I think I need an attorney…

Here, at MANA headquarters, we get this phone call often. The calls are about business issues such as buying-selling a firm, or, more often, about rep-principal agreements. In this situation, you typically need an attorney at two points in time: 1) at the beginning of the relationship and agreement negotiation, and 2) at the end of the relationship when the contract is terminated.

Recall that in the beginning (and once the documents are signed), we all are in “agreement” with the terms and conditions and how each party will perform. Remember too that there is always certain risk, as there is in any new relationship. The legal concern of this new beginning is just one aspect of all of the risk factors. If your attorney says, “I have a doubt” about the agreement, don’t interpret that to mean, “Don’t sign it.” Attorneys are paid to have doubts! If your attorney, however, says, “Don’t sign it” — then don’t.

Contracts are really for contingencies and often times are not needed until either something changes or something goes wrong. Hopefully when you sign a new agreement or enter into a relationship with a new Principal, all goes well for years and years and you never need to take the agreement out of your (fire-proof) file cabinet. However, it is a good practice to do a quick annual review of all of your contracts to be certain that the terms and conditions are still applicable and up-to-date.

MANA has some great resources to assist you in all of the legal aspects of your business:

• A Manual for the Creation of a Rep-Principal Agreement — a MANA publication updated by a committee of reps and our own Jerry Leth.
• Phone consultation (15 minutes) with any MANA attorney — for free.
• Phone consultation with us, the MANA staff (three ex-reps and lots of stories!).
• MANAfest Conference, May 31 to June 3 — featuring a panel of MANA attorneys discussing the new agreement guidelines. The attorneys will also be available for one-on-one (private!), 30-minute consultations with you. (Hope to see you there!)

Reps are relationship experts and can usually tell if a new principal is going to be really good, good, just ok, or something less altogether. It’s important to spend time on the legal aspects of agreements and negotiations, but don’t forget to get out and sell.