If you have a business or are considering starting a business, you might wonder whether you need a business lawyer. Need is a very strong word, but for most people, a business lawyer can be very helpful in a number of situations, including:
Forming the business, including establishing the corporation or partnership and filing tax ID papers
Buying or selling all or part of a business
Buying, leasing, or selling commercial real estate
Writing or negotiating contracts with buyers, sellers, employees, and contractors or other service providers Resolving disputes over contracts
Resolving disputes with employees
Financial affairs, including securing loans and capital and banking internationally
Protecting intellectual property
Dissolving the business and resolving financial issues Here is how a business lawyer can help in each of these situations.
Forming a Business
A lawyer can help you decide whether you want to form your business as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability partnership, a limited liability corporation, a full corporation, or whatnot. A lawyer can also help you file all the paperwork necessary to obtain a tax ID number.
Buying or Selling a Business
If you are buying or selling a business, it is important to understand exactly what is being sold and how much interest the seller will have in the business after the sale. Ongoing payments or other obligations will have to be precisely clarified.
Buying, Leasing, or Selling Real Estate
Commercial real estate is different from residential, and your location may be the life or death of your business. Make sure you have a contract for your space that prevents the former or current owner from squeezing the life out of your business.
Business Contracts
Whether you are writing a contract or trying to enforce one that you feel someone else has broken, a business lawyer can help you. A business lawyer can review a contract before you or the other person signs it to ensure it is written fairly. And if the other party has violated a written or oral agreement, a lawyer can help you enforce the terms of the contract, which can literally save the life of your business.
Employee Disputes
If a disgruntled employee decides to make a legal case out of their grievances, it can be a serious threat to your business. A business lawyer can advise you on how to avoid these situations and seek the most favorable outcome in the event an employee decides to file a lawsuit against you or the business.
Financial Affairs
It’s not just accountants that can help you manage your financial affairs: business lawyers can play an important role as well. Many complex business transactions have a significant legal dimension that must be negotiated before the transaction can be closed. Even taking a donation or a loan may have significant legal consequences. Talking to a lawyer before any major transaction is a good idea.
Protecting Intellectual Property
If your business depends on a patent or unique idea, it is important to protect that idea to the full extent possible. A business lawyer can advise you how to protect your ideas and pursue those who abuse your intellectual property rights. Sometimes, your business lawyer may refer you to an intellectual property lawyer.
Dissolving Businesses
It is often necessary to dissolve a business. Hopefully, if you’ve worked with a lawyer since the company’s formation, your personal assets are protected, but if not you may need some advice on how to go about dissolving the business without losing all your personal property. Also, it can be hard to figure out how much stake each person has in the company’s assets or debt, and a lawyer can help you satisfactorily resolve the issue among all the interested parties.
