Business Lawyers for Massachusetts
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Meet some of our Massachusetts Business Lawyers
Leonid G.
I have been practicing law since 2018. I used to be a litigator at a nationwide practice before going in-house at a fintech company. I have experience drafting NDAs, SaaS contracts, service agreements, and stock purchase agreements.
"Leonid was amazing. He understood the company ethos, our mission, and how to best update our contracts to serve both. He communicated with me on his progress and stayed within the budget I relayed to him. Will hire again for the next project."
John M.
John Mercer is a distinguished corporate counsel who is well-known for turning legal challenges into strategic assets. He possesses a deep understanding and expertise in intellectual property (IP), compliance, and corporate law, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. His proficiency lies in transforming legal complexities into strategic advantages, ensuring operational excellence, and driving innovation forward. John excels at safeguarding an organization's legal interests and integrity, ensuring operations adhere to the law. As a strategic leader, John excels at safeguarding an organization’s legal interests and integrity, ensuring operations adhere to the law. He also brings immense value to his profession through his skills in drafting, negotiating, and managing significant agreements that secure organizational interests with widespread industry impact. His unparalleled expertise in legal advisories significantly enhances compliance and develops risk management frameworks that protect and advance company ambitions. Moreover, John's command over patent and trademark portfolios, alongside his ability to drive innovation initiatives and design incentive schemes, substantially bolsters intellectual property prowess. John's areas of expertise are extensive, covering skills vital to corporate law, legal contract negotiations, material transfer agreements, and more. He is particularly adept in regulatory compliance, legal consulting, clinical trials, biotechnology, patents, and patent portfolio analysis, to name a few. His leadership is complemented by active listening, analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and other soft skills that make him a leader and visionary.
"Thank you John, I appreciate your very personal effort with quality and practicality in mind."
Bruce H.
Experienced patent attorney supporting a variety of technologies.
November 7, 2023
Nailah F.
Experienced Commercial & Contracts Counsel.
December 12, 2023
Alexis L.
I am an attorney in Michigan. I attended Boston College for my undergraduate degree and Suffolk University Law School for my law degree. I have been practicing law for over 20 years.
December 13, 2023
James S.
Business and Real Property
January 2, 2024
Elaine T.
Trusted Intellectual Property Attorney, Advisor and Strategic Partner
June 3, 2024
Colin M.
Experienced attorney with a substantial history of crafting, evaluating, and bargaining multimillion-dollar commercial and government contracts across diverse sectors, encompassing the US Army, DoD contractors, employee benefits, NASDAQ, Pharmaceuticals, and Finance.
Mark L.
I worked in the Intellectual Property Group at Fidelity Investments for almost 25 years, including managing the group from 2017-2021. I managed and developed the same high-performing group of three legal professionals from 2007-2021. Early in my career at Fidelity, I focused primarily on trademark matters, including trademark searching and clearance, as well as enforcement of trademark rights. In fact, I created Fidelity's trademark and brand protection programs and advanced them over more than two decades, eventually bringing the domestic trademark portfolio in-house and realizing savings of well over $2 million in outside counsel expenses for searching, prosecution and maintenance of US registrations from 2008-2021. Fidelity put me through law school, and I continued working full time while attending law school at night over four years. Upon graduation and passing the bar in 2006, I was promoted to an attorney position effective 1/1/2007. My practice broadened, and I began working on more transactional matters. I became a key transactional attorney for major technology groups and businesses within Fidelity, and negotiated numerous mission critical tech deals, transforming Fidelity's business. I provided transactional and IP support for Fidelity's software development and services affiliate in Ireland, and worked extensively with many of Fidelity's other foreign affiliates. Fidelity's General Counsel handpicked me to provide transactional and IP support to a new business initiative in 2017. That initiative became fintech startup Akoya, LLC, a paradigm-shifting business that enables secure, customer-controlled sharing of personal financial information between financial institutions and service providers. I developed template agreements between Akoya and data providers (financial institutions) and also between Akoya and data recipients (e.g. tax preparation services and financial advisors). Akoya had matured enough to be spun out by Fidelity in early 2020 to a consortium of financial services companies. In 2021, Fidelity offered a voluntary buyout to long-tenured associates, and following the pandemic, coupled with the financial and health benefits included in the package, it was an offer I could not refuse. Days later, my elderly father-in-law broke his hip, and my wife and I became his primary caregivers. It's been a blessing that I was able to contribute to his care and alleviate some of the burden on my wife. He is now in a long-term care facility, and I am eager to return to work as in-house counsel, whether on a contract basis, part time or full time. I did work briefly as a sole practitioner in 2021 and 2022, primarily helping friends, family and pro bono clients with NDAs, business formation issues, consulting agreements and license agreements. From August 2022 - July 2023, I was on the staff of Flex by Fenwick, an in-house counsel on demand business that is a subsidiary of the IP firm Fenwick & West, but did not get any engagements. My wife and I have volunteered for over a year with a dog rescue, Last Hope K9 Rescue, and have fostered several dogs, and adopted two of them!
June 6, 2024
Michael P.
I have been licensed since 2006 and have extensive experience in family law, personal injury, criminal law, and general litigation. I have a solo practice and I am seeking new opportunities.
John L.
I have been practising law for over 30 years. I have extensive legal experience in contract disputes and drafting demand letters. I have been lead counsel in over 100 civil and criminal jury trials and have extensive litigation stradegy knowledge. I belive my experience would be of great benefit to any prospective client.
July 26, 2024
Matthew S.
I am a business, Internet, and intellectual property lawyer. My practice is split between both transactional work and litigation. Prior to law school, I earned a master’s degree in computer science, which gives me the background and experience to understand technology, software, and the Internet better than most attorneys, and so my practice focuses on these areas. However, I represent clients in almost any industry, including real estate, construction, medicine, service, and consumer products.
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Browse Lawyers NowBusiness Legal Questions and Answers
Business
Shareholders Agreement
Massachusetts
Should I form a corporation around my research if I don't plan to conduct any other forms of business (e.g., hire, sell, or raising funding) in the next year?
Should I form a corporation around my work if I don't plan to conduct any other forms of business (e.g., hire, sell, or raise outside funding) in the next year? My research is computational in nature (can be done on my laptop) and doesn't require many resources.
Richard G.
The answer to this questions to some degree depends upon your tolerance for risk. If in performing your "business" you are not exposing yourself in any way to the outside world, e.g., hiring, selling, inviting investors, etc., then you may no little to no liability exposure. However, if there is any aspect of your work that would or could develop into something which does involve others, or which is relied upon by others, then the safest path would be to incorporate or form an LLC. LLC's are more expensive to maintain in Massachusetts, i.e., $500 annually, but require less paperwork (no shares to consider, etc.). An LLC should have an operating agreement, even with a single member to clearly distinguish the member as an individual from the LLC as a company. Incorporation is more expensive in the early stages as it requires you to pay your fee to the Secretary of State (about $275), which recurs annually. It is more heavy in terms of annual meeting minutes of shareholders, and other formal documents, and can be a bit more expensive as incorporating will require a shareholder's agreement and other documentation at the outset (not repeated annually).
Business
Employee Contract
Massachusetts
Can I file a claim for unpaid overtime wages?
I have been working for a small consulting firm for the past two years, and I recently discovered that I have not been receiving overtime pay despite regularly working more than 40 hours per week. According to my employment contract, I am classified as an exempt employee, but after researching the Fair Labor Standards Act, I believe that I may be misclassified and entitled to overtime compensation. I would like to know if I have a valid claim for unpaid overtime wages and what steps I should take to pursue this matter legally.
Frank G.
If you are "non-exempt" and thereby entitled to overtime. Determining whether a worker is an "exempt" employee and not entitled to overtime requires application of the law to the facts. For instance, an "exempt" executive employee are paid not less than $455 per week, have their primary duty to manage part of the busisess, regularly direct the work of two or more other employees, and have the authority to hire or fire other employees or to make recommendations about hiring and firing taken into account by their employers. An "exempt" administrative employee, are also paid at least $455 a week and has the primary duty of the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or its customers--and is an employee whose primary duty for the employer involves exercising their discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters significant to the employer. It's not always easy to determine if someone is a managerial or administrative employee however and it can be a gray area. There are lots of examples of overtime exemptions such as computer and creative professionals, outside sales people, some truck drviers, some mechanics and some people working at auto dealerships. You may be non-exempt and eligible for overtime under the law if you are a paid a salary based on a 40 hour work week but work more than 40 hours. If you are eligible for overtime there are laws protecting you from retaliation for complaining about not being paid overtime.
Business
Contract Agreement
Utah
Should I sign a contract if I don't understand what it is saying?
Has a contract with someone where if we disagreed we would go to mediation. They refused to go, they offered us a settlement as long as we signed another contract. I don't understand fully what it is saying.
Simon C.
You should never sign a contract or other legal documents if you do not understand them. Get help and advice from a qualified lawyer before entering into contractual and legal obligations.
Business
S Corp
Arizona
What are the advantages and disadvantages of forming an S-Corporation for my small business?
I am a small business owner and I am considering forming an S-Corporation for my company. I have heard that there are certain tax benefits and liability protections associated with this type of entity, but I am unsure of the specifics. Additionally, I am concerned about the administrative and legal requirements of maintaining an S-Corporation and how it may impact my business operations. I would like to understand the advantages and disadvantages of forming an S-Corporation in order to make an informed decision.
Daniel D.
Advantages of Forming an S-Corporation Tax Benefits: Pass-Through Taxation: An S-Corp does not pay federal income taxes at the corporate level. Instead, the income, deductions, and credits "pass through" to the shareholders, who report them on their personal tax returns. This avoids the "double taxation" that occurs with a C-Corporation. Self-Employment Tax Savings: As an S-Corp owner, you can divide income between salary and distributions. Only the salary portion is subject to payroll taxes (Medicare and Social Security), while distributions are not. This can reduce self-employment taxes. Tax Deductibility: Expenses such as health insurance premiums for shareholders may be deductible, along with business expenses. Liability Protection: Like other corporations, an S-Corp provides personal liability protection. Your personal assets (e.g., house, personal bank accounts) are generally shielded from business debts and legal actions against the company, provided you follow corporate formalities. Credibility: Forming an S-Corp can give your business greater credibility with customers, vendors, and lenders. It shows you are a legitimate business entity, which may help when seeking financing or contracts. Potential State Tax Benefits: Some states provide additional tax benefits for S-Corps, although this varies by state. Disadvantages of Forming an S-Corporation Ownership Restrictions: An S-Corp can have no more than 100 shareholders, and all shareholders must be U.S. citizens or residents. This can limit the growth potential if you plan to bring in additional investors. S-Corps can only issue one class of stock, which may restrict your ability to attract certain types of investors or structure equity creatively. Administrative and Legal Requirements: Corporate Formalities: S-Corps must adhere to certain formalities, such as holding annual shareholder meetings, maintaining a board of directors, keeping detailed records, and filing required documents with the state. Failure to follow these rules can result in losing your liability protection. Payroll Requirements: If you work in the business, you must pay yourself a reasonable salary, which adds payroll administrative costs. You’ll also have to withhold and pay employment taxes on that salary. Tax Complexity: While S-Corps offer tax advantages, they also bring complexity, especially when it comes to classifying distributions versus salary. Misclassification can trigger IRS audits or penalties. Some states do not recognize S-Corporation status, meaning your business may still be subject to state-level corporate taxes. Limited Flexibility in Income Allocation: S-Corps require that profits and losses be allocated strictly based on ownership percentage. This limits flexibility if you want to allocate profits disproportionately among shareholders.
Business
Cease and Desist
New York
How much for a cease and dismiss letter
Husband ex wife called my job trying to get me fired
Matthew S.
I have 38 years experience as an attorney. I have written effective cease-and-desist letters for just as long. I promise prompt and efficient service.
Quick, user friendly and one of the better ways I've come across to get ahold of lawyers willing to take new clients.
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Contracts Counsel was incredibly helpful and easy to use. I submitted a project for a lawyer's help within a day I had received over 6 proposals from qualified lawyers. I submitted a bid that works best for my business and we went forward with the project.
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