The email arrives and it looks like validation. A private equity firm has found you, they love what you've built, and they're putting a number on it - I number that seems almost excessively large, almost double what a typical buyer would offer. The letter of intent (LOI) is polished, friendly, an...
Will, Trust, or Both? How Louisiana Business Owners Should Actually Think About Succession By Business Law Group | Estate Planning and Trusts Louisiana is one of only two states in the country with forced heirship laws, and if you own a business, those laws apply to you regardless of how...
What Is a Personal Guarantee in a Commercial Lease — and What Are You Actually Agreeing to Sign? By Business Law Group | Commercial Leases A personal guarantee on a commercial lease means that if your business stops paying rent, the landlord can come after...
Do I Need to Register My Trademark in Louisiana? What Business Owners Get Wrong About Federal vs. State Protection By Business Law Group |Intellectual Property If you're asking whether you need to register your trademark "in Louisiana," the practical answer is this...
How to Buy a Business in Louisiana: What Happens Between the Letter of Intent and Closing Day By Business Law Group | Buying/Selling a Business Buying a business in Louisiana typically takes 60 to 120 days from a signed letter of intent to closing — and most of what happens in that window determines whether the deal is actually worth...
"We're Just Like Real Estate Agents": Why That Argument Won't Save Your Business from an IRS Audit By Business Law Group | Business Contracts & Compliance We hear some version of the same conversation at least once a month. A business owner sits across from us — or joins a call — and walks u...
If you have ever reviewed a contract — whether you are the one handing it across the table or the one signing it — you have almost certainly seen an arbitration clause. They are everywhere. Most people skip right past them. That is a mistake, because whether an arbitration clause belongs in your ...
When a buyer and seller agree in principle on a deal, the first document they usually sign is a letter of intent — an LOI. A lot of people treat this like a handshake on paper, a non-binding agreement that just gets the conversation going. That's a mistake that can cost you leverage, money, and m...
A lot of people hear "trust" and think it's for wealthy families with complicated estates and teams of accountants. So they put off estate planning, or they sign a basic will and assume that's enough. I want to dispel that myth, because it keeps too many business owners and their families unneces...
You've built a successful business. You're thinking about selling it — or maybe you've already started having conversations with potential buyers. There's one thing that can quietly derail or devalue that transaction that most sellers don't think about until it's almost too late: your commercial ...
Most business owners spend years building something, then spend about four weeks trying to sell it — and wonder why the deal falls apart or they leave money on the table. If you're thinking about selling in the next one to three years, the time to start preparing is now. The first thing I tell c...
Your customer list. Your proprietary recipe. Your pricing model. Your manufacturing process. These aren't just valuable to your business — they may be legally protectable as trade secrets. But trade secret protection doesn't happen automatically. You have to actually take steps to keep them secre...
Your landlord sent you a lease renewal notice. Maybe you love the location. Maybe moving feels like too much hassle. Maybe things are busy and it's just easier to say yes. I understand all of that — and I'm going to encourage you to slow down anyway, because lease renewal is one of the most under...
Most business owners have thought about who will run the company if something happens to them. Far fewer have actually put anything in writing. And almost none have made sure their business succession plan is coordinated with their personal estate plan. That gap can destroy value that took a life...
You hired a designer to create your logo. A developer to build your website. A consultant to write your training manuals. You paid them. You assumed you owned the work. You may be wrong. This is one of the most common and most expensive IP mistakes I see in growing businesses. Ownership of creat...
You found a business you want to buy. The numbers look good. The seller seems motivated. And you're already picturing yourself running the place. I get it — that excitement is real. But before you sign anything, there's a process that separates smart buyers from sorry ones: due diligence. And mos...
We talk a lot about what happens when a business owner dies. But there's a scenario that's just as disruptive and more likely: what happens if you become incapacitated — temporarily or permanently — and can't run your business? A serious accident. A medical emergency. A prolonged illness. Any of...
You've spent years building name recognition. Your logo is on everything. Customers come back because they trust what your name means. And you've never filed a trademark. That's a risk most business owners don't fully appreciate until someone else starts using something confusingly similar — and ...
When a landlord hands you a commercial lease, that document was drafted by their attorney to protect their interests. Which is completely reasonable. What's not reasonable is signing it without understanding what you're agreeing to — because a commercial lease can lock you into obligations that f...
Early in my practice, I made an assumption about trademark law that I now know was completely wrong — and I've since seen it cost business owners real money. When a client came in wanting to register a logo that prominently featured their business name, it seemed to me like a logical two-for-one....
Forming multiple LLCs isn't enough. Learn the two legal theories that can undo your protection — and the daily habits that keep your entities truly separate.
Trying to decide between an LLC and an S-Corp? Here's a plain-English breakdown of the key differences — and how to choose the right structure for your business.
Think you can run your business on handshake deals? Find out the 5 essential contracts every business owner needs in place — before something goes wrong.
After years of working with business owners, I've noticed a pattern: The most successful clients don't just have good lawyers. They know how to use them well. That sounds simple—but it's rare. Most clients either: underuse their lawyer, or misuse them entirely The ones who consi...
Within the first 90 days of working with a client, I can usually tell whether they're going to be successful. Not with perfect certainty—but enough to pay attention. It's not based on their revenue, their industry, or even how sophisticated they are. It comes down to something much simpler: H...