How to Find the Right Attorney for Your Independent Restaurant

Your restaurant has just received a demand letter from an attorney claiming that your restaurant has violated state wage and hour or you've received notice that, due to an allegation of serving alcohol to underage patrons, your restaurant is about to lose its liquor license.

What do you do? That is, after you stop swearing under your breath?

Hopefully, the answer is that you pick up the phone and call your trusted advisor, the attorney with whom you've established a relationship and who knows you and your business. Alternatively, you scramble to find an attorney to help during the heat of the crisis and without the time to determine if that lawyer is the best choice for your restaurant and the issue at hand.

There is a perception in the hospitality industry that attorneys are fungible (i.e., one lawyer is just the same as the next) or that a law degree confers on an attorney a basic knowledge of every area of the law. Neither is true.

Unfortunately, there are also attorneys who believe they can effectively advise clients on matters ranging from trademark registration to employment matters and everything in between.

But just as restaurant owners conduct sufficient due diligence to determine their banker or accountant, they should also do due diligence on the law firm or lawyer they retain to advise them whether on a single matter or on ongoing matters.

This article provides a due diligence checklist for owners to consider when deciding who their lawyer should be.

Expertise is Critical

There are very few lawyers who are generalists who can competently handle work across multiple areas of the law. And there are fewer still who are experts across multiple industries and legal disciplines.

Think of it in these terms. It would be unlikely that you would call upon a plumber rather than a roofer when your roof leaks. The obvious reason for that is that, while both professions are experts in leaks, the type of leaks in which they are experts is significantly different.

The same is true of lawyers. When considering hiring a lawyer for a one-off matter or for an ongoing relationship, you should investigate the industries and the area of the law in which they are experts.