On occasion, I get asked to write blog posts or submit my thoughts on topics of interest related to corporate law, starting your own business, and the like for other websites or blogs. A version of this post was originally written for The UpCounsel Blog and appeared on October 3rd. You can find it here.
So you’ve decided to form your own business. Congratulations! And you’ve heard enough horror stories about folks losing their shirts (or houses) to know that you want an entity between you and all that potential business liability. Congratulations again!
But where do you begin? Corporation or LLC? Board of Directors? Managers? Advisors? Employees or Consultants? Interests or Units? Vested or Unvested? S-corp? C-corp? No-corp?
The great news about forming a U.S.-based business in the 21st century is that you literally have more options than ever before. That’s also the bad news.
While the Internet can offer an almost unlimited bank of terms, precedent materials, and even some very good advice on the formation process itself (like blogs, for instance), regardless of how “off the shelf” you believe your new enterprise to be, there are risks to mitigate and questions to consider that no amount of filling in blanks on a pre-prepared form can properly account for.
That’s where a good attorney comes in.
Continue reading “Why Should I Have an Attorney Form my Corporation (or LLC)?”
Rules of the Game 