Your Legal Summer To-Do List

Summer is a great time to kick back and relax. But it’s also a great time to catch up on some projects you’ve ignored. The same is true for your business. To help you with this, we’ve put together your legal summer to-do list.

Summer is an opportune time to review your company’s financial health, operations, and strategic alignment. The benefits of completing your summer to-do list include gaining insights into how to improve your business performance and improving customer satisfaction and productivity.

Conduct a technology audit. A technology audit is an assessment of the current state of your company’s information technology systems. This includes hardware, software, data storage, networks, and telecommunications. Checking off this item on your to-do list will help identify potential risks and opportunities. Be sure to check on your privacy policy, terms of use, and disclaimers.
Update or create contracts. If you have a regular relationship with clients and vendors, you should consider updating or creating agreements. For instance, you may seek more favorable payment terms from suppliers to improve your cash flow. Perhaps a longtime customer would benefit from a fixed rate agreement—which would also guarantee you regular revenue. Also, in certain situations, the Statute of Frauds requires that legal agreements are documented in writing (e.g., real estate sales, agreements to pay someone else’s debts, and contracts that take longer than one year to complete). And, don’t forget, in New York State there is a “Freelance Isn’t Free” law that requires any independent contractor earning more than $800 per year have a written agreement or you can face fines and penalties.
Examine your privacy policy. Ask a small business attorney about creating a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policy. This policy will include a statement on the types of personal devices that employee can use; the types of data that will be allowed to be accessed; what data protection requirements will be enforced and how monitored; and what technology will be used to segregate company data from personal data. You should also consider what information you gather from clients and potential clients. Who uses it, where is it stored, how is it used? If you solicit clients from California or the EU, there are significant privacy requirements you need to comply with.
Review your corporate structure. Each type of business entity has distinct advantages and disadvantages— both legal and financial. It may be time to change your business structure if you’ve recently expanded, added investors, brought on a number of employees, or started to manufacture a new product.
Ensure you are protecting your intellectual property. Look at your brand and ensure that it is protected—that way, the public is aware that you are the source of your goods or services. Plus, you thunk about filing a trademark to protect your logo, catch phrase, and other brand identifiers.
Make sure your business is compliant and lawsuit-proof. New York small businesses can benefit from an experienced business attorney who can advise them on compliance issues and develop procedures to monitor and minimize risk. This includes understanding and implementing new regulations. Every industry has specific requirements and pitfalls to understand. If you have employees, you definitely should make sure you are compliant with wage and hour laws, classification rules, employee disclosure obligations and the like. And if any of those sound unfamiliar to you, you should reach out for assistance.
How’s the team? Employee engagement is frequently taken for granted. Are you surrounding yourself with great people who share your core values and are responsible for their role in achieving the company’s vision? Consider your employees and what you can do to create and maintain a great working environment. For example, do you have workplace where all employees feel safe and respected? Review your harassment and discrimination policies, as well as your employee handbook and keep these up to date. You can also identify potential leaders and put them in positions to show their talents for future promotion.
Prepare for a strong Q3 and Q4. Stay focused on priorities and align your team’s efforts will help you enjoy a strong second half of the year. Define the actions needed to achieve the desired objectives. Monitor your progress, address obstacles, and focus on the most impactful actions to achieve your goals. Understand the tasks most critical to your business and devote all your efforts and energy into maximizing achievement.

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Completing your summer to-do list can help you be proactive about evaluating the health of your business and taking focused improvement actions to achieve sustainable growth.

Reach out to us with your legal needs, and we’ll let you know the value we bring, and the cost we charge. You’ll find that we stand by our motto: “Build. Not Billed.”® Because LOVE LAW FIRM is here to help you build your business—not just bill you for it.

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Francine E. Love is the Founder & Managing Attorney at LOVE LAW FIRM PLLC which dedicates its practice to serving entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses. The opinions expressed are those of the author. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.