475-422-9856
PRACTICE AREAS
Your new company needs to be organized into a business entity. The type of entity you choose will have big consequences.
You have heard terms such as corporation, Limited Liability Company, partnership, sole proprietorship, and others. You know that your new organization can be a for-profit or a non-profit or maybe even something else. You may wonder why some companies – usually entire industries – look to form in Delaware or California or even Connecticut. These are some of the first decisions you will face and the ramifications can be huge.
The first step we take in advising you is to learn about you and your goals. There is no one-size-fits all approach. With a decision this important, we want to give you the best guidance based on your individual situation.
The decisions are big, but we make it simple and affordable. Not only will you launch your new entity, you will do it with confidence.
Your business will almost certainly have agreements with other people or organizations. They may be with your customers, your business partners, or your suppliers. Those agreements give you rights and obligations that you can use to forecast your revenues and expenses, but they set a tone for your relationships.
The Law Offices of Sean-Michael Green, LLC can work with you to draft the world’s longest and most complicated contract if you want, but we specialize in common sense and clear language that we can all understand. We want all parties to a contract to understand what their responsibilities and rights are. Where appropriate, we can help to negotiate with the other signers to get what you need from each agreement.
Of course, sometimes people do not honor their obligations. If you need to compel performance under a contract, you want someone who has the strength and dedication to pursue your goals.
The biggest advantage to working with us is that we make it simple. Minimal jargon, no nonsense – we talk to you like a person and make sure we understand you and you understand your contracts.
A company gets infinitely more complicated as soon as you hire someone.
Some entrepreneurs hire too soon and some hire too late, but many higher too haphazardly. The way you hire is important, and so are the terms of employment and policies that you establish. Before you have your first employee, you must have certain policies. This is to protect you, but also to protect the members of your team.
When a decision is made to terminate an employee, this opens up more considerations. You may have good intentions and still make mistakes, especially if it is a rare occurrence. A termination will have a big impact on you personally, and it is obviously a life-changing event for the affected employee – but it also impacts the culture of the organization and the employees left behind.
There are legal considerations at play when working with people, and we can support you. But there are psychological and financial considerations, too. We have years of experience on this front; let us help you.
You work hard to distinguish your company from your competitors. You don’t want prospective customers to be confused. You really don’t want anyone pretending to be you or to use your words for their own ends.
We can help you to protect your work. If you have something that is unique to you and your company, you may be able to prevent people from using it without your permission. You may even be able to sell it to someone who is willing to pay for it.
Copyrights and trademarks are commonly misunderstood, both in terms of how you obtain one and what good it does you once you have it. We start with an assessment of your concerns and goals; then we look for the most cost-efficient and effective way of achieving them. If it turns out that you need a patent, we can connect you with a firm to help you with the technical details of applying and filing; but many people who think they need patents may be served with other, simpler protections.
In the end, you will get a protection you need from a firm you trust.
​
If thinking about starting a business can create stress, it is small in comparison with the stress of closing a business. Our time, energy, and identities can be tied up on our companies. We are faced with a complicated task – but we have to come out of it in-tact.
This is not the time to lose focus. We need to tie up loose ends with customers, vendors, employees, and the government. You may have obligations that can chase you for years to come unless you are careful.
We begin this process in a way similar to how we launch a new organization: We learn about you and your goals. We focus on your priorities while protecting you from the issues you have not yet considered. We ensure that you are maximizing your money and minimizing your expenses. We help you to do the right thing the right way.
Perhaps most importantly, we are right there with you in this stressful time. You will want to talk through ideas, re-hash decisions and debate the what-ifs. It is easier to have these conversations with us fighting beside you.