Will Your Attorney Need?

For that initial meeting, your lawyer will want to know all the surrounding facts and circumstances that led to the suit. That means, in a contract dispute suit, for example, the facts and circumstances regarding the contract, the work performed, any communications regarding the work, and what led up to the alleged breach.

The original petition naming your business in the suit, a brief summary of your company and what you do, as well as the same for the company that is suing you, a timeline of events, the original contract, any communications (emails, text messages, letters) between the two contracting parties and any other relevant parties during the contract time period, invoices, pay stubs, and first hand accounts are useful tools for your lawyer to analyze all the facts.

It can be a daunting task to gather all this information together. If you are unsure if an item is relevant to the suit, but it relates to the matter, it is better to overshare than not turn that item over to your attorney. Your attorney will determine the item’s relevancy.

What Happens After Your Initial Consultation?         

Additionally, after that first consultation, the lawyer will run a conflict check against your company and the company suing you. This is to see if any conflicts arise out of representing you or being adverse to the other company.

Lawyers are governed by a code of ethics, and this is an essential task to make sure those ethics are being followed. Also, be prepared to sign an engagement letter with your attorney and, in some cases, pay a retainer fee.

Make sure to look over this engagement letter, note the attorney’s hourly rates, billing schedule, and any other items of note in the letter. Sign and return the engagement letter and, if needed, pay the retainer fee as soon as practicable.

How Can You Get the Most Out of Your Attorney Consultation?         

Ultimately, the takeaway is this: being sued is difficult and stressful, but your lawyer is there to make the process as painless and efficient as possible. In order to do that, you have to set them up for that success, and it all starts at the initial consult.

Be thorough with your facts surrounding the matter and turn over all documents: a contract, communications between the parties, invoices, pay stubs, and any other documents (your lawyer can determine the documents’ relevancy).

Additionally, your lawyer is your friend: be up front and honest with them, even if it paints you in a bad light. If you do those things, your lawyer will be prepared from the beginning to start the process on the right foot.