Business Law

Business lawyer Clinton NJ

Clients sometimes lament that the business world is already complicated enough without “getting all legal.” However, business people recognize that at a minimum some legal work is required when starting-up a new venture.

The company form must be decided: will it be a Limited Liability Company, C Corp, Sub-S Corp, or simply a sole proprietorship? Once the entity is filed with the state in which you will be conducting business, next comes the registration process. Additionally, if you have employees, these steps are followed by filing required forms with the state employment and labor departments. Further, if you are starting a franchise organization, you may be required to submit your Franchise Disclosure Statement to certain state securities divisions for approval before you may begin to sell franchises.

In short, the regulatory side of business continues to grow in importance and in pace with the seeming unending growth of the state and federal governments. This is the business climate of the country in which we must make a living and, hopefully, prosper.

Often overlooked, however, is the other critical aspect of business law — protecting yourself and your work product in the commercial market. Many businesses prefer to simplify the process by minimizing the use of legal documents, even to the extent of relying on “hand shake” deals. Certainly, oral agreements are legally binding contracts, but the challenge for your attorney is proving the material terms of the agreement when the contract was made, and after the good faith and trust evaporates. Written agreements remain the best practice.

At Kilcommons Law, we specialize in drafting a host of documents, which are tailored to your company’s needs and interests. These documents may include the following:  operating agreements (for limited liability companies), shareholder agreements (for corporate shareholders), franchise-related documents, joint venture partnership agreements, non-compete agreements, confidentiality agreements, etc. The list goes on.

There are two benefits to employing Kilcommons Law to assist your business, as opposed to relying on online legal form shops: (1) we learn your business, relationships and industry before advising what documents and language are best before commencing the drafting; and (2) Kevin Kilcommons’ litigation experience in commercial matters provides you with a drafting professional, who is acutely aware of contract pitfalls which may lead to law suits.

The lesson to be learned before a costly mistake is that by failing confer with legal counsel on a regular basis, and incorporating a best practice of having counsel draft and review company documents, your business may be disrupted by expensive and time consuming litigation or arbitration. Preventative lawyering is always preferable to reactive lawyering; where oftentimes, it may be too late for your attorney to significantly alter the outcome of a dispute once it goes to litigation. Therefore, invest in steady legal counsel, and not just for the initial start-up phase, but ongoing – just as you should do with your accountant.

In the event your business must prosecute or defend itself in a law suit, Kilcommons Law has the experience, skill and ability to litigate in state or federal courts, as well as private arbitration, such as the American Arbitration Association. Every legal dispute requires strategy and diligence by both the attorney and client to ensure the best outcome. Kilcommons Law provides hard work, insight and common sense advice based upon a sound and accurate survey of the legal environment (the court, the statutes, the regulations, and the case law) in which you must prevail.

We offer the following experience in Business and Commercial legal matters:

  • Partnership contracts;
  • Employment contracts;
  • Breach of contract and contract interpretation;
  • Business disputes;
  • Intellectual property;
  • Buy/sell agreements;
  • Franchise law;
  • Business negligence;
  • Transaction disputes;
  • Collections;
  • Employment disputes; and
  • Severance agreements

Consider Kilcommons Law as your company’s outside general counsel. With us guiding your company’s legal direction, know that you will not be cruising blind through the rough waters of the business world.