The following rules are what I consider when helping clients determine what legal form of business to create. After over 22 years as a business lawyer, I realized long ago that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. I also realized there can be […]
Your corporation is required by statute to have a board of directors. But why, and what do they do? Find out in this quick video.
Friends and family loans can be great resources to help your business start and grow. But there are the obvious pitfalls of dealing with family when it comes to money and your business. The main thing I advise my clients on when taking money for […]
Terms of service for your commercial web site – they’re not important, right? Just go ahead and copy someone else’s, change the name at the top, and your business will be fine. Don’t even read them. Bury them in a link at the bottom of […]
North Carolina just passed its crowdfunding statute, and is currently drafting regulations to implement it. The “Providing Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs and Small Business” Act – PACES – is a N.C. law that allows N.C. businesses to raise capital from N.C. investors. If you […]
The jargon of the trade calls them “inventions assignment” or even more technically “employee proprietary information and inventions agreements”. In layman’s terms, it means if you “invent” something using your employer’s tools or facilities, information provided to you, contacts, proprietary information, or related to its […]
I might do a few of these posts about share terminology in the corporate structure. Today I’m talking about authorized, issued, and outstanding shares. There’s three states a share can be in within the corporate structure: authorized (sometimes called “available”), “issued”, and “outstanding”. First Up […]
Business succession plan: I’ve been hearing a lot about business succession planning since I’ve moved to Asheville. Let’s talk about what it means to make a succession plan for your exit from your business, whether through retirement, death or disability. First of all, succession planning […]
Liability protection. It’s something all business owners worry about, but in my experience the worry is often misplaced. Good insurance will cover most injury-type claims (slip and falls, car accidents). This article will outline when you should call your business lawyer to set up liability […]
Regulated professions. It’s a geeky hobby of mine, browsing through the statutes to see what interesting topics the legislature was thinking about. Like in Illinois where one needs to be licensed to engage in the business of removing eggs from their shells. Seriously. Here’s just […]