All Businesses In The Area Need An Auckland Business Lawyer

 

You don’t need to be a giant company with hundreds of employees, operating in different cities and countries before you can benefit from having an Auckland business lawyer on your side. Whether it’s just one employee or 100+, getting legal advice early is key for any business that seeks success long-term.

 

Some Example Services

Business Start-ups

When people are planning a business start-up, they are filled with enthusiasm about the project. Usually, the exciting parts like the product or service fill their minds.  However, there are many mundane issues that need to be considered.

 

These include formal incorporation of the business, financing the operation, safeguard your assets from creditors, and many more. None of these are interesting to the entrepreneurs plus these aspects are filled with lots of complex legal issues. If the entrepreneurs ignore these and treat them as legal mumbo-jumbo, they are leaving themselves open to many potentially stressful and expensive issues down the track.

 

By seeking advice from an Auckland business lawyer, you will be able to make the best decisions for your company.

 

Company Structure & Ownership Model 

A key issue to consider before getting under way with a business is the company structure and the ownership model.

 

For example, will you have a partnership or have a Limited Liability Company (LLC)? Each has its own merits and demerits. While a partnership has less rigorous reporting requirements, and is cheaper to set up, it does not offer the financial protection that an LLC does.

 

You also need to think about Shareholder Agreements. What happens if one of the owners want to sell their share? Who can they sell to?  What happens if an owner has a marital separation – what happens to the other spouses share of the business?

 

All these are issues that the owners of the fledgling start-up rarely consider yet they can become huge problems down the track.  A good business lawyers will be able to advise the best ways to organise these concerns.

 

For established businesses, it is a very good idea to have these documents put in place especially while all the directors are happy working together.  The problems arise when there are big disagreements. If there are strong and agreed Shareholder Agreements in place, however, agitated the people are, the documents will enable sensible discussions to take place.

 

Intellectual Property

Does your business have unique Intellectual Property (IP)? If so, how can you protect that from competitors or even employees?  If your IP is compromised, what recourse do you have?

Your Terms of Trade

Terms of Trade is the contract between a buyer and seller. For retail and consumer businesses, those are largely governed by various Acts like Consumer Protection and Guarantees.  However, for business-to-business transactions, the contract details can be the subject of protracted negotiations.

 

For routine B2B transactions where there are few negotiations, like selling uniform components, the seller still needs to have robust terms of trade. This can protect the seller by stating that the buyer does not become the owner until payment is received in full.

 

These are often the size of an A4 sheet so can be printed on the reverse of an order so that the buyer has the terms of trade when the transaction is made.

 

Business Acquisition and Sale

When people start a business, some envisage a high-priced sale to a big multi-national.  Others never even consider how they will leave the company. Yet one of the key decisions from a very early stage, is the exit strategy.

 

This should be planned before diving head-first into the enterprise as it will have huge implications for the way the business is set-up and the operational goals of the company.

 

To have a clear and agreed exit strategy, you will need to hire an Auckland business lawyer. Further, if you are looking at the acquisition of another business, you will again ned to hire a company or corporate lawyer. There will be a substantial quantity of paperwork, checks, due diligence and much more that you will need to have completed correctly. This must be done by a lawyer who has been trained in this area.

 

Summing Up Why You Need An Auckland Business Lawyer

Whether your business is small or large; new or established, it will need a range of different legal services. If they are in place before they are needed, life will be much easier.

 

For the security, growth and long-term value of your business, family, and working relationships, talk to an Auckland business lawyer. They will review your existing Agreements, documents, and other issues, then advise what needs to be created or reviewed.

 

McVeagh Fleming is a well-established law firm in central Auckland who can help.