Business Law is the area of law that involves the creation and needs of a “business”. A business can be any activity or enterprise entered into for profit, usually a company, a corporation, partnership, or any such formal organization.
A corporation exists legally as a separate entity from its owners. It has many of the same rights as individual people, and can obtain loans, sue and be sued, own things, and enter contracts. An important purpose behind establishing a corporation is to create ‘limited liability’, which means that a company’s owners or shareholders are not personally responsible for the debts or legal issues of the corporation.
A limited liability company, or LLC, is a business that allows for both the limited liability protections of a corporation and the simplicity of a sole proprietorship. They do not require the existence of a board of directors, as a corporation does, and the owners are taxed based on their personal profits or losses, rather than that of the corporation itself.
A sole proprietorship is the simplest way to manage a business if you are the sole owner of your business. It requires no paperwork to start, unless you want to operate your business without using your personal name. In these cases, all that is required is a DBA (“doing Business As” registration) or business license. One incentive of a sole proprietorship is that you are not required to file a separate tax return for you and for your business. The drawback, however, is that they do not have the personal liability protection that corporations and LLCs provide.
Some of the areas in which we can help your business include:
- Articles of Incorporation
- Banking and Credit Laws
- Contract Enforcement
- Labor Laws
- Liability and Property Issues
- Licenses and Registrations
- Securities Laws
- Tax Laws
We advise and service small and large businesses throughout Michigan. If your business is in need of legal assistance, please take advantage of our extensive knowledge of Michigan business law.