Business Organization and Planning

This area of the legal practice focuses on the creation, and the structuring, of the legal entities used by investors and entrepreneurs in obtaining their objectives, which are basically the creation of wealth, the realization of profit, and in basic terms, making money.  Possible entities include general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations.

For the entrepreneur starting out in business, he has often begun conducting his operation before even thinking about a business entity.  The first reason to think about creating a business entity is liability – yours.  No matter what you sell, no matter what service you render, your activity carries the possibility that it may harm someone, who can come after you for compensatory damages.  If they win, they win against you – personally.  If the size of their award is such that you can’t pay it, that person can come after just about anything you own, and any source of income, to satisfy the judgment.  However, if your business is conducted by a corporation or limited liability company, which you own, then the liabilities of the business accrue to the entity, and not you.  The claimant who obtains judgment against the business can get to the assets of the business only. 

Of course, to insure that you are personally shielded from liability in your business, you must create it, and you must maintain, correctly.

So the time to contact a lawyer about going into business is before you do it, so that the issue of personal liability is resolved before you open your doors to the public, or your website to the world.

Frequently, people pool their abilities, efforts, and money to engage in businesses that none of the individual participants could organize and operate alone.  A business entity enables a number of people to each own part of a single business.  Most of the Fortune 500 are corporations which were formed long ago, and over the years have grown to the point where they have thousands of shareholders, a few classes of stock which afford different shareholders different rights in the company, and a great many other complexities.  The complex nature of these entities is nothing more than a series of solutions created to accommodate a series of issues which presented themselves over the years.  On a smaller scale, the fledgling corporation with two or more owners will progress in a similar fashion, depending upon its success.

The lawyer’s role in this process is to find out the objectives, help the client choose the entity most likely to facilitate these objectives, and to plan and structure the entity for the same purpose.

Being in business with other people is a kind of marriage.  Everyone is committed to the same initial goal.  That success brings alternatives in achieving that goal, and often presents opportunities for changing, or adding to, the goal itself.  It is rarely possible to foresee the issued which will confront any enterprise as it grows.  But lawyers experienced in business are better equipped to foresee such issues, to advise their clients, and to plan for such issues in advance.  Then, as questions arise, experienced attorneys are able to provide their clients with business alternatives within the law, enabling their clients t deal with both difficulty and success more effectively.

So whether you are just going into business or are already there, whether you need advice, planning, or working out an existing problem, call a lawyer, preferably one who has experience in business.