6 Reasons to Incorporate Your Business—Even As the Sole Employee

Founding and operating a new business can be a complex process. Many people decide to jump into business based on a good idea or a skill they have, without realizing all the questions they must answer and the challenges they will face in order to get their company up and running. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation out there that can lead new entrepreneurs down risky, haphazard, and unnecessary Read More

Intellectual Property Theft: The Cease & Desist Letter

Your intellectual property is the very core of your business. It is your ideas and innovations, your brand, and everything that makes your company unique. Any attempt to steal from your company should anger you, but a theft of intellectual property can be a particularly galling prospect. So what do you do when a current employee, or a former employee, or even a business rival steals your intellectual property? Read More

Selling Your Business? Be Careful of Misunderstandings

So, the time has come for you to sell your beloved business. Perhaps you are just getting too old to manage the company and you are ready to retire. Maybe this was your end-game all along and it is time to cash in. Whatever the case may be, it is easy to get excited when you find a buyer who is ready to pay you for the company you’ve worked so hard to build. But, as they say, don’t jump the gun. If you rush in too Read More

3 Common Situations When You Should Utilize a Nondisclosure Agreement

Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), also known as confidentiality agreements, are legally binding contracts used to ensure that one party does not share confidential or sensitive information regarding the other party with anyone who is not authorized to hear it. They are most often used in business to protect things like trade secrets, business plans, or other types of intellectual property. Depending on the Read More

5 Steps to Voluntarily Dissolve an LLC in California

In the State of California you cannot simply choose to stop running an LLC and walk away without tying up all the loose ends. Just as there are specific legal steps you have to take to create an LLC, there are specific legal steps you must take in order to dissolve an LLC. Whatever your reason for wanting to cease business, in order to voluntarily dissolve an LLC in California, you need to take the following Read More

4 Key Components of Any Vendor Agreement

Nearly every business at some point or another must rely on an outside vendor for certain products or services, whether it is simple office supplies, or a product that is integral to providing your own product or service. Particularly when you are dependent on a vendor for something that is vital to your operation, it is essential that you have rock-solid vendor agreements in place to ensure that your company’s Read More

Key Components of a Strong Job Offer Letter

A strong job offer letter is incredibly important, both for getting your relationship with the new hire started on the right foot and for protecting your company against any adverse action in the future should things with the employee not work out (i.e. a frivolous lawsuit stemming from an employee who was misled about the circumstances of their new job). The offer letter can be a key to convincing the potential Read More

What is a Buy-Sell Agreement and Why Does Your Business Need One?

Do you have dreams of starting your own business? If you want to have a chance to succeed, there is a nearly endless number of contracts and agreements that you will probably need to utilize to ensure that you are prepared for whatever your growing company will have to face. If you are going to have any co-owners, then one of the most important of those agreements is the “Buy-Sell Agreement.” It would be Read More

Intellectual Property Law: Understanding the Difference Between Copyrights and Trademarks

Intellectual property law can be convoluted and confusing, but also essential to your company’s success. We’d all love to believe that our competitors will play fairly or that our own employees will always be loyal. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that you have to expect and prepare for the worst in people. You work hard to be innovative and creative. You provide a product or a service that people enjoy. You Read More

Understanding the Exceptions to At-Will Employment

California’s Labor Code, like most states, officially recognizes that an employment relationship that does not specify a definitive time-period for the job is considered “at-will” employment. This means that the employer has the right to terminate the employment without cause or warning, just as the employee has the right to end the employment relationship themselves at any time, without prior notice. However, Read More