Miami Business Lawyer

Miami Business Lawyer

Companies need legal help in a variety of areas in their daily business. Investing in a business lawyer can protect you from legal challenges ahead of time and reduce the risk that you may become involved in litigation. Businesses need to plan ahead, and that includes investing in infrastructure that includes legal advice. In addition, your company may need situational advice to address occurrences along the way that could impact your business in the present or future.

Millian Law has decades of experience in working with Miami businesses on complex issues, such as:

• Contract negotiation and review
• Officer and director liability
• Shareholder agreements
• Commercial real estate agreements
• Unfair competition
• Employment practices

Below are the ways in which our law firm can help your business and allow you to focus on doing what you do best.

Negotiating and Reviewing Business Contracts

One of the most important reasons to hire a Miami business lawyer is to help negotiate and review business contracts. These agreements are binding once you sign them. Every word and comma in a contract has an effect, even if you have not fully reviewed it before signing. Many companies are shocked when they are involved in a contract dispute, thinking, “this is not the agreement that I signed.”

Hiring an attorney ahead of time can both reduce the risk of a dispute and protect you in the event of an issue in performance. Our law firm can draft the contract for you or review the one that you have been given to ensure that the language does what you intended.

In addition, we can also advise and represent your business if you are involved in a dispute over contract interpretation or performance. We can help you resolve the dispute, either through negotiation or litigation.

Protecting Directors and Officers from Personal Liability

Clients also reach out to us to protect themselves from personal liability. Directors and officers of a company owe a fiduciary duty to the company, meaning:

• They have a legal duty to exercise reasonable care when making decisions on behalf of the company and shareholders, which can be breached if they are negligent.
• They have a duty of loyalty and good faith to put the company’s interests ahead of their own when rendering ahead and engaging in transactions on behalf of the company.

Directors and officers are protected when they rely on their business judgment to make decisions. However, they need to be careful to ensure that they have done their homework. The Millian Law Firm advises corporate officers on how to meet their fiduciary duty to protect them from personal liability.

Shareholder Agreements

The rights of shareholders vis a vis the company can be a complex issue for businesses and investors. In general, shareholders have the right to:

• Inspect the company’s books and records
• Vote on the board of directors and other issues affecting the company
• Attend annual meetings
• Receive dividends that are declared by the company
• Sue the officers and directors on behalf of the company or sue the company itself

A shareholder agreement is a document that outlines how the company is to be run and the rights of the individual shareholders. It is a binding document, and shareholders have the right to sue the company if it is breached. Therefore, companies need to pay careful consideration when negotiating and drafting shareholder agreements. We represent both companies and shareholders in issues relating to agreements, including drafting and disputes about the contract.

Real Property and Commercial Leasing

A company may own or lease a property for business purposes. If they are leasing the property, it is subject to a complex written agreement that would set forth the terms of the relationship between the lessor and lessee. This agreement is often a customized document that includes the following:

• Restrictions on usage
• The term of the lease
• How the lessor is compensated
• Who is responsible for maintenance and insurance
• Options to extend the lease and purchase

When you are occupying property, your business may also face issues about how you are allowed to use it and whether others are interfering with your full use of the premises.

If you are purchasing a commercial property or you are signing a lease agreement, you should have an attorney help you negotiate the terms and review the agreement before you sign. Otherwise, you could end up in a dispute about the property that could threaten your business.

Employment Practices

Employees are often the top source of legal risk for a company. Lawsuits can allege things like discrimination or violations of wage and hour laws. Your company’s policies and procedures can protect you from liability, assuming that they are followed. In addition, how you respond to difficult situations can mean the difference between resolving the problem and costly litigation.

In addition, your company may rely on employment agreements to secure the services of valued employees and retain them. These agreements are binding contracts that can include:

• Compensation
• The rights and responsibilities of the employee
• Potential restrictions on competition
• Provisions to protect trade secrets
• Any special considerations necessary to accommodate the employee

Businesses must carefully draft employment agreements, paying close attention to ensure that they are not overly one-sided in favor of the company (meaning that they may not be enforced). In addition, they must respond with thought and intention when presented with a challenging situation with an employee. Millian Law assists Miami businesses with employment issues to help keep your company out of trouble.

“Our attorneys work hard to build a strategy around each case. We walk into court rooms with a complete plan of action.”

David P. Milian

Founding Attorney

Competition Law

The competitive landscape can determine whether your company can make money. In an ideal world, every competitor plays by the rules, and companies prosper by offering services and products that consumers want at a price that they can afford. Unfortunately, some competitors break the law to get ahead by doing things like:

• Stealing a competitor’s trade secrets
• Deceptive business practices that use the intellectual property in which you invested
• Hiring your employees to gain your clients and business knowledge
• Breaching restrictive covenants
• Bait and switch selling tactics
• Making false and disparaging claims about your product

Millian Law can help your business take action, both to put a stop to unfair competition and to financially recover damages that you have suffered due to someone else’s illegal actions.

Call a Miami Business Lawyer Today

Millian Law can help your business by providing timely and practical advice on a myriad of complex issues. Our litigation expertise can actually help your company stay out of court by anticipating potential disputes and helping you avoid them. We partner with our clients to help you achieve growth and reduce your legal risk. To speak with an attorney, you can send us a message online or call us today at (786) 808-9736