How an experienced business attorney can help your business:  CASE STUDY #2

Sometimes, a client will approach me to fix a problem caused by, frankly, a haphazard approach to entity formation and mistakes made years before.  A typical example is one in which a business owner – sometimes but not always involved in a startup – will form an entity using a company like Legal Zoom or other “discount” services.  Yep – they’re cheap, and you get what you’ve paid for:  A cookie-cutter approach to creating a corporation, LLC or other entity.  Consisting largely of one-size-fits all language and a lot of “standard” boilerplate, it’s the antithesis of customized work.  Due to budgetary constraints and a short-sighted outlook, it’s not an uncommon route.  But often, what seems like a “good deal” at the time will come back to haunt you a few years later – or sooner.

“BR” (no need to shame anyone – that’s not my role) called me and explained that he had liability concerns due to the addition of an equity partner (and new employees) in his San Diego area transportation business.  He’d stashed away his LLC documents and had never given much thought to the details; after all, he was busy running a company.  But when he heard rumblings about a potential lawsuit, he grew worried, and asked me to conduct a review of the documents he’d filed with the Secretary of State’s office in Sacramento five years back.  He also asked me to analyze the operating agreement in place, which, unfortunately, I found to be less than adequate.  Frankly, it was full ambiguities, omissions and other problematic components.

As things turned out, he ended up on the wrong side of a lawsuit and ended up hiring a litigator who was able to mitigate the damage – somewhat.  But BR still ended up shelling out around $250K to settle a matter that should never have arisen.  I subsequently restructured his entity and drafted documents that will protect him going forward.  But the old saw about “an ounce of prevention” holds true to this day.  So, I urge you to do things right in the beginning.

Whatever your field, I can help you avoid expensive mistakes.  With 30 years as a business attorney, I have the experience you can count on.  Whether it’s a limited-scope issue or dilemma or a complex, multi-party scenario, a one-time deal or long-range strategic planning, I’m here for businesses and the people who make them viable.  How can I help you?