Business law

My business has revenues below $20 million. Do we really need a lawyer?

Yes. Proper legal representation can be critical to the success of your business. Here are a few of the situations in which good legal representation can make a substantial contribution to a company’s revenues:

A. Labor and Employment. Labor and Employment is an ever-growing and ever-changing area of law full of pitfalls. This practice area includes hiring, employment contracts, employee manuals, workplace issues, termination, conflict resolution and litigation. Potential claims involve discrimination, harassment, breach of contract and others.

B. Contracts. Most businesses encounter contracts of many different forms – with vendors, landlords, tenants, customers, employees, builders and other service providers. Although there is financial pressure to minimize the expense of contract preparation, review and compliance, when done right, these types of services can produce significant long-term savings in the form of risk and cost avoidance and management.

C. Buy-Sell Arrangements. Businesses with a relatively few number of owners should always have a Buy-Sell Arrangement. Buy-Sell Arrangements are formal agreements that specify what is to happen to the ownership and control of a business when one of the principal owners should become unavailable to participate in the management of the business due to illness or death. For example, if one partner dies without a Buy-Sell Agreement the other owner might wind up in partnership with his former associate’s children – an inconvenience that could be uncomfortable or even serious enough to destroy the business.

D. Sales of Businesses. In a business context, few areas require the same level of legal expertise as the sale or purchase of the business itself. Transactions such as these require substantial legal and tax counsel as well as documentation both on the seller and the buyer side. Inadequate counsel could result in substantial liabilities or even the unwinding of the transaction itself in the event of a subsequent conflict.

E. Litigation. Sometimes conflicts rise to the level where they cannot be resolved short of legal action. In these circumstances, skilled litigation attorneys are of critical importance to the efficient and successful resolution of the dispute.

F. Business Formation, Maintenance and Termination. In order to acquire and maintain the limited liability protection of corporations or other entities, it is imperative that certain legal steps be properly followed, such as proper record keeping and the adherence to statutory requirements.

G. Commercial Real Estate. Unwittingly taking property with soil issues can be extremely costly. With the growing liabilities involved with the sale and purchase of contaminated soil, retaining competent commercial real estate counsel is more important than ever.

H. Others.

• Evictions
  
• Collections
  
• Leases
  
• Loan Documentation
  
• Security Instruments
  
• Not-for-Profits
  
• Entity Conversion
  
• Leases