Page 48 - GIADA Aug2017Digital

LEGAL RESOURCES

5 Ways to Avoid Litigation

BY ERIC GREGORY, ATTORNEY, GREGORY LAW LLC.

I enjoyed speaking to the almost 700 to lawsuits and thereby keep your expens- customers; think of all stakeholders that
dealers who attended the GIADA annual es low and keep more of the money that could have an issue with you including
conference. As I said in my presentation, you bring in from owning and operating employees, finance sources, other suppli-
I loved being a car dealer for my 23+ year your dealership. ers and even competitors. Make sure to
career and I also love being a lawyer who review or have your attorney review all
primarily helps dealers. Although both RULE 1: Be nice. NOT Passive but nice. agreements and contracts; make sure you
professions are often ridiculed and joked All the planning and compliance in the know what your responsibilities are and
about, for the better part of both we are world won’t substitute entirely for simply uphold them. For example, make sure your
in professions that are made up of good
meaning, hard working people who are
dedicated to serving our clients.

At the conference, I gave the dealers an
idea of the legal hurdles they face by way
of an example of the size of the Georgia
code and the fact that in 1933 the code
was made up of only 3 volumes and today
it’s made up of 45 volumes and growing.
That means that business owners just like
you must conform, comply or adhere to
an overwhelmingly large set of laws. With
that in mind dealers have a very important
business decision to make regarding the
legal aspect of their stores... Your decision
is will you invest up front to run YOUR
business the way YOU are required or
will YOU flip the coin and just hope YOU
don’t get caught, tarnish YOUR reputa-
tion, lose YOUR customers, get in trouble,
face criminal charges and get sued; all of
which are extremely costly. being nice. Even if you are not nice natu- employees know what is expected of them
rally think of the reasons that being nice is and what their obligations to the dealer-
In my presentation, I asked the dealers good for your dealership and your bottom ship are. Ask yourself if your employees
to think of compliance as staying out of line. A few examples of being nice that will are adhering to all rules when driving
trouble, as essentially that is the desire of keep you out of trouble are to address all company vehicles, safety policies, internet
a dealer who complies with the laws of the customer complaints early and take them usage, protection of customer information
land. WARREN BUFFET SAYS: “it’s much seriously and negotiate with customers etc. If not, YOU are responsible for them
easier to stay out of trouble now than to get even if you think you are right, because it and YOU are the one who is risking a lot
out of trouble later” (http://www.azquotes. often will help you limit expenses and be of money, your livelihood and potentially
com/quote/593753). We can learn from more profitable. Being right doesn’t stop your freedom. Have firm policies in place
Warren Buffet and be reminded that it is people from suing you and it can be far and all required information available to
a lot less expensive to stay out of trouble costlier than reaching an agreement early. employees.
by being proactive, complying with the
laws, etc. Defending your dealership and RULE 2: Set up your business properly.
yourself can be expensive; keeping your My firm has handled numerous cases this RULE 3: Non-disclosure is NOT a busi-
dealership out of trouble is one of the best year already that cost 10’s of thousands ness plan. I can’t tell you how many times
investments in expense control you can of dollars for the dealers just to unravel, a dealer has felt like the only defense they
make. not even defend and litigate, partners who needed was the “buyer’s guide” and/or the
were not on the same page based on their As-is statement. Indeed, this is one of the
So here are 5 ways to limit your exposure business arrangement. It’s also not just Continued on page 48

46 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer AUGUST 2017