by eclewis | Oct 6, 2010 | Business News
Today’s Legal Minute for Small Businesses: Do you use your vehicle for business and want to write it off? If so, you may want to review whether you are keeping the right records to write it off at the end of the year. You should be keeping a mileage log that shows where you went and what you went for. You should be keeping receipts for all the maintenance and repairs you do for your vehicles. You should also be keeping records for your vehicle such as the registration, title, and sales documents. With the proper documents, and upon the advice of your accountant, you can write off some or all of your vehicle expenses. If you have any questions regarding the use of your vehicle for business, please feel free to contact me, your Denver business attorney, at 720-258-6647 or Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Oct 5, 2010 | Business News, IP Law, Online/Social Media Law
Today’s Legal Minute for Small Businesses: Do you have pictures on your website? For most people with a business website, the answer is yes. However, for people that use website developers, many cannot answer the question whether or not they have the right to use the picture. Copyright infringement occurs when you use a picture that is not yours without permission. Permission can be granted either through a license (for instance the Creative Commons license) or through requesting and receiving permission from the owner. Using pictures without permission can result in litigation and costly fines. If you have pictures on your website and do not know if you have permission to use them, please feel free to contact me, your Denver small business lawyer, at 720-258-6647 or Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Oct 4, 2010 | Business News, Online/Social Media Law
Today’s Legal Minute for Small Businesses: Do you screen potential employees using Facebook or other online sites? If so, you may have a potential litigation nightmare on your hands and not even know it. By using online sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter to help determine if you want to hire someone, you may be opening yourself up to a lawsuit for discrimination. By looking at a Facebook site, especially one with pictures, you may be able to determine someone’s sex, race, martial status, and approximate age. This information cannot in most instances be used to discriminate against someone; however, once you have this information it is difficult to prove that you did not interview someone based on something other than this information. If you use online searches to research potential employees and want to make sure you limit your legal liability, please feel free to contact me, your Denver business attorney, 720-258-6647 or Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Oct 3, 2010 | Business News, IP Law, Online/Social Media Law
Today’s Legal Minute for Small Businesses: Have you read the terms of service for you email account? In today’s business world, an email address has moved from being a luxury to being a must. Even apartment buildings list an email address you can write for more information. However, have you ever read the terms of service for your email account? Do you know who has access to the account? How does the company handle subpoenas or other requests for information? If you are using a public email company, which most people do, it is important that you read and understand what the company does with your personal information, the emails you receive, and the emails you send. Depending on your profession and your business, you may have to limit what you do through the company if the policies are such that you are worried about privacy or legal issues. If after reading the terms of service for your email account for your business you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, your Denver small business lawyer, at 720-258-6647 or Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Oct 2, 2010 | Business News
In addition to sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs and corporations, which have been discussed the past four days, there are several other entity types that may be created to do business. The most notable are cooperatives and non-profits.
Non-profits require the filing of Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State. Like a for-profit corporation discussed yesterday, the non-profit needs bylaws and may have to have special licenses or insurance required by the state of Colorado, its local county, or its local city. The biggest requirement of non-profits that are requesting tax exempt status from the state or IRS is the filing of the Form 1023 with the IRS.
Cooperatives require the filing of Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State. Like a for-profit corporation discussed yesterday, the cooperative needs bylaws and may have to have special licenses or insurance required by the state of Colorado, its local county, or its local city. In addition, documenting the rights and responsibilities of the members is especially important.
If you are thinking about setting up a non-profit or a cooperative, and need help with the required documents or are unsure what documents you need, please feel free to call me, your Denver business attorney, at 720-258-6647, email me at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com or contact me through my contact form.
by eclewis | Oct 1, 2010 | Business News
Like an LLC, discussed in yesterday’s post, an individual must file a document with the Secretary of State to form a corporation. This document is called the Articles of Incorporation (which differs from the Articles of Organization filed by an LLC). The filing of the Articles of Incorporation establishes the corporation.
A corporation can have one or more owners who are called shareholders. The relationship between the shareholders and the corporation is governed by the Bylaws. This document explains the rights and responsibilities of shareholders and how votes are taken.
Like all businesses, a corporation must have the appropriate licenses to do business in its local city and county and the state. This includes filing for sales tax if applicable, unemployment insurance if applicable, and for specialized business licenses (i.e. for construction, professional services, liquor licenses, etc) in addition to other filings.
A corporation may have additional documents depending on the situation. For instance, employment agreements, intellectual property agreements, and investor agreements may be necessary. In addition, shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements, and founder agreements may be necessary to ensure all owners’ interests are represented and stated correctly.
If you are starting a corporation and need help with the required documents or are unsure what documents you need, please feel free to call me, your Denver small business attorney, at 720-258-6647, email me at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com or contact me through my contact form.
