Why do “businesses” and “agreements” go hand-in-hand? Because of relationships.
A lot of fancy, entrepreneurial buzzwords (e.g., “profit sharing,” “joint venture,” “B corp,” “partnership,” etc.) really boil down to understanding a business’s identity and how it relates to the rest of the world. A business has many relationships that it must remain mindful of both intentionally and passively. This includes more obvious relationships such as:
- Customers
- Clients
- Partners and Suppliers.
Less obviously, businesses have relationships with:
- Their Employees
- Business Regulators
- Our Government
- The Community
- People that have no intent on being a customer of the business and are simply passing by property owned by the business.
A business cannot succeed in a vacuum — it needs money coming in from its clients and customers and it will likely require money going out for things such as parts and suppliers. The dynamic created between the business and the source(s) of money coming in — as well as between the business and the destinations for the money going out — is likely to look different than the dynamic between friends, family members, romantic partners and ourselves.
The law helps to provide structure and transparency to these relationships. Determining what these structures are, is done, in part, by “the law on the books,” but in many cases, “the law” provides business owners with an opportunity to decide how they want to structure their business. The structural decision can have an impact on how a business might work or agree to work with other businesses. Understanding the relationship when things go well — and when they go bad, is an important aspect of planning for and operating a business.
Overly complicated, unclear language can reduce the integrity of a contract significantly.
Berger Law is here to guide you and your business through all aspects of the transactional process of business agreements and contracts to help you keep the integrity of your contracts – and consequently the integrity of your relationships – strong and long standing. Berger Law can be of particular assistance to clients that need counsel relating to:
- New business formation: Berger Law provides counsel on the best way to align business goals and determine the best structure based on you and your business’ unique needs.
- Articles of Incorporation and Articles of Organization: These documents are used to provide the basic terms for governing their respective entities. Articles of incorporation are used to establish a corporation, while articles of organization are used to establish a limited liability company (LLC).
- Operating agreements: Many times, these documents are required by financial institutions before a business banking account can be opened, these documents often lay out the financial and managerial responsibilities of the members of an LLC.
- Contract agreements and drafting: Contracts are one of the most vital aspects of a business relationship. A well-executed contract drafted by an experienced business attorney is necessary to preserve the integrity of your business and its relationships and prevent future litigation.
- Contract negotiations: In the pursuit of transparency for agreements and legal language, Berger Law is prepared to fight for your best interests.
- Governance issues: The structural decisions that businesses are at liberty to make can sometimes prove problematic later down the line. This has occurred when the structures and processes established by a business fail to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, equity and inclusiveness among other issues.