News & Insights

Most entrepreneurs and creators get their start by asking a straightforward question, “how do I start a business?” Starting a business requires careful planning, risk tolerance, dedication, and vision. Working with the right business lawyers can make it easier. Once you have determined an initial idea for your business, it is essential to thoroughly evaluate the market in which you will be operating (if there is one), and discover how you can best contribute to, or disrupt it with, your business idea.

Read More

Phantom Equity (“PE”) is a contractual agreement for a type of deferred compensation between a company and key employees, advisors, and/or contractors. Startups can offer PE to valuable employees, so they have skin-in-the-game, and thus, feel an urgency to help the startup become as successful as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Read More

While many business owners know what a trademark (or “mark”) is, they may not know what the benefits of obtaining a federal registration are. This FAQ discusses the benefits of federal trademark registration.

Read More

In the age of instant communication, it’s not easy to protect business ideas. Depending on what kind of information is accessible to others, there are several options available to protect business ideas from being stolen or copied by third parties. If you want to ensure that your business partners or employees do not misappropriate or share important business ideas or information with others, your best bet may be to create an employment agreement/independent contractor agreement and/or a non-disclosure or non-compete agreement that includes certain confidentiality obligations and restrictive covenants in them.

Read More

An NDA is a binding agreement between two (or more) parties that obligates a party or parties to maintain confidentiality. The confidentiality obligations can be mutual or uni-directional (one-way). Other provisions include exceptions to confidentiality, how long the obligations last, and what happens if someone breaches their obligations. It is a widely used document and something many startups and small businesses will come across at least once. This document should be in your files and ready to use with prospective business partners, vendors, contractors, employees, and others if necessary.  

Read More

One of the questions entrepreneurs and startup founders ask us the most is, “Why do so many startups incorporate in Delaware?” As co-founders or business partner(s) sit around a table and discuss the best ways to bring their startup to life, one of the topics that usually pops up (or should pop up) is entity formation. The typical entity of choice is a Delaware C-corp.

Read More