Richard Scott Carlyon, Esq, has been practicing law for 20 years in general business, real estate, litigation, and estate planning. He advises entrepreneurs and small to mid-sized businesses, particularly family-owned businesses, to help them either structure their business properly from the start or if they’re already up and running, get them on the right track. This means setting up the proper type of entity for the business, providing succession and asset protection planning. He also works to make sure they have good banking, investment, insurance and accounting support, and then acts as their “part-time” in-house counsel. Scott has found that many people starting out in business (as well as many small to mid-sized business owners) are poorly advised on the value of lawyers and the cost of consulting with one. This often winds up as the saying goes, ”pay me now or pay me later.” He states that its less expensive, and certainly less stressful, to set things up right from the start, and to have ready access to an attorney to review business strategies, contracts, etc. in advance, than it is to wait until the business has a problem, or is sued, to go looking for an attorney. Before he practiced law, he ran a holding company that owned a bank, a mortgage lender, and a real estate brokerage company. At that company, he had 120 employees and an executive staff of 12. He had at least six lawyers on retainer at all times, so he knows what its like to be sitting in the client’s chair in an attorney’s office and having a deposition taken, etc. Scott wants you to know that its less expensive, easier, and less stressful to consult with a lawyer before you jump into a business deal than it is to go to one when the deal has fallen apart.