A corporate law lawyer is quite simply an expert in corporate law. They are highly specialized particularly in the laws governing shareholders, financial reporting, and tax codes.
Corporate law covers a vast range of practice areas, and lawyers are specialised in a particular type of work. Corporate law attorneys typically practice in one or two areas and deal with a wide range of business related issues affecting a corporation, which can include the following:
- Business structuring and planning
- Articles of incorporation
- Buy-sell agreements
- Purchase or leasing of equipment or property
- Labor and employment
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Finance and banking
- Real estate
- Due diligence
- Contracts and contract disputes
- Operation and compliance
- Reformation
- Dissolution
- Bankruptcy
- Securities arbitration
- Securities offerings
- Tax planning
- Intellectual property
- Professional malpractice
There are basically two types of corporate lawyers: business transactional lawyers and business litigation lawyers. Each play very different roles and responsibilities in a wide variety of business transactions to help clients reach their business goals.
Business transactional attorneys provide legal advice and assistance in structuring complex business transactions for businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to multi-million dollar corporations. They spend most of their everyday corporate practice in research, drafting, documenting, negotiating, and advising clients in managing corporate activities, such as in the following:
- Forming corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships
- Purchasing and/or merging of companies
- Preparing employment agreements, specifically for executives, sales staff and independent contractors with high compensation that includes specialized bonus schemes and commission arrangements, and which require appropriate non-compete agreements and other restrictive covenants
- Structuring and implementing executive compensation arrangements and benefits, including stock purchase plans, stock appreciation rights and phantom stock arrangements, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, supplemental executive retirement plans, stay bonus retention plans and executive severance arrangements
- Managing borrowing and lending transactions with banks and private lenders
- Arranging independent contractor and agency relationships
- Entering joint ventures and working with strategic partners
- Crafting agreements for sales of goods and services, and supply arrangements
- Developing marketing agreements, resale or distribution agreements, or franchising deal
- Licensing, selling, acquiring, and protecting copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property assets
Their main goal is to ensure that all business transactions comply with relevant regulations and laws in order to protect the business from unexpected and unreasonable exposure to liability and risk.
Corporate litigation lawyers handle different types of business issues that require any type of legal remedy. They provide legal advice and representation in a wide variety of commercial disputes, such as:
- Partnership disputes
- Breach of fiduciary duty claims
- Shareholder derivative actions and disputes
- Disputes over non-compete agreements and trade secrets disclosures
- Employment disputes
- Fraud
- Misrepresentation and concealment claims
- Business theft claims
- Business defamation cases
- Claims arising from intentional interference with contracts
- Intellectual property disputes
- Patent and trademark cases
- Breach of warranty claims
- Product liability and manufacturing claims
- Professional negligence or malpractice claims
If a corporation is facing potential dispute, an attorney that specializes in corporate litigation can provide valuable guidance at every step of the dispute process, from initiating court action, exploring alternatives to litigation and in presenting the case to the court. His goal is to assist entrepreneurs and companies get the best possible outcome in any dispute, whether it is to negotiate a fair settlement or make arguments to the judge or jury on behalf of his client.
Every business owner needs the expertise and experience of a corporate law lawyer to help their company grow. With the right attorney to provide proper counsel and representation, your business can avoid legal issues that may potentially hold it back and, at the same time, help it make use of various opportunities that will increase its potential and send it to new growth levels.
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