Seattle Business Lawyer

Call Now For A Consultation at 253-572-1000 in Tacoma or 206-621-1110 in Seattle

Experience is the most important quality in a business law firm. In a fast-paced, ever-changing, and sometimes volatile environment, you need guidance from highly trained, responsive, and competent business law attorneys to answer questions, provide guidance on laws that govern your business practice and entity, and offer practical and accurate advice in meeting your business-related needs.

The Seattle business law attorneys of Dickson Frohlich Phillips Burgess offers a wide range of services in this area. We are seasoned professionals, with more than 100 years of combined experience serving business clients of all sizes; from small individually owned service businesses, to large complex corporations.

From determining which business entity works best for your business needs, the formation of your business entity including registering it with the state, partnership agreement drafting and review, conflict resolution and negotiations for breach of contract, breach in fiduciary duties, transfer of partnership interest, to dissolution.

Hiring Experienced Seattle Business Law Attorneys Provides Financial Benefits

Business owners sometimes overlook the financial benefits of hiring experienced legal professionals. Experience creates efficiency. Efficiency equals faster results and lower costs.

• Avoid legal mistakes. Legal mistakes in contracts or in the establishment of your business structure can be extremely costly. These types of errors are often the result of lack of experience and knowledge. Our attorneys work as a team, to provide clients with a greater breadth of experiential knowledge than they would receive from working with an individual attorney.
• Efficiency equals savings. At Dickson Frohlich Phillips Burgess, we’re not starting from scratch each time we work on a new contract or draw up a new corporate structure. We draw on a wealth of previous templates to speed up the process. Familiarity with Seattle and Tacoma court systems and our colleagues in the judicial system allows for smoother navigation through the complex maze of filings and submissions.
• The busier the better. If you want something done quickly and done well, you should ask a busy person to do it. At Dickson Frohlich Phillips Burgess, we stand ready to answer any questions you have during your case. Your case is important to us, and your projects will be handled with the utmost expediency.

Business and Corporate Law Services

Your financial and legal security is our top priority. To protect you and your business from unnecessary exposure, we will review your existing legal structure and draw up any documents necessary to protect your interests. Dickson Frohlich Phillips Burgess is also highly qualified in the areas of mergers, acquisitions, and other major financial transactions. Should litigation arise, we can offer expert counsel and representation in the courtroom.

Business Law Services:

• Contracts and legal documents
• Representation in litigation
• Debt collection
• Purchasing or selling a business
• Legal entity structuring
• Financial transactions
• Intellectual Property
• Business Dispute

Looking to Establish a Business? We Can Help With the Following…

The type of entity you should choose depends on a lot of factors, including type of business, number of owners in the business, initial funding of business, and how a person may want the tax structure to be set up. Following are the most common types of business entities used:

• Limited Liability Company (LLC) – The most simple and commonly used type of business entity. Can be made up of one or more members, who are the owners of the LLC. Can be managed by all of the members, or just certain members. Offers flow-through taxation, where the LLC does not get taxed, but only the individual members get taxed, at a rate based on their annual earnings from all income sources.
• Corporation – Owned by one or more shareholders. More complicated to manage than an LLC. There is a requirement to have annual meetings, as well as documentation, such as corporate resolutions, is required for the simplest undertakings. It also does not offer the same flow–through taxation system as the LLC does, but instead, it has double taxation where the corporation is taxed at a corporate tax rate, and then the individual shareholders get taxed on the dividends received. Generally, should only be used by persons with over a hundred shareholders, or who are attempting to raise a large amount of investment capital.
• Subchapter S Corporation – Similar to a corporation, but allows for flow–through taxation mechanism. Internal Revenue Service places restrictions on who can be eligible to be a Subchapter S Corporation. There are additional tax benefits to this type of entity, as it allows for certain savings, when it comes to payment of self-employment taxes.
• Partnership – Intended for two or more owners. A type of entity that is rarely used anymore, as it is not a great type of entity when it comes to asset protection of individual partners. It does allow for a lot more freedom, especially if there are certain situations where business owners may want all owners to be held liable for actions of the partnership in order to better distribute risks.

We can also help set up sole proprietorships and non-profit corporations.

Formation

Generally, the formation process requires a registration with the Secretary of State. Getting an EIN/FEIN (Employer Identification Number) from the Internal Revenue Service. Getting a Business License from the Department of Revenue. Drafting an operating agreement/partnership agreement/bylaws (depending on the type of entity you choose to create). Your specific business may have other requirements based on the industry you will be operating in.

Governance

Once a business is established, there may be other requirements you may need to consider. If you have employees, you would need to think about Workers Compensation Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, and Payroll Deductions. You may want to have a comprehensive Employee guide. If you have Independent Contractors, you may want to look into 1099-MISC and other related IRS forms.

In addition, depending on how your business is progressing, you may want to bring in more owners into the company, or terminate some of them. You may want to do joint ventures with other companies, merge with or acquire other companies, or decide to sell your business altogether. All these are delicate decisions, with extensive tax consequences and depend on your particular business and your particular situation.

Dissolution

Finally, you may eventually decide to shut down your business. Dissolution can be voluntary, where all the owners agree and no state or federal law has been violated, or involuntary. Involuntary is where either one of the owners, or a creditor of the entity petitions the court to cease business operations. The process of dissolving, or winding down a company, can be lengthy and stressful, especially if a court is involved. If you find yourself in that situation, we can consult with you regarding your course of action, based on your current situation.

Is your business facing legal challenges?

Take steps now to protect your financial future. Hire an experienced, knowledgeable business law firm today. Contact us today for your consultation!

253-572-1000 in Tacoma or 206-621-1110 in Seattle

Areas Serving:

• Seattle
• Tacoma

Client Testimonial

”I own a General Contracting company and had a client that wanted to come after me in many ways due to a breach of contract on their end. I was in need to find someone to represent me immediately. I made a few calls and had trouble just getting someone on the phone to talk to. When I called Dickson Law I got to speak to Tom about my case. With the false claim against me and my insurance I hired Dickson Law and worked with Inge who did fantastic on my case. Inge was easy to get a hold of and returned any emails and calls within 24hrs. We all know how some attorneys can disappear and leave you hanging which is very frustrating. Inge and Dickson Law are professional and care about your company. Since the false claims against my company, which we all dropped, I have continued to use Inge with all my contract agreements and legal advice. I am forever a client with Dickson Law. As a young business owner I am grateful for what I have learned from Inge with contracts.” – Michael Hedgecock (Google Review)