Startup Lawyers for Billings, Montana
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Niki Z.
With more than 20 years of nonprofit, small business, and government experience, Niki can assist you on a wide range of legal issues, including creating new entities and avoiding compliance pitfalls.
Tim B.
Attorney Tim Baldwin is the founder of Property Management Law Solutions, PLLC, a Florida law firm that specializes in representing landlords, property owners, apartments, and property management companies in a variety of property related legal matters, like evictions, security deposit disputes, fair housing matters, civil defense, damages actions, risk mitigation, partition, code violation, lease enforcement, and other real property litigation. Starting as a prosecutor from 2004 to 2006, Tim Baldwin gained invaluable experience as a courtroom litigator and to date has tried nearly 60 jury trials. When he opened his law practice in 2006, Tim focused his law practice on helping landlords in the Florida Panhandle. Since then, Tim Baldwin has expanded his law practice across Florida and become known as one of the premier Florida attorneys in landlord and property law. Tim regularly speaks at events for real estate groups, such as apartment and property management associations and real estate investment groups. Tim also hosts his own podcast, Property Management Law Solutions Podcast, where he discusses a wide range of landlord and property management related topics, and is frequently asked to be a guest on other podcasts nationwide.
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Gregory F.
Greg Fidlon has been practicing exclusively in employment law since 1998. He represents and advises clients in all aspects of the employment relationship. In addition to his litigation work, Greg regularly negotiates and drafts corporate policy handbooks, employment contracts, separation agreements and restrictive covenants. He also develops and presents training programs and has spoken and written extensively on labor and employment law topics.
"The proposal price was very reasonable, and the lawyer promptly scheduled a consultation, and provided sound legal advice."
Orly B.
Orly Boger has worked in the high tech industry and in a leading law firm before launching her law firm. Orly focuses on startup companies and technology transactions. She structures and negotiates software and technology license agreements, strategic partnerships, cloud-based/SaaS agreements, internet related transactions, OEM agreements, supply, distribution, telecommunications. In addition, Orly has experience in serving as an in-house legal counsel for start up companies at various phases of their development, providing strategic legal advise to entrepreneurs and emerging companies with a comprehensive understanding of the business and legal issues. She has been helping companies develop a legal strategy for all aspects of their operations, from commercial transactions and partnerships, scalable SaaS or services agreements, privacy policies, employment related policies, open source licensing and much more.
"Quick response every time, fast to revise the documents. Great to give advice"
Brian S.
Corporate attorney with 16+ years of in-house counsel, people leadership and client management experience. Provides legal expertise and a business-oriented approach to problem solving and building lines of business. Consistently works under pressure, prioritizing and managing workload and simultaneous tasks to meet deadlines in a changing, fast-paced environment.
"Great work and communication. Would recommend working with Brian!"
Sunnita B.
Experienced sports and entertainment attorney. I specialize in contracts, business formation, licensing, wage disputes, negotiations, and intellectual property.
"Sunnita was quick to respond to my questions. Great service."
March 26, 2022
Pankaj R.
I advise clients in the areas of business, trademarks, real estate, employment, and finance. My overarching goals are to unite creative people and companies to assist them in making sound legal and business decisions. I have been fortunate enough to build a fast-growing, 21st-century law firm with an amazing staff by my side. Our focus is not just on providing invaluable legal insight but creating a better all-around client experience. We provide unique subscription pricing and flat-fee options for our clients, providing billing transparency and enhanced value to all of our wonderful clients. Focus areas: contract drafting, negotiations, research, trademarks international law, entertainment, business development, entity choice; business: manager, team builder, leader, motivator. Speaking Engagements: National Business Institute (NBI) - "Business Contracts 101"
March 26, 2022
Neilson B.
Hi, I am the founding member of Son of Brown Law Firm, based in Charlotte North Carolina. Our firm practices in the areas of Business Transactions, Cannabis/Hemp, Personal Injury and Immigration Law.
March 29, 2022
Patrycja S.
Freelance attorney helping others beat overflow work by assisting with legal research, legal drafting, discovery, litigation support and client relations.
May 17, 2022
Jerry L.
Jerry provides legal advice to business owners regarding contracts, business law, labor & employment, wills and estates, and real estate.
John M.
Seasoned professional with experience in wide variety of contract negotiation and review.
April 27, 2022
Aaron B.
I have been in practice for over 19 years. I have substantial experience across the spectrum of civil practice areas both as a litigator and transactional counsel. This includes: negotiating commercial and real estate transactions, corporate organization, commercial agreements, and resolving commercial disputes, and litigating numerous civil, administrative, and criminal cases through all phases of litigation from trial through appeal, as well as judgment enforcement. My vast experience as a litigator is an asset to my transactional clients. My background in Investigating and proving the breakdown of business relationships in court allows me a unique advantage in drafting, negotiating, and closing business transactions.
Startup Legal Questions and Answers
Startup
Shareholders Agreement
Ohio
How to track shareholders agreements?
I am a business owner and I have recently incorporated my business. As part of the incorporation process, I have created a shareholders agreement with my co-founders. I am looking to ensure that this agreement is properly tracked, documented, and monitored over time. I am seeking guidance on the best methods to track shareholders agreements and any advice on how to ensure the agreement is being followed.
Paul S.
There are cap table management companies such as Carta and Pulley, that can help with this (for a fee). As long as your company has only issued common stock, maintaining a cap table and stock ledger in Excel is more than adequate. I also recommend storing PDFs of the stock purchase agreements in a cloud-based folder labeled "Stock Purchase Agreements." In terms of officer roles, the corporation's Secretary is responsible for maintaining these shareholder records.
Startup
Software Agreement
Florida
Software agreement and maintenance?
I am an entrepreneur who is planning to launch a new software product. I am in the process of negotiating a software agreement with a potential partner, and I need to make sure that I understand my obligations regarding maintenance of the software. I have limited experience in this area and need to ensure that I have a comprehensive agreement that covers all of the necessary points.
Daniel D.
Your maintenance obligations will largely depend on what is written into the software agreement between you and your partner. If you and your partner agree you can have a very broad or very limited obligation, but it should be clear so you avoid any disputes in the future. A comprehensive agreement can include any provisions you and your partner agree on as long as it does not violate State Law or Public Policy.
Startup
C Corp
Ohio
C corp and equity dilution?
I am an entrepreneur who is in the process of forming a C Corp. I am looking to raise capital to fund my business and I am considering issuing equity to potential investors. I am concerned that issuing equity to investors could lead to dilution of my ownership, so I am looking for legal advice on the best way to structure my equity offerings to minimize dilution.
Paul S.
If you want to avoid dilution, then you need to fund the business with your own resources, and pay all your workers with money rather than equity. Otherwise, when building a business, dilution is simply a reality you have to live with. You can start out with a large amount of ownership, for example, 80% of the authorized shares, but over time dilution is inevitable. Which would you rather have, 90% of a company worth $200,000, or 55% of a company worth $1 million?
Startup
Convertible Note
California
Convertible note vs. equity financing?
I am an entrepreneur and I am in the process of raising capital for my startup. I am considering both convertible note and equity financing options and am trying to decide which one is best suited for my company. I need to understand the key differences between the two options to make an informed decision.
Thaddeus W.
Good question. Convertible notes (as well as SAFE's, discussed below) differ from equity in several respects. The most fundamental difference is that a convertible note is debt. A second major difference is that, although the note is debt, its terms include the noteholder's right to acquire an equity position in the future; if a certain event later occurs (defined in the note, but typically the sale of preferred stock to a future investor (e.g. a venture capital firm), but also a sale of the company can have a similar effect), this will trigger the note to convert into equity and the note is "satisfied" ... that is, the debt is extinguished when the note converts and the holder thereby becomes an equity holder (typically coming to own shares of preferred stock very similar to that issued to the future investors in that triggering event). These two differences are related to a third. A convertible note is often issued without a valuation of the company. For example, when a startup business has no operating history, it is impossible for the startup founders or the investor to decide what the company is worth. Equity cannot be issued for a fair market value (FMV), since there is no basis to determine what the FMV is. A convertible note resolves that by giving the investor (the note holder) the right to convert the note into equity later on, when another investor and the company can agree on a company valuation. In other words, the convertible note allows the company to "kick the can (of valuation) down the road" to be dealt with at another time. But, since a convertible note is debt, is has a repayment provision, and normally carries interest. This means that the note is carried on the company's balance sheet as debt, and presents the company with the future obligation to repay the note if a conversion event has not happened before the note's maturity date. So, SAFE's are often used, especially now that they have become so familiar to investors. (SAFE stands for Simple Agreement for Future Equity). Essentially, as SAFE is a convertible note without the debt features. A SAFE carries no interest and does not have to be repaid. The investor in a SAFE will normally be sophisticated and able to assess the chances the company will do well enough for a conversion event (the issuance of preferred stock, or a sale of the company) to result in the investor's SAFE converting, and thus give the investor comfort that would otherwise be lacking in an instrument that has no repayment obligation. Like a convertible note, a SAFE kicks the can of valuation down the road, where a valuation can later be determined by the company and a future investor. Founders should exercise caution in issuing convertible notes or SAFE's. Among other reasons, founders commonly do not appreciate the impact that convertible notes or SAFE's can have on the founders' own ownership. Convertible notes and SAFE's often include a feature called a "valuation cap." This can result in surprising dilution, as well as the issuance of equity to the converting note or SAFE holder at what is effectively a very low price per share, costing the company far more than the founders may have expected. Also, notes and SAFE's with very similar, but different, terms can result in a complicated capitalization table, making negotiations with venture capital firms later on more difficult, an equity transaction more complex, and thus the process more time-consuming and (therefore) more expensive.
Startup
LLC
Illinois
LLC and management structure?
I am in the process of starting a business and am considering forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC). I want to understand the management structure of an LLC and how it works in practice. I am interested in how the management structure can help protect me from personal liability, and how it can provide a framework for decision-making and dispute resolution.
Talin H.
Hi, congrats on starting a business! You're asking all of the right questions. The short answer is that your LLC operating agreement can spell out in as much detail as you want what decisions the Manager of the LLC is free to make on their own, and what decisions require a vote from the other Members. You can also elect to have a multi-manager LLC, in which each Manager is responsible for different aspects of the business, such as day-to-day operations versus overall business strategy versus capital raising. Again, each one of these Manager roles can specifically delineate what decisions and actions the Manager can take automatically, without other Members' prior approval. I specialize in business and corporate transactions and have drafted 100s of LLC operating agreements. I would be delighted to help you. Please reach out at talin@hitiklaw.com or call my office at (312)685-2292.
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