Business Lawyer In South Jersey And Greater Philadelphia

Our firm can meet the full range of legal needs for many closely held companies, including business formation, contract negotiation and review, tax planning, business purchase and sale transactions, as well as many other legal services.

Our firm provides general counsel-type services for various closely held family business operations. We also represent business clients in freestanding engagements related to complex or novel transactions or disputes.

Practical Business Advice Matched to Individual Client Needs

Clients benefit from our ability to integrate a practical understanding of their business with our familiarity with the legal and procedural considerations that affect a particular opportunity or problem. We also know how to meet the immediate challenges of a legal problem without losing sight of a client’s vital long-range interests or objectives. Our emphasis on developing strong attorney-client relationships means that you will receive prompt, attentive and cost-effective service to meet all your legal needs.

The Dopkin Law Firm handles an unusually wide range of legal problems for our clients. Most clients find that we can help with all of their transactional and litigation matters. If a particular problem lies outside of our experience, we will help you gain access to more specialized attorneys and other professionals who can meet your needs.

Wide-Ranging Business Law Practice in Cherry Hill

Examples of the kinds of work we perform for business clients include:

• Corporate governance and management
• Maintaining corporate documentation and annual records
• Business formation, registration, restructuring and other organizational needs from startup to sale or succession
• Business operations through contract negotiation, review and enforcement
• Real estate transactions: office or retail leases; lease assignments, options, extensions and renewals; purchases and sales; business purchases, sales or mergers; and succession planning
• Development and implementation of personnel policies, negotiation and documentation of executive or professional employment contracts and shareholder agreements
• Partnership agreements
• Ownership disputes
• Buy-sell agreements

As well as advising and representing closely-held business entities, the Dopkin Law Firm works with nonprofit corporations and membership associations throughout greater Philadelphia and South Jersey.

For additional information about the range of our practice and our approach to client service in business transactions and commercial litigation, contact the Dopkin Law Firm.

Entity Selection, Business Formation and Startup

It is easy to understate the importance of the formalities of business entity selection and registration. You can gain an understanding of the mechanics of business formation online, and canned business startup kits will let you form your own corporation or LLC simply by filling in the blanks. However, no online package will take the place of sound legal advice in business entity selection and formation.

While no entrepreneur has ever made a fortune simply by getting the details right in organizing a new business, many business owners have lost a great deal of money through missed opportunities and needless exposure to risk by making mistakes in choosing the form of their business. Contact an attorney specializing in business and tax law and proficient in entity selection options to find out what makes sense for your situation.

Understanding Entity Selection Options in Terms of Your Own Objectives

Choosing from the various business entity options is a practical decision that should reflect your own priorities, management strengths, concerns for risk, tax characteristics and long-range plans for yourself and your family. In other words, you can’t make the right choice between an S-corporation and LLC simply by comparing their different features. You need to consider how the different features of each business formation option will affect your interests at different stages of your company’s growth.

At the Dopkin Law Firm, we advise entrepreneurs, business owners and established companies about the best ways to utilize business entities to serve their practical needs and to support continuing business interests. We can help you evaluate your options with advice based on experience and focused on the realities of your situation and your long-range objectives.

Most startups will take one of the following forms:

• S-corporation
• C-corporation
• Limited liability company (LLC)
• Limited or general partnership
• Sole proprietorship

We also advise nonprofit organizations and membership associations about the process of organizing, obtaining 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the IRS and staying on top of the details of corporate governance and management.

Adapting Organizational Documents to Meet Ownership Group Needs

Any new business will need to evaluate the management and governance features of the various entity selection options. Under any of the corporate forms, articles of incorporation and bylaws will define most of the roles and responsibilities of the new corporation’s direction. In an LLC or partnership, management roles will normally be defined under the terms of a carefully drafted operating or partnership agreement.

Additional organizational instruments can address such considerations as rights of first refusal for the purchase of equity interests, confidentiality and non-competition obligations, and the distribution of profits in a manner other than a proportionate share of capital contributions. Entrepreneurs should also be aware that careful attention to the organizational details of a business can make the business more attractive to customers, clients, lenders and prospective business purchasers.

Let Us Serve as Your Company’s General Counsel

If your business can count on a single law firm to handle most or all of its legal requirements, you stand to realize genuine economies of scale. To learn about the benefits of a general counsel relationship with a law firm that combines depth and breadth of experience, contact our office.

While we do not take for granted a continuing relationship with a new client beyond the first engagement, we always work as though we’re in the early stages of a longstanding professional relationship. The quality of advice, the range of your options for a favorable outcome and your confidence in what your legal team is doing for you all increase substantially when you and your lawyers know one another well. The Dopkin Law Firm’sclients are quick to recognize the effort and investment we make getting to know them and their business, their industry and their long-term goals.

Personalized Client Service from A Trusted Advisor

We visit clients at their business locations whenever we can. This not only saves time and trouble for the companies we serve, but it gives our lawyers insight into a client’s management style, competitive challenges and the practical considerations that must always inform legal advice. Our law firm takes pride in our ability to meet a wide range of client needs in a variety of industries and professions:

• Business entity selection, formation and registration
• Purchase and sale of businesses and business assets
• Real estate transactions
• Business licensing and registering problems
• Restrictive covenants
• Organizational problems between shareholder or partnership factions
• Management of tax and business risks
• Management succession planning

To learn more about the benefits of a general counsel relationship with the Dopkin Law Firm, contact us.