Business Litigation Attorney George Benaur explains why you should always have a lawyer on your side to represent you in any business dispute or claim.

Why Do You Need Your Own Attorney in a Business Dispute

Michael Levitis  00:00

George, let me ask you, if somebody owes you money in some kind of a contractual or any kind of business or personal dispute? Do you think it’s wise to have an attorney represent you in trying to settle or trying to litigate this kind of a case?

George Benaur  00:21

You know, I even wrote an article on these so-called, you know, handshake deals and written contracts. You know, people, especially business people often think like, oh, you know, it’s an old school way, we’re gonna shake hands, everything will be great. We’re going to work that out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out. And especially in America, where it’s a fairly litigious world, people, you know, position themselves through litigation often. Especially if it’s a bigger case, that’s not always advisable, because you’re leaving yourself with a lot of issues unresolved, you know, if you if you, you know, owed money, first of all, there’s a statute of limitations for collecting the money.

Michael Levitis  01:07

Right. That’s how much time you have to file a claim.

George Benaur  01:11

That’s right. That’s right. And

Michael Levitis  01:12

How many years?

George Benaur  01:13

Six years? Right. So, um, it depends a lot on what the circumstances are, how much money is it for, you know, is it for like, a few thousand? Or is it like for several hundred thousand? Right, um, and there are a lot of moving pieces. But generally speaking, I’m believer that when you can, you should do a good agreement, so that it’s documented, you have it in your file, right, signed, and it’s enforceable.

Michael Levitis  01:39

And I also want to add to that, sometimes, if you don’t have an attorney, you don’t know what other compensation is available to you. Or you may be leaving money on the table. That’s why I think it’s important to what an attorney who can evaluate your case, in see maybe there are some punitive damages, because you could bring in another party that could also pay some damages. 

George Benaur  02:01

Yeah, absolutely. 

Michael Levitis  02:02

Am I right?

George Benaur  02:03

Absolutely. Look, you know, if you have a good dialogue with your attorney, and you’re upfront about what the facts of your case are, what the potential risks are, and what are you looking for? Is it just a straight debt where you just owed X amount of money? Or are you alleging certain damages? You know, are you trying to formulate damages? I’ve certainly had experience, Michael, where the client thought that their damages were significantly lower than we wound up. Calculating that

Michael Levitis  02:35

they go yep. You know,

George Benaur  02:36

and the most drastic example that is for a big defense company where it was like, a difference of $10 million,

Michael Levitis  02:43

right. That’s what’s important. Contact an Attorney.

George Benaur  02:46

Yeah, yeah. So absolutely.

Michael Levitis  02:49

Okay, George, thank you very much. Thank you.