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Types of Corporate Law

Have you ever wondered what an Edmonton corporate lawyer like the excellent ones here at Verhaeghe Law does all day?

Most people have very little idea what a corporate lawyer is or what they do until they need one, which is why we’ve put together a post on the different types of corporate law in Edmonton, so you can see a bit more about what corporate law is and what forms it takes.

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What is corporate law?

Corporate law is, as you might expect, all about corporate matters that a large company may experience in its day-to-day running. It covers things like incorporating businesses, defending class action lawsuits and handling the listing or delisting of companies publicly, which means it can be a pretty broach church.

Most corporate lawyers will deal with a range of clients from small and medium enterprises to big investment banks and huge multinational corporations, but we will treat them all with the same respect and diligence to ensure we get the best possible outcome at the end of proceedings.

What are some common types of corporate law?

Now, let's get into looking at some of the most common types of corporate law in Alberta…

Incorporations

When you're running a business, it is important to choose the right structure for your company in order to protect yourself, your investors and your company. That is why our corporate lawyers in Alberta are very commonly called in to help with business incorporations.

Why incorporate your business? There are a number of benefits that come with incorporating your business from making it easier to access the capital you need to keep your business afloat to ensuring that shareholders in your business are not personally liable for any debts your company may accrue.

Hiring one of our corporate lawyers to assist you with the incorporation of your company will ensure that you dot all the I's and cross all the T's, giving you the highest level of business protection possible.

Creation, organization and dissolution

One of the most basic types of corporate law in Alberta is the creation, organization or dissolution of a company Legally, corporations are treated as their own individual entities and that means they can be litigated against or involved in other legal issues, just as an individual person can. That means, you can't just create, structure or dissolve a corporation on a whim - there are processes that must be followed, and we can help you to follow them. From advising your on business certificates to helping you to work out what to do with funds, debts and employee contracts should you need to dissolve your company, we've got your back.

Venture Capital

Venture capital is an area of corporate law that could potentially enable you to grow your business significantly. If you are planning to dip your types in the water of venture capital, which is a kind of private equity investment that sees companies exchange a share in their business for a long-term capital injection, you need a good lawyer on your side to advocate for you and draft the most profitable corporate agreements.

Mergers and Aquisitions

Another common area of corporate law that we are often asked to assist our business clients with are mergers and acquisitions.

What are mergers and acquisitions? They are basically the consolidation of assets and companies. For example, if you run a large supermarket chain, you may want to acquire a chain of smaller stores to eliminate the competition and add to your own assets.

As you can imagine, such an undertaking can be very complex, which is why our commercial layers in Alberta are always on hand to help with the finer details of the process. Adding assets, properties, staff and possibly even new procedures to your company takes a lot of work in terms of contracts, legislation, and liabilities - it isn't something you would want a novice to deal with, which is why our expert lawyers are best placed to draft an agreement and make your mergers and acquisitions as efficient, agreeable and legally sound as possible.

Labour laws

Whether your business operates in the construction, healthcare or retail industries, there are a range of labour laws that very clearly set out what you can and cannot expect from your employees. If you breach these laws and guidelines,. Not only could you end up in a dispute with your employees, or their union, but you could be heavily fined, or even end up with a lawsuit filed against you.

Luckily, our corporate lawyers in Alberta are expertly trained to not only help you draw up legislation of your own to avoid falling foul of labour laws but also to mitigate these kinds of disputes when they do crop up. Corporate lawyers are experts at, mediation and coming to a solution that suits all parties involved. So, whether it's a matter of discrimination, sexual harassment or unfair dismissal. A good corporate lawyer can quickly get to grips with the issue and set about finding a satisfying conclusion for all involved.

Trade names, copyrights, and patents

As you will probably know, when a business creates a new product, brand or design, they are able to register it as a trade name or patent, or copyright it so that they alone can use said product or service. Corporate lawyers can get involved in this process in a number of ways from helping a corporation to file a patent to checking that no existing patent, trademark or copyright exists. They can also fight for their clients should they fall could of any of these laws particular corporate laws in Alberta.

Class-action lawsuits

Class-action lawsuits are a type of lawsuit that can be filed by a group of individuals against a corporation or organization who they feel have wronged them. 

One very well-known example of a class-action lawsuit in Canada was the suit against Rogers Wireless Communications whereby Canadians were able to claim as much as $327.91 each if they were subject to an earl;y termination fee between 2008 and 2013. This was because the application of the fee was found to be unlawful and enough customers bandied together to fight the company.

It is completely possible that you, yourself could one day find yourself on the end of a similar class-action lawsuit, and should that happen, you would want our commercial lawyers in Alberta on your side.

Our lawyers are able to effectively defend class action lawsuits by gathering together all of the facts relevant to the case,  acquiring a detailed knowledge of the legal issues involved, as well as the major players involved and offering mitigation on your corporation's behalf. We have an excellent success rate in this area.

Commercial real estate

When you run a corporation, you need a location from which to operate, and our corporate lawyers in Alberta are best placed to help you find the most suitable premises for your needs.

Many people are under the misapprehension that buying commercial property is just like buying a residential property, but the two processes can be quite different and the legal side of buying a commercial property can be far more involved because you will need to ensure that all essential rules and regulations are being met. Since our corporate lawyers already have a great deal of experience in this area, we can help to ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible for you. 

Joint venture structuring

A joint venture is a form of business agreement in which two parties or more agree to pool thor resources in order to achieve a particular task. This task could be anything from a single project like building a new office complex, to setting up a brand new streaming service with content from multiple providers.

When taking part in a joint venture, it is important for each member participant to be aware that they are responsible for all profits, costs, and losses associated with that project, BUT the joint venture is also its own separate entity, ring-fenced away from the participants' other business ventures.

As you can imagine, this can get quite complicated at times, which is why having a good commercial lawyer with a firm grasp of corporate law on your side is a really sound decision to make if you want to avoid the potential pitfalls of such a setup and purely reap the rewards.

Corporate agreements

If you run a business, you shouldn't do anything without having a watertight agreement in place. That's why one of the types of corporate law that is always in demand is that of corporate agreements.

Our commercial lawyers can help you draft agreements between you and everyone from your business suppliers and employees to your partners, shareholders and franchise holders, and we will do so with your best interests at heart. No one likes to think that someone they are working with will take them for a ride, but in the corporate world, it happens more often than you would like to think and by having a legally binding contract agreement in place, you can better protect yourself from it happening to you.

Immigration law

When you run a business in Canada, it is of the utmost importance that the individuals you employ are all legally able to work within the borders of Canada. This can often be more difficult to ascertain than you might think due to things like document forgery being a big corporate law issue right now, and due to the fact that police checks are not infallible.

If you do end up employing someone who has no right to work under Canadian labour laws, you could be subject to significant fines and litigation from the Federal government. Luckily, our corporate lawyers are experts in the field of corporate immigration and we are always on hand to check paperwork, run background checks and mitigate for you should you fall foul of the immigration laws.

Anti-spam policies

One of the types of corporate laws a lot of people don't realize commercial lawyers can help with is the issue of spam. More and more, spam is being taken more seriously by the governments and legislators of companies all over the world. Including Canada. That means it is also becoming easier and easier for companies to fall foul of anti-spam, laws, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

The good news is, our Alberta corporate lawyers are experts when it comes to drawing up anti-spam policies that will help employees within your corporation stay on the right side of the law and avoid fines and litigation, as well as your business being branded as a spammer -a reputation that no corporation would want to have.

Basic Corporate litigation

As well as referring to any measures taken to avoid businesses falling foul of litigation somewhere down the line, corporate litigation also refers to the process of a business being the subject of a lawsuit from another company. This is a very common occurrence in the corporate world where you can be sued for everything from creating a similar product to a competitor to being accused of using insider knowledge of a company you used to work for to boost your own. 

As you can imagine, it is one of the most common reasons for business owners to get in touch with our corporate lawyers. It is also one area that we are experts in defending. From ensuring compliance to dealing with tortes and handling violations of contract, if it's in the realm of corporate litigation, we, at  Verghaeghe Law Office can handle it.

Get in touch with our corporate lawyers today

Verghaeghe Law Office is an Edmonton-based legal firm with years of experience in helping corporate clients with the finer aspects of corporate law, amongst other things. If you want to know more about the types of corporate laws in Alberta that we can help you with, do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our experienced lawyers today. We are here to help.

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