I recently taught a program in San Jose to lawyers concerning California B corporations, a subject I covered in prior blogs. As a corporate lawyer, I have been asked by current and prospective business owners whether this new type of entity was the right choice of entity for them. B…
Business Lawyers Blog
New Rules for Business Entities Change of Ownership Reporting for Real Property
As a Silicon Valley business lawyer, I have many clients that are limited liability companies, partnerships, and corporations which own real property in California. It is common knowledge that when property changes hands in California, the property will be reassessed (unless an exception applies). However, people often forget that similar…
Fighting Over Profits – The Earnout, Part 2
Although most of my career as a merger and acquisition and corporate lawyer has been spent in San Jose, issues involving earnouts do not have geographic boundaries. While many companies are acquired for their team or their technology, other companies are acquired because they make money for their stockholders. Earnouts…
Is a B Corporation the Right Choice of Entity for Your New Company?
I recently taught a program to California lawyers for the Santa Clara County Bar Association concerning B corporations, a subject I covered in a previous blog. As a Silicon Valley business attorney, with an increasing number of clients forming new companies, I want to discuss some attributes of these corporations…
I’ll Pay You Tuesday for Your Company Today – The Earnout, Part 1
Whether you are negotiating an acquisition in Silicon Valley or Small Town, USA, a part of the purchase price is often deferred. I have discussed in prior blogs those portions of the purchase price that are held back to reduce the buyer’s risk of liabilities and issues with post-closing audits.…
Stopping Illegal Acts by Current and Former Employees
As a business litigation lawyer in Silicon Valley, I have seen quite a few employee-related issues come up for businesses in San Jose and Santa Clara. For the purpose of this blog, I have combined issues of several clients into one hypothetical owner of a small Internet company. The owner…
New California Law Regarding Willfully Misclassifying Employees as Independent Contractors
As a corporate and business lawyer in San Jose, I have been busy speaking with Silicon Valley business owners about a recent California law affecting companies that have misclassified employees as independent contractors. When the 2008 economic crisis hit, large high tech companies and small start-ups in San Jose, Santa…
Proposed Filing Deadlines Could Impact Fundraising in California
As a Silicon Valley business attorney, I often help small businesses and start-up companies in San Jose and Santa Clara with their financing transactions. Whether my client is a newly formed software corporation getting capitalization from its founders or an existing company trying to raise money by making a preferred…
Contractor State License Board Now Issues Licenses to Limited Liability Companies in California
As a Silicon Valley small business attorney, I am regularly helping new clients with choosing their form of entity. Almost as often, I am asked to help new clients complete entity formations that they did themselves on-line. Much too often I have to tell these small business owners that their…
Combating Unfair Competition By Competitors
In fiercely competitive Silicon Valley, businesses of all sizes must be on guard to prevent unfair competition. Unfair competition consists of business piracy, theft of trade secrets, and other dishonest or fraudulent acts in the course of business. As a business litigation lawyer in San Jose, I have seen companies…