Should you use an online legal form company for your business?
Unfortunately, corporate law is absolutely not a form practice. Online form companies are not the same as a law firm, and more importantly, they cannot give you legal advice customized to the individual needs of you or your business. LegalZoom’s disclaimer expressly states: “LegalZoom is not permitted to engage in the practice of law. LegalZoom is prohibited from providing any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.” The disclaimer even says that LegalZoom’s information is “not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date.”
A common nightmare resulting from poorly prepared corporate documents arises in the context of “business divorces.” There are certain questions that cannot be addressed by a standard online form. What are the owners’ day-to-day roles? What constitutes a “fundamental” change in the corporate purpose? What happens when the one owner decides to retire? What do the owners do when they are deadlocked on an important decision? How do they break a tie? What if someone is buying into a business that was established 15 years ago? What do owners do when one owner wants to sell his interest to a third party? What recourse does one owner have if he discovers that the other owner has started a separate entity that is stealing business opportunities from the company? These types of questions are among the hundreds of issues that simply cannot be solved by downloading a form online and filling in the blanks. These are, however, issues that can be addressed in governing documents which are properly prepared after a thorough discussion with the individual owners.
Each and every provision in a corporate document can and should be unique to an owner’sbusiness. Every business owner needs to put the same time and care into preparing corporate documents as they would into any other aspect of their business. More often than not, it is more cost effective to address the anticipated issues with competent counsel rather than taking the perceived “less expensive” short cut. If you are interested in forming a new business or evaluating your business’s current documents, please seek the advice of counsel to ensure your goals are attained. The attorneys at Waldron & Schneider would be happy to assist you.
The legal information in this blog entry is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. Further, nothing contained in this article is intended to create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. This article and website are made available by Waldron & Schneider for educational purposes only and to give basic information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this website you understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and Waldron & Schneider. The article and website should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. For more information or questions you can contact us and one of our attorneys will be in touch soon.
Throw back Thursday. In 1998, the attorneys and staff of Waldron & Schneider broke ground at the current location.
I remember that! Loved working there ❤️
I've never seen this before!
Makes me sad. But love it
Randy and Robbye ❤️
Oh wow!
Partner Kimberly Bartley writes about why a business may need a risk assessment policy in her blog.
Why do I need a Risk Assessment Policy?
www.ws-law.com
Risk Assessment Policies are a great tool to help business define areas of risk or vulnerability, both to their staff and customers.Partner Richard Simmons with his wife Jennifer and State Rep. Dennis Paul at the Space Center Rotary LEAP awards
Congratulations to partner Richard Simmons’ son Jacob and the Lakers for winning the Clear Lake Boys Basketball 2023 Championship.
Associate Attorney Shawn Williamson and his wife Kim Williamson attended the Economic Alliance Houston Port Region Annual Membership Banquet with Royal Harbor Partners Wealth Management Firm. The Economic Alliance brings together the industries main players and members of the Economic Alliance. Waldron and Schneider was honored represent the firm and it's commitment to the local economy and its businesses, small and large.