Legal assistance (not to be confused with legal protection) is quite simply the possibility of being accompanied by a legal expert (lawyer, attorney or notary) in order to obtain personalized answers to your questions. Thanks to legal assistance you are guaranteed to find a legal solution to every legal problem.
On the other hand, to obtain the assistance of a legal professional in the event of litigation and to be sure that the costs of the proceedings (summons or bailiff fees, attorney’s fees, court fees etc.) are covered, it is advisable to take out legal protection insurance.
Are you a company creator or manager of a VSE / SME? Then you probably already understand why this type of assistance is so important.
WHY DO ENTREPRENEURS NEED LEGAL ASSISTANCE?
Why use legal assistance?
Unlike large groups or mid-sized companies, entrepreneurs cannot afford to maintain a legal department within their company. Nor, in many cases, can they afford the year-round advice and protection of a specialized lawyer.
However, business life is becoming more and more litigious, not only in relation to the increasingly complex rules set by the tax authorities, but also in relations with your co-contractors (customers, suppliers, partners…). In the same way, your employees can generate litigations whose outcome can be dramatic for the company’s finances.
In the absence of an internal legal department or the costly assistance of a lawyer, it may therefore be appropriate to opt for an intermediate and more economical solution: legal assistance.
Legal assistance: a real time-saver for the entrepreneur
If you don’t have a legal department or lawyer to advise you, you will probably turn to the Internet to find answers to your legal problems. But this solution has some drawbacks:
waste of time and energy;
risk of misinterpretation of legal texts;
Non-personalized advice and legal solutions that are not adapted to your situation.
Indeed, being your own legal assistant requires time and energy: precious resources that cannot be wasted by an entrepreneur who has to focus on his business.
You need to be comfortable with the legal jargon and the way of thinking about legal texts.
The legal information you consult must be relevant and up to date: a misinterpreted passage or false information could have serious financial consequences such as a reclassification of a dismissal for misconduct as a dismissal without real and serious cause, a tax adjustment, etc…
But you can’t ignore these questions either and hope that the answer will appear on its own. These problems can poison the life of your company or even your personal life and end up causing you to have fits of stress and bad night.
What are the most common legal questions entrepreneurs have?
However, sooner or later legal questions will arise:
I’m in a special situation: Is the legal status I’m considering for setting up my company really the right one for me?
I want to protect my trademark or the name of my company, but another trademark has similarities with mine. What can I do?
My company is expanding abroad: what are the rules I need to follow?
I want to recruit an employee: what procedure? Which employment contract should I choose? Fixed-term contract, permanent contract, pro contract, apprenticeship contract…
I would like to part with an employee: what type of redundancy should I consider? Is it necessary to respect a notice period? How do I calculate vacation pay?
I would like to enter into an agreement with a partner: should a partnership contract be considered? What are the essential clauses?
HOW DOES LEGAL ASSISTANCE WORK?
Legal assistance exists in different forms, but the principle remains the same: you subscribe to a service offered by a company that provides this type of service. You thus have the contact information (email, telephone, online interface, etc.) that allows you to contact an expert and ask your questions.
Please note that these are personalized answers: your contact person will not just send you the text of the law corresponding to your situation.
If he or she is a lawyer, he or she will explain how and to what extent the law applies to your context.
If he is a lawyer, he will be able to advise you directly and guide you in your choices.
And this type of assistance presents several significant interests for an entrepreneur.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF SUBSCRIBING TO LEGAL ASSISTANCE?
The cost is much lower than a legal consultation with a lawyer. It may one day happen that certain complex situations require the involvement of a lawyer, but at least, if this is the case, an impartial expert will have confirmed to you that you have no other solution.
You receive answers quickly: this type of service works through panels of experts and networks of lawyers. Once contacted, it is easier for the organization behind this service to provide you with a quick response.
If you have a question that’s bothering you in the middle of the night, you can send an email and go back to sleep knowing that your question is on its way and an answer will arrive during business hours.
Get tailored answers to your questions: When you start searching the internet, all you’ll get is a description of how the law applies to everyone.
With legal assistance, an expert can decipher this information for you.
WHICH COMPANIES OFFER LEGAL ASSISTANCE?
Some banks and insurance companies offer this type of service in addition to Legal Protection insurance (under certain conditions, the organization can intervene in case of litigation). But note that this type of assistance is often limited to advice concerning litigation.
