5 Issues Governed By Business Transaction Law
When you hear the term "business transaction law," you likely assume that it has something to do with buying, selling, and transferring items. Dealing with those certainly falls under the heading of business transaction law services, but there are plenty more things an attorney can help you with, too.
Employment Contracts
Whether you're dealing with full employees of a business or outside contracts, it's good to get the terms down in writing. A lawyer can assist you with drawing up standard documents or creating ones that are specific to the position in question. They also can keep an eye out for issues that might lead to employment or discrimination claims.
Licensing
Businesses often sell licenses for the products and services they offer. Similarly, they may need to obtain licenses from other organizations. It's important to handle licensing on terms that protect your rights, and an attorney can make sure you don't step in a bucket of trouble by signing off on a license too soon.
Strategic and Joint Partnerships
Pooling your resources with another business can have many advantages. It also presents numerous opportunities for things to go sideways due to misunderstandings, ambiguities, and even fraud.
Organization
The legal structure of a business plays a role in many issues, including taxation, liability exposure, and internal voting rights. You want your business to be organized in a manner that helps get its job done.
It's also important to review organizational issues from time to time to determine if restructuring might be wise. Getting legal counsel is especially important if you're handling things like changing the corporate structure, acquiring another business, or selling off a portion of your operations. In many cases, it's critical to resolve outstanding liabilities before you make these moves. Likewise, there may be questions about representations made to other parties during the process.
Issuing Equity and Securities
Few choices a company makes open it up to more legal scrutiny than issuing equity and securities. This is when a company puts its own resources out there as financial instruments that can be purchased. In the case of securities, those instruments may also be traded.
Once a business crosses this line, it takes on new reporting requirements. Depending on the size and structure of the company, reports may be required on anywhere from a quarterly to a yearly basis. Holders of these instruments have rights, and they can pursue legal action if you fail in your duties.