Small Business

Small Business Matters

Representing small businesses and their owners is a challenging endeavor and a primary focus of our firm. We counsel and advise our clients on all major aspects of establishing a business venture, and on the myriad issues which require legal assistance to insure the business’ smooth operation and sustained growth.

First, owners need to form the appropriate legal structure and entity for their business. Our law practice assists start-up businesses, non-profits, small contractors and others in the following ways, depending on their unique situations:

• Determining the best form of business organization that will protect you and your assets:
  • LLC
  • Partnership
  • Non-profit
  • C or S Corporation
• Drafting Business plans and strategies for grant and financing opportunities
• Drafting Partnership, LLC and owners’ agreements
• Drafting Operating and Shareholder agreements and Corporate Bylaws
• Applying for Trademark and Copyright Protection
• Drafting Non-disclosure Agreements
• Resolving licensing, zoning and real estate issues
• Drafting various contracts, buy-sell agreements, lease/purchase agreements and the like

Many businesses have legal questions that go unanswered and legal needs that go unfilled simply because it is not worth the time or expense to find an attorney for each area in which a problem arises. We find that small businesses that are now experiencing stability and success after a few years of operation usually are in need of a review of their contracts and procedures to ensure they are not exposing themselves to unnecessary and expensive liability.

In the beginning, business owners are literally overwhelmed. There is a lot involved in starting a business. Plus, there are unending expenses, and legal services are not budgeted in the start-up phase of most small businesses. It’s understandable that when starting out, businesses sometimes incorporate themselves, use contracts that they find on the internet, and just hope that the lease they signed means what they think it does. However, soon after a business has been operating and is beginning to experience some success, issues arise, or have been lingering unattended, that prudent businesses turn their attention to:

• Do you and your co-founders (partners) have a written agreement in place that accurately explains the terms of your relationship and properly accounts for how the business will be passed on and what will happen if things happen to go south?
• Will the employee you want to terminate be able to sue you for wrongful termination?
• How can you prevent this? Do you need an employee procedures manual?
• Is that master services agreement (client contract) you found on the internet really protecting all of your interests?
• Your lease is up for renewal — what do these terms mean? Should you be re-negotiating some of them?
• Should you have your independent contractors sign a simple contract? (Always!)
• Do you need copyright protection or to trademark your business name?
• When do you need to enter into a non-disclosure agreement ?
• You’re pretty sure that cease and desist letter you received has no merit, but can you just ignore it?
• Your client isn’t paying… Now what?
• Is that non-compete agreement really enforceable?

Business people know small differences in approach can lead to big differences in results. This is certainly also true with legal issues facing a small business.

We understand our clients are good at what they do, and that they measure success by what they accomplish. We understand the effort it takes to run a business, and we join our clients in grappling with legal issues as parts of a business process. We are driven to understand businesses and projects with keen insight, in order to equip our clients with legal strategies that are cost effective and provide results.

Attorney Page is a business lawyer with an uncommon amount of business sense. He is an experienced legal counselor who has been in the business trenches, as a securities analyst, real estate investor, business owner and corporate young executive. This real-world experience enables us to better grasp issues facing small businesses, and develop appropriate solutions.

We welcome an opportunity to discuss your work and how we can help insure its success.