Why Do You Need An Attorney When Selling A Business?

One of the questions we’re frequently asked is why does someone who is selling their business, why do they need an attorney? The answer I would ask is why would they not have an attorney? The reality is when you’re selling a business, you hope to, basically, get a large sum of money.

That may be part of your nest egg, may be part of your retirement. Without having an attorney, there’s a greater chance that something could go wrong. Even if you think everything went right, there’s a good chance if you don’t have an attorney that you could be sued later on for having made representations, for having made market, for having made statements that were not true, and that, in fact, could come back at you, like a bad meal.

You don’t want that to come up on you after you’ve closed. So the reason you have an attorney is to make sure that the deal is done in such a way that you do get paid, that you’re not going to have any problems, and that later on, after you’ve sold the business, that you can rest easy and have the peace of mind that the sale is over. It’s something that was a part or your life, and now is not a part of your life.

Sometimes you have obligations to stay around for a period of time, and so your lawyers are going to help you negotiate how long that’s going to be. Are you going to receive compensation during that period of time? Sometimes there are holdbacks. Sometimes there are escrows. Sometimes there’s money that’s put in a pot and you have to wait a period of time before you get all that money. The attorneys are going to be skilled individuals who’ve been involved in this process for years, like we’ve been involved with this for over 20 years.

We’re very familiar with all these different kinds of issues and problems that typically arise when you are selling a business. Should you have any questions, please call us. Oppenheim Law 954-384-6114.