Top 10 legal services your business might need to get professional help

How easy is it to get a start-up running? Is it merely an idea that blossoms well under the leadership of its founders, or is an intricate labyrinth of services offered by various third party assets? The answer is definitely the latter one. Dwelling upon these intricacies, you will find that one of the most important aspects of this scenario is a group of lawyers handling the legal complications of the startup.

Taking care of all legal issues pertaining to logo infringement, and purchasing commercial shops are just couple of legalities taken care by these lawyers. In this section, we will take a look at some of the advantages of hiring a legal service.

Top 10 Legal Services for Businesses:

1.    The Legal Structure

Choosing an effective legal structure is the first step you need to take care of. You may have to choose from:

• Private Limited Company
• Public Limited Company
• Partnership Firm
• Limited Liability Partnership

The answer to this lies in the entrepreneur’s vision, long time goals, market size, type of venture and the ultimate goal of the venture. Each of these types has a different set of laws which the lawyer will help you understand and implement and put all the perspectives of the company within the framework of the legalities. Lack of proper guidance from an attorney will result in penalties paid to the government.

2.    Agreement of the Founders

Setting up specific relationships in the company is the duty of the co-founders, but the legalities of this decision are handled by the lawyer for your company. They will help create a legal document that records the relationship status of each member, and is attested for future reference. This document will define how your business pans out and how it works. Without this agreement, your business may spiral down since it lacks a structured hierarchy.

3.    Trademark Infringement

Creating a perfect logo and inserting it on every document header has to be first channelized through a legal service to make sure that no infringement has been done on logos currently existing in the market. There needs to a legal intervention later that helps you patent this trademark logo. Along with trademark issues, your tax registrations to trade licenses with Shop and Establishment Registration as well as with Labour and Employment Registrations needs to undergo a legal process to make it possible.

4.    Taxation Issues

Start-ups without assistance from lawyers may face serious penalties during audits on counts of tax evasion. These penalties are severe and depend completely on the level of fraud. Taking guidance from a lawyer is necessary to help your company evade all these legal complications and maintain a smooth record in the audit books. This will hep you stay abreast of all the current legalities since there is a huge variation in the taxes depending on the geographic region, type of product, as well as the sector of the company. The legal health of your company will ultimately be defined by the status you maintain under the eyes of the government and your audit books.

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5.    Contracts with Third Party Vendors

An organization, especially a start-up, is non-conceivable without some contracts being signed by the co-founders and third party providers. When we talk about signatures and contracts, it means that some legal issues need to be sorted out before the commencement of the relationship. It is thus mandatory to choose a lawyer to overlook the process to remove any objectionable entities within the contract that can deter the company’s objectives or ideals.

6.    Equity

Many start-ups float stocks and IPO’s for investors to purchase equity in the company. This process is sensitive and requires lawyers to probe the legal documents signed by the investors. These documents contain the policies of the company and the stake of the investor, along with other legal matters. The lawyer will also help you understand the effect of a specific shareholder of your company on the employees, suppliers, and financial aspects.

7.   Contracts

In addition to the contracts signed with vendors, other essential contracts need be signed. The legal procedures of these contracts need to be overlooked by a corporate legal service to understand the complete contract and point out any key factors that may affect the business in one way or another.

8.    Business Licenses

It is a fact that starting or running a business will definitely need a bunch of licenses. No doubt even a small enterprise needs various licenses to practice their business. More complex processes like manufacturing of the products or taking part in import and export may need the assistance of lawyers to complete the legal formalities. It is necessary to sort out these licenses at the beginning of the start-up or else they may deter the rate of your growth indefinitely in the future and slow down your business when it is essential to pick up pace. The fear of fines and penalties are also factors to hire a commercial law firm.

9.    Terms, Conditions and Policies

Have you ever read the complete list of terms and agreements of any specific product before using it or installing it on your computer? These page looks monotonous and artificial, which makes it difficult for the users to read them, but they list all the terms and policies that need to be adhered to by the consumer before using the product.

Drafting this page requires attention to minute detail so that no loophole is created in the company’s policies that can boomerang and hit the company with legal lawsuits. Drafting these terms and policies is not meant to fool the customer but rather create a consensual decision between the company and the user. Without the knowledge of a professional lawyer, legal complications could cloud the company’s future.

10. Employee Concerns

Your employees are your biggest assets and they need to be taken care of in terms of monetization as well as in creating a good work culture. Deviating from these concerns may lead to litigations against the company in the court of law. Contrary to this, it is also essential for the employer to create jurisdictions for defined sects of employees to limit their rights and uphold the integrity of the company. A classification based on the employees or an independent contractor is one of the primary problems that is currently being dealt with in federal court. Improper classification can cause these employees to file lawsuits against your company.

There are several other legal complications that may need the assistance of lawyers. Environmental concerns, purchasing corporate land or emporiums, disagreements between the co-founders, business closure, and protection of property are some of the other reasons for hiring a professional lawyer to help your business.

For every business, you may need to consult a lawyer at some point in time, hence it is pertinent to hire a lawyer at the commencement of the idea to help you sort out your complications that will later pave the way for a robust business. There are various lawyers you can look up on the internet, ask friends and family and form your opinion by taking peer advice. There should be no stones left unturned while choosing a knowledgeable lawyer to handle your business matters. There are lawyers for businesses for every niche in the market.