If you have a great idea for a business in New Jersey, you’ll quickly find that ideas are not enough to get a new enterprise off the ground. The legal foundation of your business is everything—and to that end, it’s vital to work with a business lawyer who specializes in the matters and concerns facing business owners. First off, there is the process of picking the right business entity under which you will operate: LLC, S-corporation, C-corporation, sole proprietorship, or a partnership (general, limited, and family limited). The entity you select will have serious ramifications both in terms of taxes and protecting yourself and your assets from legal liability. Then there is the structuring or your business operations, which requires some serious counsel around issues like human resources, accounting, policies and procedures, corporate governance, and control and management. Setting up a business to run the right way can avoid many complications down the road. A competent business lawyer can also help you with ongoing business concerns such as drafting contracts, negotiating deals with other businesses, and employer-employee disputes. They will get to know you and your business very well, along with its history and its goals for the future. If a conflict with a client, customer, supplier, or other business requires litigation, having a business lawyer on retainer will streamline the court proceedings in your favor. And ultimately, if your business either becomes dissolved, you decide to sell it, merge it with another business, or grow by acquiring another business, a business lawyer can help you through that process as well.
In summary, a business lawyer is probably one of the most indispensable resources you’ll need in order to run a business. A competent business lawyer can handle the headache of legal concerns, leaving you free to run and grow your business without interruption.