By: Jordan Gerheim, CEO – Outside Chief Legal LLC
What This Means for Your Business
If you get sued, the clock starts running immediately. A lawsuit can affect your cash flow, reputation, vendor relationships, team, and time, even before you fully understand what the claims are.
The biggest mistake is to wait, panic, or respond casually without a plan. A better approach is to slow down, preserve information, and get the right people involved quickly.
The First 5 Calls to Make
1. Call Your Lawyer
Make this your first call. You need someone who can read the complaint, check deadlines, look for defenses, and tell you what not to do next.
If you already work with Outside Chief Legal, this is where having ongoing counsel pays off. We can help you sort the lawsuit from the background noise and get focused quickly.
2. Call Your Insurance Broker or Carrier
Some claims may trigger general liability, professional liability, cyber, employment practices, or directors and officers (D&O) coverage. The sooner you notify the carrier, the better.
Do not assume the claim is not covered. Have the policy reviewed by someone who knows what to look for.
3. Call Your Co-Owners or Key Leaders
If the claim involves the business, your leadership team needs to know enough to act, but not so much that confusion spreads.
Decide who will speak for the company and keep that message consistent. Mixed messages can create more problems than the lawsuit itself.
4. Call Your CPA or Financial Advisor
A lawsuit can affect reserves, tax planning, potential settlements, and financial reporting. Your financial team should know whether this is a one-off dispute or something that may materially change the business’s numbers.
If there is any chance of a payment, reserve, financing, or sale issue, bring them in early.
5. Call the Person Inside the Business Who Manages the Records
This may be your office manager, operations lead, HR professional, or another trusted employee. You need the right records preserved immediately.
These records include contracts, emails, invoices, text messages, policies, and internal notes related to the issue.
What to Gather Right Away
Before you respond to anyone, pull together the basic file.
- The complaint, summons, and any deadlines listed in those papers.
- Any contract, order form, invoice, policy, or agreement related to the claim.
- Emails, text messages, and other communications connected to the dispute.
- Names of employees, customers, vendors, or other witnesses involved.
- A short timeline of what happened and when.
- Any insurance policies that might apply.
- Corporate documents showing who owns the business and who has authority to act.
- Any prior complaints, demand letters, or notices about the same issue.
The goal is not to build your full defense on day one. The goal is to avoid losing useful information while the case is still fresh.
Why Speed Matters
Once a lawsuit starts, small mistakes can become expensive. Missed deadlines can hurt your defense. Careless emails can be used against you. And a casual call or text can create new issues.
A proper response usually starts with a litigation hold, which means telling the right people to stop deleting or changing anything related to the dispute. That includes drafts, calendars, chat messages, and notes, not just final contracts.
A Simple Example
A business owner gets served on a Friday afternoon and thinks, “I will read this over the weekend and deal with it Monday.” Over the weekend, staff keep using the same shared inbox, a few relevant text messages are deleted, and no one checks the insurance policy.
A better approach would be to call counsel immediately, preserve records, notify the carrier, and designate one person to control the flow of information. That keeps the business from making the problem worse while the legal team gets oriented.
Ongoing Support That Helps Before and After a Lawsuit
A lawsuit is not only a courtroom issue. It often exposes a contract problem, an employee issue, a vendor problem, or a gap in how the business is run. Outside Chief Legal serves as subscription-based fractional or outside general counsel for growing businesses that want proactive guidance across contracts, compliance, employment, and disputes.
This support helps you tighten the weak spots before they turn into a claim and respond in an organized way if one does.
Business “Checkup” for Lawsuit Risk
If you want to lower the odds of being caught off guard, start with a checkup.
Outside Chief Legal uses a structured review to spot common legal blind spots, such as missing contract terms, weak employment practices, insurance gaps, and poor recordkeeping. Then we help you prioritize the fixes that matter most, so you are not trying to solve everything at once.
Do This Next: Immediate Response Checklist
Use this list if you have been sued or if you want to be ready now:
- Read the complaint and summons carefully.
- Write down the response deadline.
- Call your lawyer.
- Notify your insurance carrier.
- Save every document related to the claim.
- Instruct the appropriate internal staff to preserve records.
- Stop casual discussion of the case in text or email.
- Gather contracts, invoices, and the names of any witnesses.
- Create a short timeline of events.
- Do not contact the other side without first getting legal advice.
Our Corporate/Business Counsel Services
Outside Chief Legal LLC is a modern, forward-thinking law firm serving as fractional chief legal officers and outside general counsel for businesses and their owners. With over 200 years of combined litigation, in-house, general counsel, and administrative legal experience, the firm delivers approachable, comprehensive counsel that blends legal expertise with practical business insight to help clients navigate ownership complexities with confidence. OCL is a trusted partner for founders, business owners, and leadership teams nationwide. Learn more about our firm, meet our team, or schedule a Risk-Free Strategy Session to talk with an attorney about how we can help your company.
