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Many Los Angeles business owners find themselves forced into litigation in order to enforce their legal rights as creditors. There are many legal tools available to enforce these rights: liens, levies, garnishments, and charging orders are just a few of many examples. These and other tools can be used to allow a creditor access to a debtor’s assets in order to satisfy debts that have been recognized by a court. An experienced Los Angeles corporate attorney can help you determine which tools will best enforce your company’s legal rights against its debtors.Asset-Protection-300x200

A writ of attachment is a particular tool which is used to protect specific assets from being disposed of before a judgment is reached. The writ of attachment is a legal order issued by a court to a law enforcement agent. A writ of attachment is typically requested soon after a case is filed (in order to freeze the defendant’s assets while the case is pending).  A writ of execution is issued at the end of a case after the judgment is reached, in order to enforce a judgment debt that has been awarded to the creditor. The California Code of Civil Procedure establishes the procedures for obtaining a writ of attachment. Section 487.010 specifies the property which is subject to a writ of attachment, including interests in real property, accounts receivable, equipment, farm products, inventory, final money judgments, money on the premises of the debtor’s business, negotiable documents of title, instruments; securities, and natural resources (such as minerals, oils, or gases) on the debtor’s property.

How a Writ of Attachment Can Help Your Business

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California recently surpassed France and Brazil to become the world’s sixth-largest economy. As such, California is home to many businesses with significant assets. In this fast paced, value creating culture, it is not unusual for asset purchase agreements to be completed with pre-printed forms and templates.

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Unfortunately, many business owners learn the hard way that an asset purchase template fails to address the particulars of the business assets being acquired or sold and provides inadequate protection for the financial and legal interests at stake. An experienced corporate attorney can help protect your company by structuring an asset purchase agreement that is suited to your transaction, enforceable, and able to cover a wide array of contingencies that may arise.

Many Things Can Go Wrong in an Asset Purchase Transaction

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Fotolia_148839470_Subscription_Monthly_M-300x200Risk management is an important strategy for any business. Silicon Valley businesses can protect themselves from liability with effective indemnification provisions – These provisions can be instrumental to easing the financial burden of a lawsuit against your company.  Rather than your company paying for the legal costs of a lawsuit due to one of your business partners, you can obligate your business partners to pay for the legal costs through an indemnification provision. Learn more about the terms and conditions of indemnification and how to protect your business from future legal liability.

How Do I Indemnify My Business?

The first step to drafting an effective legal indemnification is identifying the specific types of liability your business needs to be indemnified from. For example, some businesses, such as theme parks, are based around services which are potentially dangerous to consumers. It is important that these businesses appropriately indemnify themselves against claims by those who use their business facilities. Specifically, theme parks may want to consider obtaining an indemnification in any contract with repair or technician companies providing repair and maintenance to their theme park rides. Professionals with high rates of malpractice claims (such as obstetricians) must also consider the appropriate means for indemnifying themselves against legal claims by patients.

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Real-Estate-Investment-300x200Real estate is a major investment in Silicon Valley. The law provides many ways to protect real estate assets.  For instance, many investors choose to place real estate under the ownership of a corporation or limited liability company (“LLC”). An experienced Silicon Valley real estate attorney can help guide investors through every step in acquiring real estate. Structure Law Group will help you with all of your real estate investment needs, such as identifying potential acquisitions which are appropriate for your business, performing due diligence investigations, determining whether the investment should be made in the name of a business entity, determining which type of business entity is appropriate for your needs, and executing the transaction documents to give your new asset full legal protections.

Which Legal Entity is Right for My Real Estate Investments?

Both corporations and LLCs are separate legal entities with legal identities separate from that of their owners. However, these different types of entities are treated differently for income tax purposes. It is important to choose the right kind of entity to make sure your real estate is properly protected.  For instance, LLCs can allow for profits and losses to flow directly to their members, without being taxed on a corporate level. Corporations, on the other hand, must be taxed as a separate legal entity. Corporations also do not provide their officers and owners with the same extent of legal protection from claims and liability enjoyed by members of an LLC.  Nonetheless, every situation is unique, so a full analysis of which entity is always right for you is always necessary to make sure you are getting the most out of your investment.

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Fotolia_178717790_Subscription_Monthly_M-300x125California creditors have a variety of tools available to enforce their legal rights. The appropriate tool will depend on the circumstances. For example, in some instances, a lien may be placed on real and/or personal property in order to protect or enforce a creditor’s rights.  In the case of a debtor’s interest in an LLC, a charging order may be obtained creating a lien against the debtor’s membership interest in the LLC. Learn more about what a charging order is, how it works, and when it is the best tool for a creditor. An experienced San Jose corporate attorney can help your business find the best tools for enforcing creditors’ rights against any debtor.

What is a Charging Order and When is it Appropriate?

When a creditor has obtained a judgment against a debtor, the creditor may obtain a variety of different orders or liens to enforce the judgment against the debtor’s assets. These can include a garnishment of the debtor’s wages, a levy of the debtor’s bank accounts, or the creation of a lien against the debtor’s real estate and personal property. When the debtor possesses an interest in a limited liability company (LLC), a court may issue to the creditor and against the debtor a charging order in order to allow the creditor to try to enforce the judgment against the debtor’s membership interest in the LLC.

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Businesses are subject to many types of liens, such as civil judgments, tax liens, and mechanic’s liens.  These liens, and many others, can impair your company’s ability to turn a profit.  Protect your business assets by being proactive and contacting a San Jose corporate attorney.

What is a Lien?

A lien is a type of security interest on real or personal property, granted to a third party, that secures a debt payment or performance of an obligation.  Until the debt represented by that interest is paid, or performance completed, the third party that owns the lien can and will prevent the property owner from enjoying the full legal rights associated with the property in question.Lien-300x225  For example, if a business does not pay its taxes, the IRS or the California Franchise and Tax Board may place a tax lien on its assets.  As mentioned earlier, the lien can affect both real and personal property, so the lien could conceivably be placed on a company’s buildings and even its bank accounts.

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There are a variety of ways for a corporation to sell its assets without compromising its structural integrity or otherwise damaging the business.  One common method by which California corporations can sell assets is a stock purchase agreement.  For example, if an investor (which can even be a company) wants to buy stock in a company,

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the executing instrument is typically a stock purchase agreement.  The stock purchase agreement allows a business to sell its assets – and sometimes, certain voting and management rights – without actually selling the business itself.  In order to protect the assets at issue and protect the legal interests of the companies involved, a California corporate transactional attorney can help businesses effectively negotiate and execute stock purchase agreements.

What is a Stock Purchase Agreement?

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California business litigation is a long and complicated process. It is important to have an experienced litigator assess your case and review your lawsuit complaint to ensure that the process is done correctly from the start. This blog post goes over the process, and how an experienced California business litigation attorney can protect your company’s legal interests.litigation-300x139

The Stages of Business Litigation

The first step in business litigation is to prepare a California business lawsuit complaint and file it with the appropriate court. The complaint should specify the exact legal harm that has been suffered and the relief sought by the plaintiff. This will generally take the form of an estimate of the financial damages suffered as a result of the legal harm. Once the complaint has been filed, the lawsuit has officially started. The complaint must then be served upon the opposing party. That party has a short window in which to file an official response to the complaint.  If they fail to do so, the complaining party may ask the court for a summary judgment to get their requested relief. The vast majority of defendants answer lawsuits in a timely manner. Summary judgments on service grounds are, therefore, rare. Once an answer has been filed, the next phase of the lawsuit begins.

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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 employment law attorney can help you determine whether an HR department is right for your business.

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The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Human Resources 

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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 law attorney.

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Common Deductions

Tax liability is a function of a company’s profit less its operating and business expenses. These expenses are known as the taxpayer’s deductions. Thus, the greater a company’s deductions, the less overall tax liability it will have. This causes many companies and business owners to push the boundaries of allowable business deductions. While this can reduce the company’s initial tax liability, it can also result in a time-consuming audit and heavy fines. In serious cases, it can even result in criminal liability. It is, therefore, very important for business owners to ensure that they are making appropriate, lawful deductions.

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