Silicon Valley companies have human resource (HR) departments to manage employment issues. HR departments both limit the company’s exposure to legal liability for employment-related claims and facilitate the timely resolution of workplace disputes. For small companies, however, it can be difficult to train, staff, and maintain HR employees. A Silicon Valley…
For California business owners, knowing what expenses are deductible from tax liability is not just a sound financial strategy. It can also prevent criminal liability for tax fraud and other white collar crimes. Ensure that all your financial and legal interests are protected by consulting with an experienced California tax…
For many businesses, promissory notes are a significant asset in the company’s financial portfolio. Securing such a promissory note with a personal guarantee can be an important step in protecting the company’s financial interests. Unfortunately, many business owners learn the hard way that a simple promissory note template is not…
Of the many challenges faced when starting a business, creation of a company’s bylaws can be one of the more complex, technical, and overwhelming challenges of them all. While daunting, such agreements can protect startup companies from liability in business transactions. A Silicon Valley corporate lawyer can help your business…
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are complex business transactions with much on the line. If a merger or acquisition is not successful, a business can lose substantial assets. Of course, no one would intentionally enter into an acquisition transaction knowing it would fail; however, reports have indicated that more than half…
Selling a business can be an extremely lucrative prospect, but like any business transaction, the deal can go wrong and can be unnecessarily costly. The sale of a business usually is not the sale of one asset; instead, all the assets of the business are sold or transferred. One way…
Often, selection and formation of a startup can be stressful and confusing. But it is not the end of the process. In order to protect your startup and its status, many steps must be followed to continue to ensure the startup remains in good standing with local and state laws.…
An earnout is a type of pricing structure used in mergers and acquisitions that makes some of the purchase price contingent on the performance of the business after the acquisition has taken place. In this sense, the sellers must “earn” this part of the sale price. At its most basic,…
Government contracts can be lucrative for many companies, large or small. Often, one company wants to bid on a government contract but needs assistance from another company to fully perform the contracted work. In such cases, the two companies would combine their resources to share the bid and the contract,…
Many considerations go into deciding which legal entity to choose when starting a business. In some cases, as the business grows, it may even want to convert into a different entity type. For example, if it began as an LLC and the owner now plans on seeking angel investment, he/she…