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The first thing that a legal team handles for a political party is election law. Although elections are managed by states some federal election laws apply. As one would imagine each different state has some of their own rules for "getting on the ballot" for state or federal positions. Also "campaign finance" can get quite complicated.
The second priority of a political party's legal team handles is to research and provide legal guidance on our proposed policies. It does no good to "figure out our platform and policies" if these do not include legal considerations.
At this early stage we do not have a legal team. As we grow we expect to first hire a small team via contract, then eventually put together our own in-house legal department.
A dedicated legal team can devote their time and our resources, maximizing results on three fronts:
- No other clients take attention away from our agenda
- Not getting billed for copies, phone calls, consultations, etc
- Being pro-active instead of handling only what we specifically request
When (and how) is it appropriate to hire a legal team?
As the organization has just opened and has less than 1,000 members, we do not have a dedicated legal team. When the organization reaches a threshold determined by popular vote of the members we will use a democratic process to move forward.
COMMENT QUESTION:
What other legal issues could a political party run into?
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