Business Lawyer

Now let’s talk about a few of the other areas that startups and small businesses need guidance where I can help.

• Choosing an Entity Structure and Forming the Entities (+ Potential Tax Elections)
• Drafting and Negotiating Contracts
• Securities Law Compliance for Fundraising and Investment Activities
• Legal Representation for M&A and Other Transactions
• Business Succession Planning (often a bit later in the Startup’s lifecycle)

Each of these areas carries an entire range of complexity, from the relatively simple and straightforward simple formation of an LLC to hold a piece of real property, to a devilishly complicated multi-party, multi-step transaction. Having a competent business & corporate attorney who can navigate this range of complexity with you is invaluable, especially because a startup or a small business can very rapidly “grow up” and move up the scale.

Having an attorney on speed-dial to review a contract with a big price tag, or a contract that you don’t understand, can end up saving you tens of thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more). With some minor exceptions, when you sign something, you’ll be held to the terms of it. As a result, if you (on behalf of your business) if you sign something that has unfavorable terms, negative consequences, and/or will end up costing the company a lot of money, you’ll have to pay one way or the other (whether it’s in the form of paying an attorney to sue or paying the other party to void the contract). And of course, as the startup founder (or co-founder), you have less than zero time. You are the CEO, and also possibly the CFO, the COO, the billing department, the marketing department, HR, and/or any and every other department. You’re thinking about a million other things – you may not be thinking about entity structures, contract risk, securities laws, regulatory compliance, what IP you need to protect,  employees, exit options , and many other issues.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had an attorney who knew your business, knew your risk tolerance, and could evaluate that contract and help you determine whether to modify or reject the agreement?

This is the value that I bring to the table.

Similarly, an attorney with experience in securities law compliance – knowing where some of the “traps” are – is a tremendous value for a startup or small business because the penalties for securities noncompliance can be quite large, and the landscape of securities laws is very technical in nature.

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A merger or acquisition is a pivotal time in the life of any business. The concerns will be different whether you’re on the buy-side or the sell-side. But what will not be different is that an enormous amount of value is up for grabs in the transaction, and it’s absolutely imperative to do it right. Getting the merger documents right is fundamentally about allocating risk according to what the parties have agreed. And getting the merger documents wrong can have disastrous consequences. Having a competent, experienced attorney on your side is crucial.

Very similarly, as your startup matures and grows into more of an actual established business and less of a startup, it may be time to start thinking about some of the other puzzle pieces that come with being an actual established business. That could be business succession planning, estate planning, and anything else. I can also guide you through these (perhaps) new areas.

If you’d like to work together, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can’t wait to hear about your idea. Or, if this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, please feel free to read about Other Practice Areas.
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