Finding an Attorney Who Understands Veterinary Law

John Owens, veterinary attorney at the Law Offices of John Owens, LLC., explains the importance of having an attorney who understands veterinary law.

"Veterinary business is not a typical small business. There are similarities, but there are also differences, so finding an attorney who understands small business law versus a large corporate practice can be very important. There are differences in hiring issues, in employment issues, in administrative staff, and how you deal with your staff, as well as differences in understanding how cash flow affects your client. When you're dealing with issues, especially issues around litigation and malpractice, having somebody who understands veterinary law and how veterinary malpractice works, or at least healthcare law, is a huge advantage.

Most litigators don't spend a lot of time on malpractice cases and may not understand how the case actually works. And to have your attorney stumbling through and learning along the way, it could be a difficult thing. The same thing is true on the business side. There are many times when doing business transactions you run into an attorney who's done multi-million dollar deals and is used to working with high-power, high-pressure situations. That's not the case in the sale of most veterinary practices. Most of these deals want to get done and people need to see that their attorneys understand that. By knowing and understanding the industry, those deals get done a lot quicker."