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LEGAL

Make a Lawyer your “Counsel” before you

get sued.

By J. Eric Gregory, Attorney, Gregory Law Group, LLC, eric.gregory@thegregorylawgroup.com

I have been speaking for almost a year at problem has already occurred. At that advisement relating to your specific
continuing education seminar's around point, it is just a question of how much you dealership's goals. A dealership that has
the state of Georgia for used car dealers. will have to pay in court costs, attorney's legal counsel who understands your
One of the points I continue to stress to particular dealership should increase your
dealers is that there are two professionals Dealers face an ever-growing dealerships likelihood of opportunities
every dealership needs; an accountant and need for specialized help in for growth and development. Your
a lawyer. Most successful dealers would dealership lawyer must understand how
add that dealerships need specialized managing their dealerships to best support the long-term vision of
automotive accountants and automotive and mitigating risk. Dealers your dealership. With that said instead of
lawyers. It is clear that you need an must adhere to countless referring to a lawyer, hereafter you should
accountant to set up your books, review think of the person as your counsel.
your numbers and prepare your tax laws, regulations, statutes and
returns. For any dealer that has tried to do government agency guidelines Second, make sure counsel understands
this with a non-automotive accountant, the and to do this effectively, the car business and can help you navigate
interactions likely resulted in considerable the many pitfalls that dealers fall into
frustration for both parties because our they need help. every day. To be effective, your counsel
businesses are different! I was with a very must have the industry experience and
successful used car dealership group last fees, settlements and other expenses to try, knowledge to handle your core car dealer
week, and during conversations with the to resolve the problem. Most lawyers don't issues. Additionally, your counsel should
management team, the dealer complained want to admit it, but the legal fee's lawyers be able to spot the legal problems for you
that with most lawyers the dealers spend charge to keep clients out of trouble is so that you are not reacting to problems
half their time explaining how the car considerably less than the fees lawyers after the fact but instead avoiding the
business works. A lack of business acumen charge to get you out of trouble once your issues, to begin with. This is much
or industry knowledge is a common issue, dealership has been sued. harder if they don't understand the car
and it often creates more significant legal business. By definition, general lawyers
bills and inadequate representation. A One of the problems with hiring a single don't understand the nuanced details
lawyer that has first-hand experience and lawyer now days is that the legal field is very and relationships of any specific industry.
understands dealerships will provide vital specialized and very complex. More often Counsel that has dealership experience
assistance in almost every aspect of your than not you will need different lawyers for can help you mitigate your risks and find
dealership and is a necessary part of being a different issues such as lawsuits, contracts, solutions that traditional lawyers without
car dealer in 2018. real estate, intellectual property, criminal dealership experience would not be able to.
complaints, bankruptcy, employee issues,
Dealers face an ever-growing need and the list goes on. Big dealership groups Third, find a lawyer that has contacts
for specialized help in managing their have increasingly turned to in-house with other specialized lawyers that he/she
dealerships and mitigating risk. Dealers counsel that aids the dealerships navigate can help you work with when specialists
must adhere to countless laws, regulations, the legal environment and outsource are necessary. No matter what size your
statutes and government agency guidelines specialized issues. Unfortunately, most dealership is and regardless of your specific
and to do this effectively, they need help. dealers cannot afford the six-figure yearly legal needs, it will be necessary at times to
If a dealer were to take the time to invest cost of in-house counsel, and equally have your counsel deal with other lawyers
in compliance, contracts, employee issues, important most in-house counsel has a on specific specialized matters. Your
litigation avoidance, litigation defense, limited understanding of the automotive counsel should help select the best, cost-
reputation management and the countless business. Here are few tips to find a effective specialists and serve as your wing-
other legal areas, most of their time would counselor, not just a lawyer. person on those cases, to make sure that
be used managing these facets of their First, find an attorney that understands your dealership is not over-billed and that
business. Most dealers put off hiring a you and your desires for your dealership the matters are handled appropriately.
lawyer until they are sued and this is a so that they can help guide you based
BIG mistake. The time to hire a lawyer is on your unique needs. A good lawyer is Forth, find a lawyer that you like, trust and
before you are sued. By the time you get your "counsel" as they should work with don't mind working with as they should
served with a complaint, it's too late as the you and your dealership with expeditious Continued on page 58
40 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer MARCH 2018