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To stay out of court, prevention is the best medicine!
By Lauren | June 26, 2009
This week, I’m kicking off a new Friday series of tips and suggestions that businesses can use to keep themselves out of lawsuits. It’s no secret that U.S. courts are jammed to the rafters with litigants these days. And the costs to all of us are staggering. Companies don’t just eat their legal expenses; they tack them onto the price of whatever goods or services they offer. Consequently, experts estimate that the average American family of four spends anywhere from $4000 - $10,000 each year to cover companies’ costs of going to court.
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a horrible waste.
Trouble is, by the time a lawsuit actually gets to court, much of the financial damage has already been done. Lawyers charge hundreds of dollars an hour and spend hundreds of hours preparing each case. That means that, by the time the judge’s gavel falls for the first time, tens of thousands of dollars have often already been spent. Even if a case settles “on the courthouse steps,” one or both of the parties to the suit will often have invested an appalling amount of money in winning. And that’s just the financial cost - litigation is time-consuming, distracting, and incredibly stressful for almost everyone concerned. Defending a single lawsuit can destroy a small business … and that’s true even if the small business ultimately prevails in court.
So, here’s my first tip: manage your business so that you never get sued in the first place. Yes, it takes time, thought and sometimes a little money to design and implement suit-reducing business practices. In the long run, though, they’re more than worth the investment. I’ll start teaching you the specifics next week. See you then!
Topics: Business Ethics, business communications, customer relations, ethics |