Practical Legal Tips

Don't Wait To Get Legal Advice: You Limit Your Options Or Lose Important Legal Rights

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Several legal issues have crossed my desk the last month with the familiar refrain: I listened to my company's advice on exercising stock options and now I have a six figure tax liability. The bank demanded that I sign a forbearance agreement and I did so without legal advice. What now?

I have worked on several matters the last month where clients came to me to request legal advice after signing a document or taking a course of action that cannot easily be reversed. If you have to work out a loan with the bank and they demand that you sign a forbearance agreement, you are waiving important rights you might have had against the bank if you sign it without any legal advice. Similarly, when you have an office lease that no longer makes sense, you should not wait until you get the default notice to seek counsel for advice. I say this yet companies large and small constantly wait until the absolute last minute to engage legal counsel.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to address these issues immediately when you have the most options. My experience shows that the longer you wait to address an issue or sign a document without legal advice, the more likely it is that you have relinquished important legal rights and restricted the options available to you to address the issue in a way that best benefits you.

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