If you have been in business for many years or are just starting out, ensuring your legal affairs are in order and that you and your business are protected is vital. If you’ve been hit with a complicated legal issue, the unknown costs and time-consuming challenges can put your business at risk.

 

Butler & Tomko, serving the greater St. Charles and Lincoln County areas, is here to help you start a business, protect your existing business, advise, represent, and defend what you have worked so hard to achieve.

 

Business Attorneys

 

At Butler & Tomko, we are knowledgeable in the wide array of different laws governing businesses and can be your trusted source through all stages of your business, from formation and contracts to buying or selling. We take great care to be a dedicated partner who helps you achieve your business goals and will fiercely fight for you should the need arise.

 

Promote Success

 

Our experienced legal team wants your business to be prosperous with few costly legal surprises. Our intent is to offer the best legal services and representation, custom to your needs. We get to know you and gain an understanding of your business objectives, vulnerabilities, and opportunities. We can then provide the most beneficial legal services, recommendations, and plans to assist with long-term, profitable success.

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Business Law Services

 

Businesses have many complicated governing laws, including both state and federal, and can be easily overlooked if you don’t have an experienced legal team on your side. It is best to have a legal team who knows you and your intentions and can protect your business in areas you may not have considered.

 

Butler & Tomko business law services include:

 

• Formation and entity selection – corporations, partnerships, sole proprietor

• Contract drafting, negotiation, review, and disputes

• Buying and selling

• Lease agreements

• Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements

• Succession planning

 

“Did you know Missouri adopted the Missouri Uniform Trade Secrets Act (the ‘Act’) to protect you from the misappropriation of your trade secrets? Without a written confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement, your business and trade secrets are vulnerable and subject to the interpretations of judges, juries, and common law.”

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Formation & Entity Selection

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Starting a new business or purchasing an existing one is exciting and daunting all at once. This is the ideal time to partner with a business attorney who understands the challenges and can help you make the right choices when it comes to forming a business. If not done correctly at the outset, the lack of legal protection can have far reaching, costly consequences.

 

Butler & Tomko can counsel you in all areas of the business formation process, including liability exposure, taxes, insurance, and choosing your articles of entity. Understanding the legal and tax implications of the different business entities is imperative. Defining management, control, and decision making needs to be clear to all for future success.

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• Limited Liability Company (LLC)

• Partnership

• Incorporation

• S Corporation

• C Corporation

• Sole Proprietorship

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Contract Drafting & Disputes

 

Revenue is the driving force for any business. Whether you buy and sell goods or offer services, contracts specifically address the details imperative to protecting and providing for your future.

 

Contracts and agreements come in many forms and should be established by, reviewed, and implemented by experienced business attorneys like Butler & Tomko. It is too easy for important details to be missed if you were to do it on your own or with an attorney who doesn’t specialize.

 

In the event of a contract dispute, we are here to uphold, represent, and defend you and your business so you can carry on with your daily revenue-building activities.

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Types of Business Contracts & Agreements

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• Purchasing a Business

• Partnerships

• Employee Agreements

• Trade Secret Protection

• Confidentiality Agreements

• Non-disclosure Agreements

• Buying/Selling Contracts

• Lease Agreements

• Brokerage Agreements

• Agency Agreements

• Breach of Contract

• Failure of Consideration

• Mediation

• Arbitration

 

Succession Planning

 

When you begin a business, it is often challenging to think about what may happen at the end or when the end might be. Creating a plan to pass along your business is just as important as business formation.

 

In the event that you become incapacitated or upon death, having protection and a succession plan not only has weighty legal implications, it can protect your loved ones and help avoid disputes among partners, investors, and family members.

 

Our Butler & Tomko team has extensive experience with succession planning. We can help you implement a business strategy that includes the right legal documents for peace of mind and crucial legal protection in the event of ownership transfer.

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• Business Formation and Restructuring

• Transfer of Ownership/Succession

• Family Succession Planning

• Exit Strategies  

• Family Estate Planning

• Asset Protection

• Probate Representation

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A legally documented succession plan can ensure everything you’ve worked so hard for doesn’t get tied up in court while your business struggles and loved ones fight to get by and sort out the legalities.

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Our Team

 

By choosing Butler & Tomko to facilitate your business law matters, you will experience this stressful, complex process simply and with confidence knowing that you’re legally protected with proper representation.

 

Contact Us Today

 

Butler & Tomko, serving clients in the St. Charles County, Lincoln County, and elsewhere in the Westplex, is not only in the business of law – our passion is protecting you and your future and freeing up your time so you can focus on the daily functioning of your business.

 

If you are starting a business, need help with an existing business, or need legal counsel for business matters, contact us today. We want to help you be successful.

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