What do you want!

Yes, I know, you want the winning lottery ticket for this weekend, your football team to win every tournament and trophy going, to be able to eat anything and everything and never put on a pound and an unlimited supply of alcohol.

Or is that just me????

However, even if you have a genie to grant wishes, your starting point still needs to be what is it that you want, and (perhaps more importantly) what are the consequences of getting it. Given the old adage of “be careful what you wish for”, would an unlimited supply of alcohol really be good for me?

Some of the junior members of my team, who are still undergoing formal training, have been preparing this week for their interview exam. It’s where they get tested on how good they are at speaking to clients, getting out the information they need and advising them on options and next steps.

Although it was nearly 30 years ago (gulp!) since I had to do the same exam, it was still where I picked up one of the most valuable pieces of advice ever. Your starting point should always be “What does the client want”. What are they looking to achieve?

I understand that this year’s exam focuses on helping a client set up a new venture, specifically a limited company. A good future solicitor will talk about shareholder agreements and director appointments. A GREAT future solicitor will also talk about the pros and cons of setting up a company and ask whether alternative options have been considered.  Simply because the client says they want to set up a company, doesn’t mean you should blindly do what they’ve asked, without asking more fundamental questions.  What’s more, with the increase we’ve seen in director disqualification proceedings (we’ve got three on the go at the moment) do clients really understand the risks that they take when setting up a company?

Many years ago, a (now former) colleague of mine got into trouble with our senior partner over a shareholders agreement. There was nothing wrong with the agreement that the former colleague had prepared, but it transpired that what the client really needed was a partnership agreement, because their partnership was already set up and trading. However, because they told her that they wanted a shareholders agreement (just a mistake in terminology), she simply went ahead and drafted one for them, and when challenged by our boss, her defence was, that she’d simply done what they’d asked, without questioning whether it was really right for them in their situation.

If you’re going to instruct a professional (solicitor, accountant, surveyor etc) to do something for you, be prepared to talk to them not just about what you are asking them to do, but what it is that you’re looking to achieve. If, for example, you’re looking to set up a company, but your long-term aim is to build it up so you can sell it off in a year or two for a profit, how your solicitor might approach it might be different from what they would do if they thought you were just going to run it indefinitely and wanted your kids to inherit it. Be ready to have a coffee (or glass of champagne!) and a chat with them to talk things through in detail.

So the best advice is to engage a professional who will ask you all of the right kinds of questions from the outset, and if that’s the kind of solicitor you want to engage, you know where to come!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full-service law firm. Giving you what you want.