Business Formation & Structure
Fantetti Legal provides clients with some of the most important legal services involved in organizing, operating, financing, and expanding their businesses. Business clients range from individual entrepreneurs to regionally focused and State-wide recognized companies. We serve as general corporate counsel for many of our corporate clients and handle specific matters for others. Each client, large or small, is given personal attention and the benefit of knowledge and experience in multiple areas of the law.
In contrast to firms that have experienced rapid turnover of their business law staff in recent years, to high prices law firms that do not get to know their client’s and understand their business, Fantetti Legal combine’s judgment and maturity borne of experience and substantive legal expertise, along with the familiarity of approach that comes from working in various areas of corporate business practice.
Expressing passion for business and wanting the best outcome for each client, while successfully structuring, negotiating and closing sophisticated business transactions and agreements requires a lawyer to have not only experience, knowledge and creativity, but also the organizational skills to manage and coordinate the project.
Fantetti Legal achieves these ends by providing a wide array of services that are essential to every business:
CORPORATE FORMATION
This area of the law refers to establishing a business and registering it with the state’s Secretary of State office. There are different business entity choices to choose from and it is important to seek legal counsel to ensure the appropriate entity is selected that provides the best strategic, legal, taxation, and liability protections. Whether the entity is a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation, once your business is registered, you are required by law to obtain business licenses, permits, corporate documentation and the maintenance of corporate governance. The most important reason companies are created is to keep company liability separate from a business owner’s individual assets and wealth. Before starting a business it is vital that you seek the counsel of an attorney.
CORPORATE DOCUMENTATION
Establishing a company is a document driven process. To register your business, you need to file specific documents with the State of Florida. To form a company you’ll need to establish your business name and register your legal with the State of Florida. If you choose to operate under a name different than the officially registered name, you’ll most likely have to file a fictitious name form (also known as an assumed name, trade name, or DBA name, short for "doing business as"). Furthermore, as an example, if you become a corporation, you need to file articles of incorporation and maintain compliance with Florida’s Business Corporation Act. Corporations must establish directors and issue stock certificates to initial shareholders in the registration process. These are only a few of the processes involved in starting a corporation. The documentation necessary to comply with the laws of the State of Florida vary depending on what entity selection is made.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
This refers to a system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled. Corporate governance essentially involves balancing the interests of the many stakeholders in a company - these include its shareholders, organizers, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community. As discussed in the Corporate Formation section above, if corporate governance is not properly maintained, a company and its owners, directors, etc. are at risk of losing the shield of liability protections it has fought so hard to attain which is called “piercing the corporate veil (a situation where a company’s owners are held personally liable for the actions or debts of a company). It is important that every business maintains good corporate governance by having a corporate book that holds records, meeting minutes, stock or membership unit ledgers, corporate by-laws or an LLC operating agreement, certificates of good standing, and much more in order to avoid legal problems that arise from failing to maintain good corporate governance.
FRANCHISING
Franchising is the right to use a company’s business model and branding for a prescribed period of time while conducting operations under those obligations. Due to the fact that a franchisee obtains all licensing rights and opportunity rights from the business owner (franchisor), it is imperative that a franchise agreement is properly drafted, reviewed and negotiated to protect legal rights and principles of important intellectual property, products, services, or methods.
GENERAL CORPORATE ADVICE
Many corporate clients seek an attorneys' advice for rare agreements, counseling on ideas, and to serve as a point-of-contact for business assistance in private or public companies. Fantetti Legal can assist with matters in corporate law that may not be mentioned on this list.