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DLC represents businesses at every stage, from formation of the
business (e.g., incorporation or partnership agreements) to dissolution and sale
of the business. While we are perhaps best known for our perfect record of
winning trials (our attorneys have never lost a trial, whether representing the
plaintiff or defense or whether the case was tried before a judge or a jury), we
believe that the best advice we provide to businesses concerns steps a business
can and should take to avoid the expense and interruptions of litigation.
Entrepreneurs, officers, and shareholders should focus on
production and profits instead of preoccupying themselves with lawsuits and
courtrooms. Obtaining advice on how to avoid lawsuits is perhaps the most
important yet neglected aspect of the legal health of a business. It is a
proverbial understatement that "a few thousand dollars of preventative
legal advice can save a business hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not
millions, in legal fees and litigation costs." Businesses that play
"legal roulette" by contacting an attorney for the first time only
after they have been sued or need to sue pay a very high price (in attorney
fees, court costs, and lost business opportunities). Even those businesses
that honestly cannot avoid litigation can substantially reduce their litigation
costs and increase their likelihood of succeeding at trial by obtaining legal
advice long before the need for litigation arises.
We provide an array of legal services for businesses. We
draft, review, and negotiate contracts essential to the formation and operation
of a business. We mediate disputes between businesses so that they can
avoid litigation, and we represent parties in presenting their disputes to an
independent mediator. We file lawsuits on behalf of businesses that have
been harmed by others, and we defend businesses against lawsuits that have been
unjustifiably brought against them. Our history of representing both
plaintiffs and defendants gives us a broad perspective that allows us to best
represent individual businesses. While most law firms represent only one
"side" (plaintiff or defense), we take our cases not based upon which
side rushes to the courthouse first, but upon the merits and facts of each case.
We believe that a reasonable and professional approach is the
best initial approach, but we recognize that litigation sometimes requires an
aggressive and vigorous style when dealing with unreasonable or unscrupulous
adversaries. We never underestimate our opponents, and we assume that
every case is going to trial (even though few actually do). Although a
case can settle at any stage of litigation (before, during, or even after
trial), attorneys cannot predict when (or even if) settlement will occur, and so
the successful trial attorney must fully and continuously prepare for trial
until that moment when the settlement is fully finalized and actually signed.
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