Like almost any business venture, legal advice is generally used when forming a joint venture marketing agreement. This is the wisest way to go to protect the company’s assets in the event the business venture is not successful. While a well-planned out venture generally has no reason that it should fail, it is always important to protect the company. On the rare occasion that two businesses are only going to interact for a very short period of time and there are not any high risks involved with the project, then legal council is probably not necessary. For the vast majority of joint business marketing ventures, however, it is wise to include legal advice.

Choosing an attorney

Selecting an attorney for the joint business marketing project can be a difficult process. The company that initially comes up with the plan will probably want legal advice to help them draw up the outline for the project. However, it is not a good idea to approach the other company under the assumption that the project only needs one attorney. The offer for the other company to have its own legal council should always be extended. This way the second company doesn’t need to fear they’re going to somehow be tricked. The second option would be for neither company to use their own company’s legal counsel, but instead hire outside, impartial legal advice. This way the cost of the attorney could be split without one party being unfairly represented. However, hiring an outside attorney will increase the cost of the project. If both companies already have their own attorney, then that is usually the best option to choose.
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