Why Your Church Needs a Legal Consultant

One of the main questions that I get asked from both clergy and lay people is “why does my church need a lawyer”? Most people, especially if you’re not in the legal profession, when they think of lawyers, think of Matlock (showing my age here) or some other courtroom scene or they may understand that businesses and large corporations need legal representation, but a church? The statistics show that less than 1% of churches have an attorney on their church staff and in most situations hiring a lawyer on your staff is not necessary. However, I would strongly argue that you need one on your team and not just any lawyer but one who specializes at least in nonprofit law and if it’s church law, even better. Having a lawyer on your team isn’t just having a lawyer on speed dial in case of an emergency, it’s routinely consulting with them about legal and risk management issues in your church. A lawyer or legal consultant can help greatly with prevention and not just intervention. Some ways legal consultants can assist churches with prevention is by reviewing church documents including bylaws, employee handbooks and other policies and procedures. Legal consultants can also consult on liability issues like appropriate insurance coverage and safety and security policies. To put it simply, if you have a CPA or other advisor that you consult with occasionally, it’s time to add a legal consultant to that list! If you’d like to learn more or you’d like to see what it looks like for me to work with your church, go to Contact Us and shoot me a message.