Business Law

Business Law

Whether you have a company that has been established and prospering for many years, or you are trying to launch a new venture, our attorneys can help you with your business needs.

For the new venture, we can assist you in deciding how to best organize your business. Analyzing all the factors that go into making this decision can be confusing. Our attorneys can help you review the tax, financial, contractual, and liability considerations that go into deciding if your business should be established as a sole proprietorship, a corporation, partnership, S-Corporation, or a Limited Liability Company. Once you have made that determination, we can assist you in putting together the proper documentation to make your vision a reality.

Our attorneys have the experience to assist both established and new businesses with a wide variety of issues, including:

  • Start a new business (corporation, limited liability company, sole proprietorship, partnership)
  • Accidental Partnerships
    • Did you know that a court can decide that person is a “partner” in a business, even if that person never intended to be one? This is a link to an article published in the Michigan Business Law Journal, by Bob Magill, a partner at Magill and Rumsey, discussing situations where that has happened and his suggestions for avoiding the problem. http://michbar.org/business/BLJ/Summer2013/magill.pdf
  • Shareholder agreements
  • Operating agreements
  • Bylaws
  • Employment agreements
  • Business restructuring (e.g., converting your sole proprietorship to a limited liability company, or a corporation)
  • Confidentiality and noncompete agreements
  • Registering trademarks, service marks, membership marks, and other items of intellectual property, both at the state and federal level
  • Employee severance agreements
  • Employee manuals
  • Protecting your personal assets from business liabilities
  • Purchasing or leasing commercial property
  • Reviewing and structuring transactions
  • Litigating contract disputes
  • Obtaining the proper zoning permissions for your business
  • Integrating your business with your estate plan, and protections for your family
  • Planning for business succession
  • Dissolving or selling your business