Your Business
Being your own boss and running your own business is a significant life change – and you should consider the legal consequences of your new enterprise. Are your personal assets at risk in the event that your business fails? Does your old life change management plan assume that you have certain retirement or investment assets that you no longer have?
Most small business owners think that having an attorney is cost prohibitive, but it doesn’t have to be. Usually it’s as simple as a phone call or email before making a big decision or signing a major contract. An up-front legal consultation can prevent costly mistakes which could lead to litigation or business failure.
Entity Formation/Transitions
Making the determination about the appropriate entity for a new business coordinates organizational structure, financing and tax issues. Hancock Legal attorneys can review the jurisdictional options, name choice and compliance with securities and local business regulations. We will prepare the key new entity documents including registration and incorporation documents, operating agreements and agreements between individuals regarding their ownership rights. We will work with your already established accountants and advisors to create a stable platform for success.
Major acquisitions, retirement of a partner and other major transitions can be disruptive and cause difficult periods for small businesses to focus on their primary purpose. Hancock Legal works with you to prepare for these transitions with the acquisition of appropriate insurance, preparation of buy-sell agreements and other means to smooth the way. We can also provide assistance with debtor/creditor issues and advise in the unfortunate situation of the untimely death of an owner. Hancock Legal will support you in both smooth and rough transitions to minimize the disruption and successfully bring about a new stage for your business.
Making the decision to end a business brings its own complications. There are as many reasons to get out of a business as to start one. At Hancock Legal, we work with you to identify all the issues you want to be aware of and address in order to bring closure and finality to the end of a business. We will help you with appropriate notices to creditors, customers and government agencies, and work through a checklist of additional necessary steps to complete the process.
Business Tools
Small businesses engage in transactions on a daily basis with customers, vendors, landlords and other third parties. As a small business ourselves, Hancock Legal understands the importance of these transactions and we have experience advising clients on the most legally effective way of approaching them. From assisting in the drafting and preparation of invoices and other forms, to negotiating leases, licensing agreements, vendor relationships and consulting agreements, we identify and avoid the legal pitfalls that these transactions present. Hancock Legal has also created close relationships with specialists in Intellectual Property and Real Estate law who can provide our clients with advice on these particular areas when the need arises.
Employee Management
The regulation of employment relationships varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as well as between state and federal law. To understand ones rights as an employer or an employee is a difficult and distracting process. Hancock Legal has experience helping our clients identify the issues at hand and can provide strategies to resolve them. From establishing and implementing employment policies through handbooks and other written guidelines, to resolving disputes between employers and employees, we work with our clients to get the best results possible in this complex legal arena. We have experience with both plaintiff and defense litigation, as well as intermediate administrative steps in discrimination, wage and hour, and contract claims.
A company’s executives are important and expensive assets who require their own administration while they, in turn, see to the management of the company. The negotiation of executive contracts requires knowledge of employment, business, securities and ERISA law to be able to understand the breadth and the limits of opportunities for negotiation between a company and its executives. These same issues come into play when negotiating severance packages. Knowledge of industry standards, critical regulations and other factors allow us to provide flexible alternatives intended to facilitate a successful arrangement.
Tax Considerations
When coordinating our client’s business succession plan into his or her Life Change Management plan, we can advise our client about various planning techniques:
- Business Tax Planning: We can draft and implement buy/sell agreements, specialized operating agreements for LLCs and family limited partnerships, property transfer agreements, and retirement benefits plans.
- Family LLCs and LLPs: Proper use of a family limited partnership or family limited liability company can provide extensive income, gift and estate tax savings.
- Same-sex Couples: there are several unique transactions that can provide particularly favorable income tax consequences For same-sex couples who also own closely-held business interests, These and other legal issues specific to same-sex couples are further discussed here.
