The Scared Straight Feature is…..

“The Scared Straight Feature is”: 10 Common Mistakes that business owners make.
This came out of a lecture that I gave to my students at ASU (Arizona State University).
I called it "10 Common Mistakes," they called it “The Scared Straight.”
Why? Because these mistakes can be life altering events and they are mistakes that are made every day.
Here are some examples: “The documents look ok to me,” fallacy.
What that means is the client will read the document and say “the document looks ok to me.”
But the problem is not what has been revised in the document, but there’s a whole lot of stuff outside the document that should be in it.
Another thing is not using the Corporate Designation. You use it or you lose it.
Another common mistake is the Lease. People talk about the business and buying the business--they forget about the Lease.
The Lease is the tail that wags the business dog.
You may find you have a business that’s Not Saleable because of the Lease.
So these are common mistakes that can, easily, be avoided by talking to us about them.


The Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, PC - Business Law & Commercial Litigation
"The Business of Our Firm is Business"

602.265.7997 866.696.2033
www.AZBUSLAW.com

--We offer over 25 years experience in business, business law, commercial litigation, corporate representation and business formation, including contracts, international business and intellectual property.--

I Tell My Clients That the Legal Brick House…

I tell my clients that the “Legal Brick House” is important for this reason.
There are some organizational and formational documents that you need to do. You don’t necessarily need to do them all at once.
You can do them according to your growth curve, for example, establishing your Trademark on your brand.
If you don’t have the proper Intellectual Property Protection, you could literally have a million dollar brand that could be lost.
So when you Trademark, you not only give value to your company but you, also, protect it.
I liken the “Legal Brick-house” to the 3 Little Pigs story.
If you don’t have a “Legal Brick House”, the first wolf that comes around may blow your house down.
Often that wolf is inside your door.
For example, if you do not have a Key Employment Agreement, you may have a Key Employee walk-out the door with a million dollars of your business.
You can have a “Legal Brick House” on the hill for 10 or 15 thousand dollars and you can, literally, have a million-dollar Brand protected by those documents.
So, from a business-decision point of view—cost benefit analysis—it’s a "no-brainer".
Call us because the “Business of Our Firm Is Business.”
You’ll like us. Call Us.


The Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, PC
"The Business of Our Firm is Business"

602.265.7997 866.696.2033
www.AZBUSLAW.com

One Thing That I Ran Into....

One thing I ran into as a new business lawyer is that many of my clients had never used a lawyer before or even if they had didn’t know how to choose the lawyer that was right for them.
Well, what do we want in a lawyer.
Well, we want in a lawyer what we want in any other relationship—Trust, Confidence, Compatibility.
So, how do we find that?
Well first, how long have they been in this practice area….or as a lawyer?
Secondly, what is their strength?
What is their main focus?
Are they a family lawyer that’s trying to do business-on-the-side or is their main focus, really, business?
It’s important to talk about money.
Most of my clients, as business owners, need to know how much it’s going to cost to do the legal services.
So in our firm, we talk money early and often so there are no nasty surprises.
And finally, I would say, personality.
If the attorney is very formal and you are not—that may inhibit the communication.
So, I would say, choose a lawyer on personality as well.
And, I would like you to come in and talk with us to see if our personality matches with yours.


The Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, PC
"The Business of Our Firm is Business"

602.265.7997 866.696.2033
www.AZBUSLAW.com

What I Mean by Being a Lawyer.…

What I mean by "The Business of Our Firm is Business" is that we don't do anything else.
All of our clients are business owners and we don't practice any other areas of law.
I was a real person before I became a lawyer, and what I mean by that is I became a lawyer at, actually 39, went to law school at 36.
Before that time, I was on that side of the desk: I had my own business in my 20's, a chain of bars and real estate and in my 30's a chain of mall stores and also worked in office furniture manufacturing.
It's as I say "it's like raising a child, you really learn how to do it when you have a child"....I learned alot about business law by having a business.
One thing I thing you will like about our firm is that we speak plain English.
For example, I had client who was the head of a major semi-conductor company.
He could have hired any law firm in the United States; but he said "Don, I like your firm, because when I walk out the door I know what we've talked about"
And I think, part of that is my background, of mid-west experience. I like to take legal propositions and put them in everyday language and relate to YOUR everyday experience.
And I think that helps both of us understand what we're doing.


The Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, PC
"The Business of Our Firm is Business"

602.265.7997 866.696.2033
www.AZBUSLAW.com