614.9445171
4200 Regent Street, Suite 200, Columbus, Ohio 43219
Schedule a Consultation
Business Attorney | Law Office of Maritza S. Nelson, LLC
  • Home
  • Who We Serve
  • Practice Areas and Fees
    • General Counsel Service
    • Business Law >
      • LLC Formation
      • LLC Operating Agreements
      • Close Corporation Formation
      • Corporate Bylaws
      • Close Corporation Agreements
      • Other Business Law Services
    • Business Contracts >
      • B2B Service Agreements
      • Contract Review and Advice
      • Customer Agreements
      • Financial Agreements
      • Joint Venture Agreements
      • Lease Agreements
      • Noncompete Agreements
      • Nondisclosure Agreements
      • Waiver and Release Agreements
      • Website Privacy Policies
      • Website Terms of Service
    • Business Sales >
      • Business Purchases and Sales
      • Letter of Intent
      • Purchase Agreements
      • Buy-Sell Agreements
      • Membership Interest Transfer Agreements
      • Business Succession & Disaster Planning
      • Business Dissolutions
    • Raising Money From Investors >
      • Private Placement Memorandums
      • Investment Agreements
    • Franchising and Business Opportunities >
      • Franchise Disclosure Documents
      • Franchise Agreements
      • Ohio Business Opportunity Plans
    • Nonprofit Law >
      • Nonprofit Formation
      • Co-op Formation
      • Tax Exempt Status
      • Nonprofit Governance
      • Nonprofit MOUs and Agreements
      • Nonprofit General Counsel Service
    • Intellectual Property >
      • Trademark Search
      • Trademark Registration
      • Trademark Maintenance
      • Copyright Registration
      • Work For Hire Agreement
      • Licensing Intellectual Property
      • Assigning Intellectual Property
      • Proprietary Information and Invention Assignment Agreements
      • Confidentiality Agreements
      • Intellectual Property Audit
    • Employment Law >
      • Employment Contracts
      • Employee Handbooks
      • Employment Policies
      • Independent Contractors
  • Adding Value
    • Legal Audit Checklist
    • Legal Dictionary
    • 7 Common Legal Mistakes
    • Succession and Emergency Planning Worksheet
    • Business Contracts: Review Checklist
    • Webinars >
      • HR 101: Managing the Growing Pains That Come With Growing Your Business
      • Hiring Independent Contractors
      • Legal Audit and Risk Assessment
      • Structuring a Social Enterprise
  • Bio
  • Blog
  • Scheduling
    • Prospective Client Scheduling
    • Existing and Former Client Scheduling
    • Networking Scheduling
  • Home
  • Who We Serve
  • Practice Areas and Fees
    • General Counsel Service
    • Business Law >
      • LLC Formation
      • LLC Operating Agreements
      • Close Corporation Formation
      • Corporate Bylaws
      • Close Corporation Agreements
      • Other Business Law Services
    • Business Contracts >
      • B2B Service Agreements
      • Contract Review and Advice
      • Customer Agreements
      • Financial Agreements
      • Joint Venture Agreements
      • Lease Agreements
      • Noncompete Agreements
      • Nondisclosure Agreements
      • Waiver and Release Agreements
      • Website Privacy Policies
      • Website Terms of Service
    • Business Sales >
      • Business Purchases and Sales
      • Letter of Intent
      • Purchase Agreements
      • Buy-Sell Agreements
      • Membership Interest Transfer Agreements
      • Business Succession & Disaster Planning
      • Business Dissolutions
    • Raising Money From Investors >
      • Private Placement Memorandums
      • Investment Agreements
    • Franchising and Business Opportunities >
      • Franchise Disclosure Documents
      • Franchise Agreements
      • Ohio Business Opportunity Plans
    • Nonprofit Law >
      • Nonprofit Formation
      • Co-op Formation
      • Tax Exempt Status
      • Nonprofit Governance
      • Nonprofit MOUs and Agreements
      • Nonprofit General Counsel Service
    • Intellectual Property >
      • Trademark Search
      • Trademark Registration
      • Trademark Maintenance
      • Copyright Registration
      • Work For Hire Agreement
      • Licensing Intellectual Property
      • Assigning Intellectual Property
      • Proprietary Information and Invention Assignment Agreements
      • Confidentiality Agreements
      • Intellectual Property Audit
    • Employment Law >
      • Employment Contracts
      • Employee Handbooks
      • Employment Policies
      • Independent Contractors
  • Adding Value
    • Legal Audit Checklist
    • Legal Dictionary
    • 7 Common Legal Mistakes
    • Succession and Emergency Planning Worksheet
    • Business Contracts: Review Checklist
    • Webinars >
      • HR 101: Managing the Growing Pains That Come With Growing Your Business
      • Hiring Independent Contractors
      • Legal Audit and Risk Assessment
      • Structuring a Social Enterprise
  • Bio
  • Blog
  • Scheduling
    • Prospective Client Scheduling
    • Existing and Former Client Scheduling
    • Networking Scheduling

Join our mailing list and receive our Legal Audit Checklist.

Check out our latest blog posts, webinars, and other valuable content.
Join the List

1/5/2022

0 Comments

Legislation to Watch: Corporate Transparency Act

 
Picture
​There is a major change on the horizon that will impact filing requirements for the vast majority of our small business clients. In January of 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which amended the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA), to crack down on the use of shell companies to launder money.
 
You may be wondering, what does money laundering have to do with my small business? Unfortunately, shell companies are often used to hide who really owns a business and ultimately to hide assets, whether for tax evasion, to fund terrorism or other criminal activities, or to evade other financial obligations like child support. The CTA will require “reporting companies'' to provide information about the “beneficial owners” of the company to FinCEN (the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).*

Read More
0 Comments

2/23/2021

0 Comments

Piercing the Corporate Veil: Limited Liability? Not so fast!

 
Picture
​Forming a business entity like an LLC or a corporation typically provides limited liability protection to the owners. But in certain situations, you can find yourself personally on the hook for the debts and obligations of the business. This week we’re discussing the legal concept of “piercing the corporate veil” and why it’s used so often against small business owners.

Read More
0 Comments

2/9/2021

0 Comments

Ohio’s New Employment Law Uniformity Act

 
Picture
In the midst of an ongoing pandemic and all of the questions it’s raised for employers, especially small business employers,* you may have missed a new Ohio employment law that’s about to take effect. The governor recently signed the ​​Employment Law Uniformity Act into law. As an employer, what do you need to know about this new law? What steps should you take to protect your business or nonprofit in light of these changes?


Read More
0 Comments

11/17/2020

1 Comment

Why Your Business Website Must Have a Privacy Policy

 
Picture
If your business has a web presence (and in the 21st century, you really should), then you probably need a privacy policy on your website. Several relatively recent laws require business websites to post a privacy policy, but these laws aren’t universal in their applicability, especially when it comes to small businesses. Complicating matters, this area of the law is developing and changing rapidly.

According to a recent survey, customers are not only starting to care about their online privacy, but they are also willing to take action to protect their privacy, even going so far as to switch businesses or service providers because of their privacy policies. This means your customers are increasingly likely to want to know what data they are giving up when they interact with your business and what your business is doing with all that data in the first place. In this post, we’ll talk about the legal requirements for your website privacy policy: What should be included in your privacy policy? What are some best practices for keeping your privacy policy up to date?
​

Read More
1 Comment

10/9/2014

0 Comments

Incorporating Your Business

 
You’ve come up with a great business idea, and you’ve read Business Entity 101. You’ve even decided that a corporation is the right form of entity for your business. How do you form one in Ohio? Like most issues, the steps are relatively straightforward; it’s the details you should be most concerned about.
  1. Choose a Corporate Name
  2. File Articles of Incorporation
  3. Obtain a Tax ID Number
  4. Draft Corporate Bylaws

Read More
0 Comments

9/2/2014

0 Comments

Business Entity 101

 
Most, if not all, of the entrepreneurs I speak to are understandably anxious to start doing their “Great Business Idea.” In fact, their passion is why I love doing what I do (and why I became an entrepreneur myself). But that excitement also makes many entrepreneurs dive right in without doing some of the less glamorous, behind the scenes work. And a great example of this is not forming a business entity before launching the business. 

Properly forming a business entity can reduce your personal exposure to liabilities of the business, minimize taxes, ensure that business is being conducted efficiently, help you obtain financing for your business, and prevent misunderstandings among the various stakeholders (your business partners, investors, managers, etc.). 

So when should you form your business entity?  Since the right entity can limit your personal liability, the obvious answer is before you taken on any significant business obligations.  Before 1) signing any contracts or leases, 2) entering into any type of agreement with a third party, or 3) raising funds from others, even family and friends, you should have your legal business entity in place. While these types of relationships always start out very friendly, it’s these same relationships that will be the greatest potential source of conflict down the road. 

You can protect yourself and your personal assets by understanding the difference between having your business enter into these legal relationships versus you personally entering into these relationships. And the key to doing so is forming a business entity. So what type of entity is right for you—sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, S Corporation, or C Corporation?   

Read More
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Advertising Law
    Business Formation
    Business Law
    Confidentiality Agreements
    Contracts
    Copyright
    Corporation
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Employment Law
    Firm Announcements
    General Legal Advice
    Hiring An Attorney
    HR Policies
    Independent Contractors
    Intellectual Property
    Limited Liability Company (LLC)
    Motivation
    Non Profit
    Partnership
    Privacy Policy
    S Corp
    Small Business
    Social Enterprise
    Sole Proprietorship
    Trademarks
    Trade Secrets

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    December 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    RSS Feed

Services

General Counsel Service
Business Law
​
Business Contracts
Business Sales
Raising Money From Investors
Franchising and Business Opportunities
Non-Profit Law
Intellectual Property
Employment Law

About

Who We Serve
Bio​
Adding Value
Webinars
Blog
Contact
​Careers
​Scheduling

Legal

The information contained on this website is not legal advice or legal opinion and should not be relied upon. Furthermore, nothing contained in this website is intended to create or establish, and does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. 

Fee Information
Document Retention Policy 
Privacy Policy
​Client Communications Policy

Subscribe to the mailing list to receive useful tips for entrepreneurs and business owners.
Join Mailing List
Copyright © 2014-2023. | 4200 Regent Street, Suite 200, Columbus, OH 43219 | 614.944.5171 | info@msnlawoffice.com
Photo used under Creative Commons from jseliger2