Entrepreneurs face a lot of challenges in their careers, putting aside the probability of getting sued. If the latter situation does occur, the situation instantly becomes ten times more complicated. The press always look for information that could stir interest among people, and being an entrepreneur is tricky from this standpoint. Customers will tend to believe what the press says, as long as you don’t justify yourself using solid arguments. A business owner’s reputation determines how successful his company is.
When controversy starts to gravitate around an entrepreneur’s name, things will slowly go down. This is the reason why businessmen take care of their reputation carefully, hiring lawyers, HR professionals, and PR agents to keep their image clean. But what happens when an unfortunate event occurs and nothing can erase the information that is released to the public? Well, lawyers can clear the confusion around your name by answering questions professionally.
Bringing arguments on your behalf is the only way to stand for yourself and let people know what is the truth behind a situation and what your opinions are regarding it. Customers do hate legal messes and they try to stay as far away as possible for companies – and, implicitly – entrepreneurs who are stuck in such a position. Here’s what you should know:
The most common reasons behind lawsuits for entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs can be wrongfully accused of different acts simply because someone wants them to end up bankrupt. This often happens in the case of very popular business owners who are successful. These cases are common, but they don’t represent the only possible situation. If entrepreneurs are guilty as charged, protecting their reputation is much more difficult.
For the first case, entrepreneurs just need to hire a good lawyer to support them while also answering all questions with compelling arguments. In the second case, entrepreneurs must respond to the allegations professionally and without excusing, solving the situation as decided by law. Thus, they maintain a good image in the business industry and encourage customers to quickly forget about their doings. The list of potential reasons why entrepreneurs get sued is much more numerous than this, but here are the most common ones:
• Defamation
• Not respecting business policies
• Expressing something offensive in a media interview
• Angered former employees in any form
• Personal injury claims
• Wrongly-performed actions on behalf of the business etc.
Moreover, it is paramount to understand what industries host businesses that are prone to get sued. Because of the specifics of some jobs, employees are more likely to sue their employees. This is why the demand for legal services in these industries is much more accentuated than in others. For entrepreneurs who work in one of the fields listed below, getting informed about lawsuits and how to protect their reputation during these cases is even more important:
• Constructions
• Medical (health)
• Logistics
• Agriculture
• Manufacturing
• Wholesale trade
• Waste services
• Social assistance
• Transport and warehousing
• Mining
Evaluating the damage and setting clear expectations
If entrepreneurs are charged for serious acts, it would be completely unrealistic to believe that their reputation will remain intact. There are cases when the damage that occurs is undoable, but it can be handled in a more or less professional manner. It is highly important to understand that the goals set by entrepreneurs who face lawsuits must be attainable and realistic. Expectation setting is always a lengthy process that requires professional advice from people who know the law, but also from people who work in the same industry and could tell how much of an impact the lawsuit will have on the profitability of the company.
This is the reason why hiring a lawyer can be very expensive, but it is mandatory. Luckily, entrepreneurs who were not prepared for a trial that could influence their entire reputation can learn more about the regulations behind no win no foal injury claims, which means they don’t have to pay for the services of the law agent unless the case proves to be in their favor.
If the company’s community is going to perceive the entrepreneur as a wrongdoer that doesn’t deserve to be successful any longer, the sales are most likely going to drop. This is the case scenario for situations where entrepreneurs are not represented the way they should in court and who are not advised about what they should say when discussing to the press. After evaluating the damage properly and setting some goals, all legal, administrative and PR tools must be directed to rebooting the personal brand of the entrepreneur.
Getting the best lawyers
The perception of the public regarding this honorable profession that not everyone is prepared to follow gravitates around the knowledge of a lawyer. Lawyers are undoubtedly people with personal flair and charm, so they can easily convince an audience to believe what they consider it’s right. The attention that a lawyer gives to details is much higher than the one that many other people give, including entrepreneurs, but the fact that lawyers can use the perfect words in an almost perfect order does not only confer a proof of intelligence, but it could also change the way people are being perceived by others in the long run.
There were not a few times when people said that lawyers are a person’s second voice. It is the clearer voice of the one who faces the law in a more or less unfortunate situation. In front of the law, people are all equal, but in front of a judge, some are more equal than others, depending on how they build their defense, figuratively speaking. This is also the case of entrepreneurs who defend their reputation and their career’s future. Justice undoubtedly belongs to the one who has it, but the favorable situation belongs to the one who knew how to prove it.
