Our business law attorneys have relevant experience in all aspects of business transactions, and we have advised clients just like you with problems just like yours. We provide our clients with an extensive range of legal services from idea to exit, including entity structuring and formation, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and purchases and sales of businesses. We utilize our knowledge and experience both in the law and as business owners ourselves to help entrepreneurs, startups, and new and existing businesses turn their ideas into reality.
Business law concerns the creation and operation of a business. It’s a wide umbrella term that includes laws pertaining to business tax, real estate, employment, contracts, intellectual property, and more. Business owners rely on experienced legal experts to help them navigate these laws and make certain their company is compliant with all of them.
Without an expert in business law on your side, you are likely to violate a number of legal rules, likely unintentionally, while operating your business. Business law creates a standard of operation that all businesses must follow, with consequences for those that don’t. These consequences range from being temporarily closed to being fined or even losing your business license. Regardless of the industry you’re in, you need an experienced consultant to assist you in the more detailed areas of business law.
Contact law is one of the most important sections of business law. What is contract law? It covers any type of contract, including a contract between you and your employees, between you and a partner business, and even between you and a client. If your contracts are not very carefully worded, they can have unintended consequences and leave your business open to liability. In order to fully protect yourself and anyone you are doing business with, you need a contract that covers all possible scenarios and includes all relevant details.
In addition to a well-written contract, you will also need a legal expert to assist you in negotiations. While your contracts with clients may be fairly standard, the contracts you sign with another business may need to be customized for each deal. You’ll want to negotiate these contracts so that you get what you want without giving up more than you can offer. A legal expert is vital in these cases so you do not end up taking on more responsibility than you should. The team here at Traverse Legal can assist you with negotiating and then drafting contracts for employment, lease, franchising, joint ventures, partnerships, and much more.
If your company is a startup or a small business, you may not necessarily need to hire a full-time in-house attorney to serve as your general counsel. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t need the services and advice of an experienced business lawyer. That’s why we offer fractional general counsel services.
This option provides the best of both worlds. You receive a dedicated number of hours of general counsel services each month, but your general counsel also works for a number of other companies. This allows you to share the cost of a general counsel while still receiving the benefits of a licensed business attorney. Fractional general counsel services are ideal for businesses that need legal advice regularly but don’t have the budget or the workload for a full-time position.
A general counsel, sometimes referred to as a chief legal officer, is a business law expert who works full time for a company, corporation, or other business entity. They provide legal advice to the company’s leadership as well as prepare and review all legal documents, contracts, and other paperwork. They make certain the company is compliant with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations as well as deal with any legal suits and complaints brought against the company. A fractional general counsel does all of this on an as-needed basis.
Traverse Legal offers Fractional General Counsel Services through TraverseGC. This is our unique business model that provides legal services and general counsel to small businesses on an as-needed basis. You determine how many hours a week or month you need our legal services, allowing you to budget your legal services while still having a business law expert on your side. Contact us today to learn more about TraverseGC and how we can help you.
Once you have decided to create a new business, there are a number of legal considerations for your startup, including: (1) selecting the appropriate legal structure; (2) determining and documenting the relationship between the founders; (3) (i) the structure of your capital raising (debt, equity or both); (ii) the stages and sources of capital (friends and family, angels, venture capital); and (iii) compliance with securities laws; (4) protecting your intellectual property; (5) handling employees and the options for incentive compensation; (6) creating a stable of effective and protective contracts for business operation needs; and (7) operating in a way that allows you maximize profit. Check out our Top Ten Startup Considerations blog post for a more thorough explanation.
The two most common entity structures we recommend for our clients are (1) Corporations (“Corps”) and (2) Limited Liability Companies (“LLCs”). In certain limited situations, it can be beneficial for your business to operate as a Limited Partnership (i.e. if you are an investment fund) or a sole proprietorship (a single business owner who is not looking to bring on employees or other partners and is not worried about limited liability). The answer ultimately depends on your goals, risk tolerance, and tax implications. For an overview of each option see our Choice of Business Entity blog post and check out our posts about each entity type on our Business Law Blog.
You need corporate counsel to protect your interests and advise you as your company grows. You need someone on your team. You may be considering using a “docs in a box” service. Those services will provide you fill-in-the blank documents without any specificity to fit your particular situation. Corporate counsel will be one of your chief advisors and tailor your documents to fit your unique needs and circumstances. They will be able to identify key risks and negotiate business transactions. Experienced and competent corporate counsel is one of the greatest investments you will make in your company and we look forward to helping your idea become a reality. We regularly represent founders, start-ups and emerging companies, particularly technology companies, as corporate counsel.
If you need more timely, cost-effective, knowledgeable and strategic representation and are not quite ready for full-time, in-house counsel, outsourced general or technology counsel may be for you. We regularly serve as on-demand technology attorneys and general corporate counsel. This allows us to work at your direction in place of or to supplement your Legal Department, which means you only pay us when there is work to be completed. Best of all, you do not need to train us on the law or technology. Start with a project and give us a try.
Traverse Legal’s Attorneys have been globally recognized for their experience and results. Contact the Traverse Legal team today to find out how we can help you in the legal areas of: Complex Litigation, Internet, Trademark, Copyright, Patent, Cybersquatting, Drone, Defamation, Trade Secret, Non-Compete, and Business Law.
