How to Maintain a Good Relationship with Your Attorney
1. Stay in touch with your attorney regularly and keep the attorney updated on any significant developments in your career.
2. If a problem develops in your relationship with the attorney, discuss the problem right away in a non-critical and non-confrontational manner. It’s very possible that the attorney is not even aware of the problem.
3. Make sure you understand what your financial obligations are, and then pay your legal bills in a timely manner. The attorney will value you more as a client and consider you a more reliable person if you stay on top of your legal bills. The attorney is also more likely to stick his or her neck out for you with other people if you have shown you are reliable.
4. If you have a legal matter which requires urgent attention, make sure the attorney understand that. By the same token, don’t make every legal matter an emergency.
5. Don’t take more of the attorney’s time than necessary. It will save you money and will also show the attorney that you’re doing what you can to try to avoid unnecessary legal expense.
Starting out with the wrong attorney may cost you valuable time and unproductive legal expense. On top of that, the wrong attorney can unnecessarily damage your music business relationships. So, when choosing an attorney, it’s well worth taking the time to find an attorney who is truly right for you. Having the right attorney will not only increase the odds of your success, but will make your business life easier and more enjoyable.
miniBIO: Bart Day is a veteran entertainment attorney with a national music, television, and film clientele. He is also the co-author of a chapter about record companies in The Musician’s Business and Legal Guide (Beverly Hills Bar Association/Prentice-Hall). He is a partner at Day & Koch LLP in Portland, OR, and can be reached at bart@dayandkoch.com. This article is from the upcoming new edition of the book Music Is Your Business: The Musician's FourFront Strategy for Success which will be available online at amazon.com.
