By Kelly Bagla, Esq. As a business attorney, I frequently encounter disputes between business partners, which can be easily avoided. Even the best of friends or close family friends should create and sign a business partnership agreement to avoid miscommunications and legal problems that can arise even when there’s no disagreement. A partnership agreement is a contract between partners that contains terms like the business’s purpose, partner contributions and voting rights. The purpose of a partnership agreement is to protect the partner’s investment in the partnership, clearly define the rights and obligations of the partners, and determine the rules of engagement should a disagreement arise among the partners. A well written partnership agreement should reduce the risk of disputes between the partners. OWNERSHIP A partnership agreement spells out exactly who owns what percentage of the business. A majority partner might take on more of the responsibility in exchange for more of the profits. A majority partner might ask for the opposite scenario, taking less day to day responsibilities in exchange for putting up a bigger investment and taking a larger share of the profits. If the business is sold, a partnership agreement decides who gets what. CONTROL When two partners who each own 50 percent of a company disagree, this can lead to problems that include one partner making decisions without consent of the other. Even when one partner is a majority owner, both partners can make decisions without approval of the other unless a partnership agreement limits that decision-making authority. An effective partnership agreement places limits on decisions either party can make or awards control of the business to one of the business to one of the partners. For example, the agreement might contain a clause that neither partner can spend more than a certain amount of money, add or change products or services, relocate the business, sell to a new partner, hire or fire key staff or close the business without the written approval of the other. LIABILITY Some partnerships are general partnerships with the partners sharing responsibilities and liabilities. Other agreements are limited partnerships with one or more partners acting as an investor with limited or no activity in the business and little or no liability. A partnership can protect partners who want to share in the profits without becoming actively involved in the operations and opening themselves up to legal problems, such as lawsuits or tax liens. DISSOLUTIONS When on partner wants to end a partnership, it can cause significant hardship on the other. A partnership agreement should lay out how the business can be dissolved or a partnership transferred. Partners often go into business together because they trust one another and enjoy working together. Some put a clause into their contracts that one partner may not sell his or her share to a third party without offering the original remaining partner an opportunity to buy out the other. In other cases, partners might need approval before they can sell to a particular party. Several partnership agreements protect partners in the event of the death of one partner. In many general partnerships, the partnership usually ends with the death of one of the partners. The remaining partners may draw up a new agreement. Some partnership agreements address the rights of heirs, with some agreements allowing the remaining partners to buy the shares of the deceased partner’s interest, rather than allowing a spouse or child to become a partner. Partnership agreements can lay out who owns assets, such as the business name, customer list or other assets if the business is dissolved. You have already put in the hard work to get your business up and running, don’t let a simple and most often costly legal mistake cause you to lose it all. For more information on how to legally protect your business please pick up a copy of my bestselling book: ‘Go Legal Yourself’ on Amazon or visit my website at www.golegalyourself.com Disclaimer: This information is made available by Bagla Law Firm, APC for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, and not to provide specific legal advice. This information should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

By Kelly Bagla, Esq. It doesn’t take much these days to start your own website. In just a few simple steps and without ever learning a single word of code you can use intuitive website builders to help you set up your online business within minutes. But creating a site comes with legal rules and regulations. Do you know your rights under copyright law? How about your responsibilities towards preventing plagiarism? And do you know all of the vast website legal requirements under information security and cyber law? BASIC RULES RELATED TO WEBSITE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS If you get caught breaking any of the rules around web ownership, you could be in big legal trouble that could cost you thousands. Make sure you follow the website requirements below to minimize your risk: MINIMIZE RISK OF USER GENERATED CONTENT In today’s digital world, user generated content is king. It can add new levels of engagement, credibility and authority to almost any website. While you may decide to take advantage of it, hosting content that is created by others also opens you up to a myriad of risks. For example, who owns the content once it’s published on your site? What if the content isn’t original? To reduce the risk as a website owner of hosting user generated content develop clear and simple terms of use policy that tells others you forbid the use of any plagiarized content. OBTAIN NECESSARY LICENSES It’s a known fact that images and graphics convert more traffic than text alone. Depending on the type of image you are displaying on your website, you may be required to apply for certain licenses. If you’re using photos and images that do not belong to you, you may need to pay for the use of a license from the supplier. Be sure to read the fine print as to how you can and cannot use the image. DISPLAY TERMS AND CONDITIONS Depending on the nature of your site, you may want to include a listing of the terms and conditions of using your website. The specifics of the terms and conditions you’ll want will depend entirely on the specifics of your site. For example, if you sell goods, you may want to list the terms of the sales including how you handle returns and refunds. If you provide advice, you’ll want to specify that such advice is general and for informational purposes only. DISPLAY PRIVACY POLICY A privacy policy is one of the most important legal requirements for any website. This policy clearly defines how you are going to use your visitor’s data. Not only is it a significant part of legal requirements but a privacy policy limits your liability if any of the private information you have collected on your visitors is ever hacked by a third party. DISPLAY DISCLAIMER Sometimes problems occur because websites may have caused harm to someone. As the owner, it is your responsibility to pay for such damages. However, if you have a disclaimer placed on your website stating you are not responsible for omissions or errors or the way people use your website, this could limit your liability. DISPLAY COPYRIGHT NOTICE Your copyright notice makes your visitors aware that your content is legally yours and they do not have the right to use it without your permission. A copyright notice, though not required, is a good way to deter visitors from using, stealing or borrowing your materials from your site. You have already put in the hard work to get your business up and running, don’t let a simple and most often costly legal mistake cause you to lose it all. For more information on how to legally protect your business please pick up a copy of my bestselling book: ‘Go Legal Yourself’ on Amazon or visit my website at www.golegalyourself.com Disclaimer: This information is made available by Bagla Law Firm, APC for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, and not to provide specific legal advice. This information should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

By Kelly Bagla, Esq. When it comes to starting a business, you might be a pro, but what about when it comes to working through all the legal issues you must consider as an entrepreneur when launching your startup? Most entrepreneurs get caught up in the midst of starting their business and quickly forget the legal aspects that need to be considered. To ensure that you avoid the negative repercussions of an avoidable mistake, there are a few common legal issues you should be aware of: BUSINESS STRUCTURE There are several different business structures: Partnerships, S Corporations, C Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, and Sole Proprietorships. All business structures hold very different meanings and offer a variety of different benefits. You should consider if your business is going to remain privately funded, if you plan on taking on investors, and what type of growth you expect your company to have in the future. Making the right decision at the start could save you a lot of money in legal fees. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS It seems like common sense, you should not talk to anyone about your confidential business information, but it isn’t that obvious to everyone. As a rule of thumb, anyone who interacts with your business, not your clients, should sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure they will not share your ideas with others who should not know. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY While your business is still small, it is hard to imagine that you could potentially face the issue of people infringing on your intellectual property assets, but it can happen easier than you think. It is worth the investment to both time and money to get your trademarks, copywrites, patents and trade secrets legally registered. VESTING Finding the right co-founder for your business is quite the task. Who do you trust? Who will make a good fit and lead your business in the right direction? It is important that you have a similar work ethic and timelines for investment. Instead of getting all the shares as once, one option to consider is vesting the shares over time. Your equity can be vested over time so that if your co-founder does not end up working out, there is a fair solution and you haven’t just lost half your company. COMPLIANCE There are corporate compliance laws in place that affect companies in various industries. The laws that apply specifically to your business will vary based on the type of business entity you are, the state you do business in, and several other determining factors. Do some research and consult with an attorney to ensure you know what documents should be generated and maintained by your business to remain compliant. You have already put in the hard work to get your business up and running, don’t let a simple and most often costly legal mistake cause you to lose it all. For more information on how to legally protect your business please pick up a copy of my bestselling book: ‘Go Legal Yourself’ on Amazon or visit my website at www.golegalyourself.com Disclaimer: This information is made available by Bagla Law Firm, APC for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, and not to provide specific legal advice. This information should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.