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How Talented Legal Counsel Can Help Your Business Grow
Every business needs a talented and experienced business lawyer. Aside from providing good advice, a talented and dedicated business lawyer is actually “good for business” and can help your business grow. Here are the ways that we here at San Diego Corporate Law can help your business grow.
San Diego Corporate Law: Employment Contracts, Handbooks, Etc.
When a business grows, it often adds talent and staffing. A trusted business attorney helps attract the best employees and helps avoid losing those employees by avoiding risks.
Risks to be avoided:
- California labor regulations — are you set up with the California Employee Development Department; do you know your obligations for various paid and unpaid vacations and leaves of absence; do you know the various laws and rules regarding pay rates, discrimination and harassment?
- Withholding Taxes — setting up your FEIN and other tax identification and being prepared for withholding from employee paychecks
- Workers’ compensation insurance and unemployment payments
- Posting of notices — labor regulations require various postings
- Confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-disparagement — issues for employment contracts and handbooks
Opportunities to be Exploited
Your new talented employees have expectations. This is how your trusted and dedicated business attorney helps attract good employees. Any business worth working for has a good business lawyer. Plus, your good lawyer can put together a solid executive employment contract that puts your new employees at ease. They know they will be receiving the salary and benefits that they expect. Likewise, your trusted business attorney has set up a thorough employee handbook that also puts the new employees at ease; they can read it and see what is to be expected at their new job. On the flipside, your trusted business attorney has protected your business with provisions that, for example, protect your trade secrets.
San Diego Corporate Law: Mergers and Acquisitions
When a business grows, it often does so via mergers and acquisitions. A trusted business attorney is essential with respect to such transactions. As with employee-related issues, a dedicated lawyer helps avoid risks and helps exploit the opportunities. Buying a business comes with risks that a good lawyer can help identify. As an example, if you are buying a business with a large web e-commerce presence, is that website compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act? If not, then what is the cost of making the website compliant? How does that factor into the price to be paid for the business?
If due diligence shows that a merger or acquisition is an excellent opportunity, then your trusted business attorney is there to draft the needed documents, file what needs to be filed with governmental agencies, and ensure the financing is in place.
San Diego Corporate Law: Buying Out a Partner or Investor
Sometime growth is accomplished by subtraction. An unhappy partner/colleague or an investor that wants out can be a heavy weight keeping the business from flourishing. A trusted business attorney can help your San Diego business flourish by helping rid the company of such distractions. Again, there are risks to avoid and opportunities to exploit. Risks to avoid are raids on your key employees, use of your trade secrets by the departing partner/employee, and disparagement on social media, the press, and in the industry at large. Good separation contracts and legally enforceable non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements are essential. Once the dead weight is gone, you can attract replacement staffing.
San Diego Corporate Law: Tangible and Real Property Acquisition
When a business grows, often a business adds tangible and/or real property either via leasing or purchase. A trusted business attorney can help your business grow with respect to this. Be it real estate for the store or factory or equipment necessary for the business, your dedicated lawyer is essential to due diligence and workup of the contracts. This is true whether the growth is via leasing or via outright purchase. Commercial and equipment leasing contracts have their own complexities that must be understood before being entered into. A good business lawyer can help.
San Diego Corporate Law: Other Legal Areas
In addition to the foregoing, a trusted business attorney can provide legal assistance with other matters such as:
- Debt collection
- General business contracts
- Specific business contracts such as vendor and consulting contracts
- International business contracts and forms — CISG
- Investment and financing contracts
- Sale of business
- Estate Planning with LLCs
Contact San Diego Corporate Law Today
If you are growing your business or seeking to buy or merge with a business or need other legal assistance with your business, contact attorney Michael Leonard, Esq., of San Diego Corporate Law. Mr. Leonard provides a full panoply of legal services for San Diego and California businesses. Mr. Leonard has been named a “Rising Star” three years running by SuperLawyers.com and “Best of the Bar” by the San Diego Business Journal. Mr. Leonard has the experience to help grow your business and can be reached at (858) 483-9200 or via email.
