News & Resources

Sanctions against Russia have put a damper on the enthusiasm of working with Russian businesses. The costs of doing business with Russia may far exceed the benefits because of a web of challenges, including navigating the sanctions regime. In this article, we discuss sanctions against “sectors” of the Russian economy. This type of sanctions applies to companies and individuals in Russia’s financial, energy, and defense sectors. Unlike blanket sanctions against individuals and companies on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), sectoral sanctions are directed at certain sectors.

As businesses enter global markets, they may fail to recognize risks lurking beneath the surface. The U.S. government employs a range of tools to alter or deter what it views as objectionable behavior. The U.S. government targets not only foreign governments, but also individuals and businesses. We provide an overview of economic sanctions, especially as they affect doing business with Russia. We provide an overview of Russia sanctions against Specifically Designated Nationals known as SDNs.

There are several essential questions that you must discuss with your small business attorney before forming a limited liability company. You must determine the name of the company. You have to decide in which jurisdiction the startup company will be formed. You need to decide how the company will be treated for tax purposes. The focus of this article is the management structure of the LLC, whether the business be managed by its members or by one or more managers.

Lawyers are not immune from the travails of business divorce. They must address the same issues that any small business must address when business partners no longer want to be in business with one another. They must decide whether one or more of the partners will continue the law firm or dissolve the law firm. This article looks at one of the most contentious matters in law firm dissolutions: what happens to pending matters when a law firm dissolves.

Half of acquisition deals close. The other half don’t. I recently represented a client in a transaction in which the deal died. She offered to share lessons learned from an unsuccessful acquisition. In this article, she has given us four lessons learned from the ultimately unsuccessful negotiations. These are the four major lessons she wanted to share with other potential purchasers of small businesses: lesson 1: seek legal guidance early on; lesson 2: be specific about due diligence requests; lesson 3: early misalignment is a sign of the future to come; and lesson 4: better understand certifications for government contractors.

Foreign markets offer the allure of 96% of the world’s consumers. Small businesses are keenly interested in export markets. If you are new to these markets, you should familiarize yourself with the resources provided by the Small Business Administration. For the uninitiated, legal dangers lurk under the surface. We have discussed the general regulatory scheme applicable to export controls. In this article, we discuss some common export mistakes that we see exporters make when they attempt to navigate the export controls regulatory landscape without proper guidance.

Entity-choice-after-tax-reform. When you are ready to form your new small business, you probably have reviewed with your small business attorney various entity choices. The small business attorney likely discussed possible legal entities such as corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies (LLCs). Which entity is the best form for your business depends on many variables such as structure, liability, management as well as tax considerations. You have likely heard that there was a big change to the United States tax code starting in 2018 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Many of the tax reform provisions affect businesses. In this article, we will discuss how these changes may affect the calculus in deciding which legal form your want to choose for your startup business.

I recently came across a nonprofit in which the chairperson, who had recently died, bequeathed her interest in the nonprofit to a close relative. Little did she realize that a nonprofit is not property that you can transfer or otherwise give away. A nonprofit is fundamentally different from a for profit organization, such a corporation which issues stock. This article describes some corporate governance aspects of nonprofits.

If you are a small business and are interested in government contracting work, then the most likely entry point will be an arrangement with another company. How you structure this cooperation will be a critical and significant element of success. This article discusses teaming agreements and summarizes some structures that may appeal to small businesses.

If your small business is exporting weapons or arms, then you will fall within the ambit of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). You will probably find your export on that list if it has anything to do with arms or weapons. If you find your intended export on that list, then you are subject to the strict requirements of the ITAR. If your intended export is not on the list then you still have to comply with the export control laws, but the less strict export administration regulations. This article provides a brief summary of the applicability of the export administration regulations and why every business, even a small business, should be concerned about the applicability of the regulations to your business.