Why Do You Need An Attorney When Buying A Business?

One of the questions we frequently get asked is, “When you’re looking to buy a business, why do you need an attorney, and what will that attorney do for you in the process of buying a business?” Well, the first thing that the attorney’s going to do is sit down with you, and discuss with you what the risks are associated with buying any kind of business.

But more importantly, once you identify that business, there’s a lot of due diligence that has to be done to make sure that what you’re buying is really what you think you’re buying. Whether it’s bringing in the financial accountants and the CPAs to validate the books and records and the tax returns of the business that you’re going to buy, as well as to negotiate a contract where the seller is going to be making certain representations and warranties to you about the things that they’re saying the business is capable of doing.

Learn Why You Need An Attorney When Buying A Business. When a client is targeting an acquisition, a key objective that our Firm aggressively pursues is to shed light into the business’s internal structure and operations, providing you with full transparency about the business. Learn More: Purchase and sale of business

In addition, we want to look at the employment agreements, if there are any. Any existing litigation. Any previous litigation. We want to look at vendor agreements, manufacturing agreements. Any other contracts that would be part of the due diligence process. And then of course, if you’re going to buy the business, are you paying cash for the business?

Are you financing the business through a bank or the Small Business Administration? Or is the seller going to provide private financing to you? So, these are all questions that need to be answered, and need to be addressed, and where you need an attorney who’s going to add remarkable value to the process of a buyer when they’re going to buy a business.

Roy Oppenheim, from the trenches.