Services

RC Law Group is committed to meeting the full spectrum of business needs for your business. Below I will provide you with a list of some of the most common services we provide. Please understand that if your particular legal need is outside the examples listed below, that’s perfectly fine! I am happy to consult with you at no charge to you to discern the origin of your legal need. If I am unable to meet the need, I will do my absolute best to find a lawyer that can help you.

Human Resource Legalities

Another HR service RC Law Group offers is investigative services. Human Resources is a critical component of any business. While most small businesses do not have a full-time HR person (which is perfectly fine), someone must be in charge of employee files, hiring paperwork, tax information, health care, and benefits.

I wrote another article on the most common legal mistakes of businesses. By far, the biggest mistake businesses make is not having an employee handbook with an executed acknowledgment form signed by the employee. EVERY business should have an employee handbook for a variety of reasons with an acknowledgment form signed by each employee who works for the business. One of the biggest benefits of this combination is it makes firing employees much easier. No employee should be surprised by a termination. A well-written employee handbook with a signed acknowledgment form can assist you considerably in a litigated scenario.

Another major HR legal issue is the preservation of employee files in paper form. I wrote another piece on this. But knowing what you need to preserve in an employee file is critical to assist in litigation. While the answer is a bit nuanced, understand that every piece of paper you keep is another potential shield that could help save you if/when litigation ensues. Your defense lawyer will greatly appreciate your attention to detail. I have previously defended companies of all sizes as an insurance defense lawyer. Some had great employee file preservation, others left us obtaining all kinds of affidavits. Legally, an affidavit is sworn witness testimony. But it’s just that. Trust me when I say that judges and even juries are more persuaded by paper documents than they are by affidavits. Affidavits boil most disputes down to a “he said/she said” battle.

Another HR service RC Law Group is investigative services. I have been told my entire life I should consider being a detective because of my observation and memory skills (I have a photographic memory). As a professional, I use the gifts I’ve been blessed with to assist clients in need. If there is rumor of trouble, whether it be a sexual harassment type situation or otherwise, I am ready to investigate the issue discreetly. I wrote another piece on this about a law firm where I interned at in college. Succinctly, we showed up as a surprise and handled the problem accordingly. This surprise approach that “a lawyer is coming” does not allow any witness to “form” a story about what happened. This method, in my experience, is very effective.

Compliance Issues

Every industry is different. Most industries have some sort of overseeing governmental agency that the business must comply with or face severe penalties. These penalties are all over the map in severity. Some lesser penalties include monetary fines or compliance with additional regulations. Others include the forfeiture of a professional license.

The goal of RC Law Group is to learn and understand the nature and extent of the regulations for your industry, then assist you as a business owner with recommendations for compliance. These recommendations will include a site inspection to discern the status of compliance so we can jointly build a compliance plan that will produce proud, not improper, inspections from whatever governmental entity oversees your business.

Some industries require reporting at a specified time. For example, the medical marijuana industry is very heavily regulated and requires tedious reporting. If you are in this industry, RC Law Group can assist you with preparing these reports.

Your industry may require RC Law Group to conduct research as the regulations are not familiar to RC Law Group. Or, maybe you are not as familiar with new updates that are just released. This is a service we are happy to provide.

Avoiding Litigation

Sometimes, litigation is inevitable. If someone died, got severely hurt, or was sexually assaulted, then there is a very good chance that you are going to be sued. If you have a policy of liability insurance for your business, the insurance company will hire an insurance defense firm to represent you in the lawsuit. There is another article on this, but understand that the lawyer is hired by the insurance company to represent you for this matter.

I cannot say enough how critical it is to avoid litigation. I worked as a litigator for seven years. I have seen how litigation attorneys think. As a defense lawyer, I had a minimum billable hour requirement that I had to satisfy every month. I was also under the arrangement of a bonus system where I received substantial monetary bonuses if I billed hours above and beyond my requirement. In other words, I had substantial incentives to bill as much as I could. It not only was a requirement for me to keep my job, but it was the vehicle through which I could make substantially more money.

Another reason to avoid litigation is the fees the attorneys charge is usually pretty high. Most of these firms have fancy, expensive office space downtown with an army of staff at their disposal.  All of these fancy amenities are paid for by clients like you.

The goal of RC Law Group is to avoid litigation at all costs. I will investigate the problem and prepare a report to you to advise of your estimated exposure. I will contact the offended party to negotiate as hard and best I can to avoid a lawsuit. Assuming we settle, I will prepare a Release of all Claims to protect you. This is a legal document that says in exchange for a specified sum of money and/or act, the offended party agrees to never pursue the claim against you.

These are the three primary services RC Law Group offers. If you have HR legalities, compliance, or potential litigation exposure, please contact me so we can get started as soon as possible to resolve the issue.