Exit | Operate | Acquire | Start

Catherine’s consulting business routinely provides written proposals to prospective clients. Her practice is to have clients accept the...

How much would you pay a lawyer to tell you not to do something? A doctor wanted to buy a medical practice from the wife of a doctor who...

In a perfect world, the best way to keep a prospective client from taking ideas you share during a pitch is to have the prospect sign a...

Sellers sometimes regret selling their businesses. This is especially true when the seller is the founder. It's hard to let go. You might...

An LLC is a great tool for shielding your personal assets from your business liabilities, but it won't protect you from everything. It...

If the mediation is a negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party who can help each party see the strengths and weaknesses of its position and evaluate the likelihood of success and value of the claim, then I think mediation is valuable. Even if the mediation does not result in a settlement, each party walks away with valuable information that might help them negotiate a settlement later on.

A limited liability company (LLC) should be the default choice when you are thinking about starting a business, entering a joint venture,...

Five concerns startup businesses have: (1) Protecting personal assets, (2) Protecting and retaining your "toolkit," (3) Transferring ownership of work product, (4) Getting paid, and (5) Resolving client disputes.

If a company founder creates intellectual property ("IP") before forming an LLC or corporation, how does the LLC or corporation become...

Economic Downturns: Questions I saw my small business clients ask

One of my most successful clients recently reminded me that he started his consulting business during the 2008 recession when no one was...

Here's the Deal - how buyers and sellers of small businesses can better prepare for the acquisition process

You might need to provide copies of key company legal documents, such as Articles of Incorporation, a Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws for a corporation or Articles of Organization, a Certificate of Organization and an Operating Agreement for an LLC

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition: Review of Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel

Buy an existing business and grow it, rather than starting a business from scratch. That's the idea of "entrepreneurship through acquisition" or "ETA"

A lawyer's letter is a valuable tool, but, in my experience, rarely changes behavior if it's the only tool used. Instead, the lawyer's letter is just a step in the process.

Knowing which type of entrepreneur you are is one of the first steps to identifying the types of legal issues you will encounter in your business.

Virginia is now on the cutting edge of the employee versus independent contractor debate, and that could create a lot of legal problems...

Improve the efficiency and speed of your lawyer's creation of your Virginia LLC or corporation by being prepared to provide the following information during your initial phone or in-person consultation:

Most small business deals are AS IS. But even then, a buyer should try to get the seller to make the following limited reps and warranties in the purchase agreement: