(In this article, Trish gives you 5 important business legal tips for the New Year. If you are starting a new business, you will want to check out her 6-part series on how to start out right!)
The start of a new year is a great time to make positive changes, seek new opportunities, and explore endless possibilities! It’s also the perfect time to get your business’ legal house in order! In this article I am going to give you five important business legal tips for the New Year, to help keep your business running smoothly and successfully.
1) Review your contracts. Evaluate your current business relationships and make sure you have the right contracts in place specific to each situation. If you have made changes to the business, make sure your contracts reflect those changes and have appropriate protections in place. Flaws in your contracts can have disastrous legal consequences, and increase your liability. Now is the time to review and make changes so you don’t get burned down the road.
2) Review your processes to protect your confidential Information and intellectual property. Just like your contracts, your business processes should be structured to protect your confidential information and IP. Take the time to review your processes, including hiring, to make sure you are restricting access to your confidential information and intellectual property, and doing everything you can to protect them.
3) Make sure your corporate records are up to date. Proper documentation of your corporate actions and decisions are a legal requirement. Failing to keep your minutes current can increase your liability, and open the door to serious financial and legal consequences. If you have fallen behind on your corporate documentation, now is the time to catch up and get current.
4) Make sure you are privacy law compliant. Privacy breaches cost businesses millions of dollars each year. Failure to comply with existing privacy laws can cost you big time! You don’t have to be a privacy expert, but you should be familiar with current privacy laws and trends, and take appropriate action to protect personal information.
5) Perform an overall legal audit. Do you have everything in place to protect what you’re working so hard for? A legal audit will determine if you have taken all the proper steps needed to make sure you are protected, as well as compliant with existing laws and regulations that govern your business. This is especially important if you have changed direction and strategy over the past year.
The start of the new year is the perfect time to review your business operations and practices to make sure everything is in order.
The business lawyers at Meyer Law can help! We can perform a comprehensive legal audit for you to make sure your contracts are solid, your confidential information and intellectual property are protected, your corporate records are in order, and you are privacy law compliant. Start the new year off right and reach out to us today!
Tricia Meyer is Founder + Managing Attorney of Meyer Law, one of the fastest growing law firms in the United States. Meyer helps entrepreneurs and technology companies from startups to large corporations with day-to-day matters and notable clients include companies that have appeared on Shark Tank to companies gracing the Inc. 500 to some of the largest companies in the world.
Tricia has been named on the Forbes Next 1000 list, is one of the Most Influential Female Lawyers in Chicago according to Crain’s Chicago Business and been recognized as a top 10 technology lawyer.
As an entrepreneur and a lawyer, Meyer has a unique perspective and has mentored thousands of startups and scaling companies at tech incubators and accelerators across the United States such as 1871, WeWork Labs and Techstars. Tricia has been featured in Inc., Crain’s, Chicago Tribune, NBC Chicago, American Express OPEN Forum, and more. Learn more at www.MeetMeyerLaw.com and follow Meyer Law’s story on Instagram @loveyourlawyer.