Read the newest "The Verdict" column, which appeared in the November 2015 issue of Plastic Surgery Practice, written by AmSpa Founder, Alex R. Thiersch.  A knowledgeable healthcare attorney is a vital part of keeping a medical aesthetics practice in business and out of trouble. Naysayers tend to think that attorneys are either swords or shields—useful when they want something or are in trouble, but otherwise unnecessary. They tend to view the cost of retaining an attorney to be more than the value they receive from such an arrangement. In reality, it costs significantly more to repair a legal problem than it does to prevent one. For example, if employees leave a practice and are not signed to a binding non-solicitation agreement, they may try to take the practice’s clients to their new practice. What happens if former employees take a dozen clients with them? The practice would likely engage an attorney to draw up a binding non-solicitation agreement for current and future employees to sign, but that’s a case of closing the stable door after the horses have bolted. The practice’s bottom line has already taken a big hit and, what’s more, it’s paying for the services of an attorney anyway. Read more at Plastic Surgery Practice.