Helping Your Organization Throughout Its Lifecycle
From its initial nurturing of its seeds through all of its seasons of change, a business or nonprofit organization is like a redwood tree in many important ways. (Learn more about our approach.)
The Law Office of Becki Kammerling can help your organization to thrive throughout its lifecycle — from building strong roots and spouting in the beginning, to nurturing its growth, to helping it through the substantial changes that will occur in its lifecycle. As your Southern California business lawyer, We will help you implement a sustainable approach to help your organization grow healthy, strong and formidable enough to survive and thrive even when faced with challenges.
Business and Nonprofit Startup
We represent businesses and nonprofit organizations in the startup stages, providing counsel regarding:
- Entity selection — We can help you choose the right entity (a sole proprietorship, LLC, L3C, C corporation, Benefit Corporation, S corporation, or tax-exempt organization) and assist in all relevant filing requirements.
- Business planning — We can review and provide values counsel regarding internal mission statements, policies and business plans.
- Business agreements — We can draft your partnership agreements, operating agreements and shareholder agreements.
- Funding — We can assist with securing private financing through drafting private placement agreements and promissory notes, reviewing bank loans and ensuring compliance with all appropriate federal and state securities regulations.
- Protecting your vision — We can advise you on the appropriate non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements to protect your vision.
-
Sustainability — We can advise you on sustainability measures such as incorporating green mission statements and measures in contracts with partners, shareholders and third-parties, reviewing and drafting green leases, and ensuring that your Green Marketing campaigns comply with state and federal laws.
Ongoing Counsel
We provide legal counsel services on an ongoing basis for businesses and nonprofits:
- Vendor agreements, employee agreements, independent contractor agreements
- Marketing your services/products to create awareness of your company while reducing risk of deceptive, false or misleading advertising (or greenwashing!) accusations
- Appropriate and beneficial copyrights, trademarks and patents to protect your brilliant new seedling ideas and creations
- Stock options, distributions
- Adding shareholders to your organization
- Organizational agreements, contracts and business practices that will protect you from exposure to litigation and ensure that you are covered in the event that a natural disaster, market changes or other unforeseen event befalls your organization
- Employment issues for employers
- Drafting joint venture agreements, co-venture agreements and collaboration agreements
- Advising you on execution of shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements
- Drafting merger and acquisition agreements, and advise and execute dissolutions
Representative Clients
Clients at the Law Office of Becki Kammerling include:
- Natural and organic product companies: including a local all-natural energy bar company and an online sustainably produced and packaged product company.
- Sustainable service industries: including a sustainable banking model company dedicated to transparency, sustainability and education, and a white-label photo repair company that provides opportunities to artists around the world without the carbon footprint of a centralized office.
- Social entrepreneurs: for-profit companies with big missions, including a client who hires and provides life skills training to formerly incarcerated individuals, a business incubator working with African entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses. Both of these companies have taken on a new form of business called an L3C, or a "Low Profit Limited Liability" company, which builds into its organizing documents a mandate to have a social benefit. Learn more about the L3C and how my firm can assist you in organizing a social benefit company here.
- Tax-exempt organizations: including a charitable organization based in Kenya providing education for children and medical needs for a small local community, a 501(c)(4) lobby organization dedicated to implementing strong environmental changes in the state of California, to an educational organization with roots in Indian spirituality.
- Sole-proprietors: I work with many successful professionals who have struck out on their own, including lawyers, architects, designers, film producers and business consultants.
You deserve to have legal representation from an experienced attorney who not only understands your legal needs, but also understands your passion for creating a sustainable organization that serves our people and the planet. The Law Offices of Becki Kammerling will work with you to find legal solutions that do not compromise your mission or your multiple bottom lines.
Your Initial Consultation
For skilled legal assistance from an experienced Santa Monica business lawyer, contact The Law Office of Becki Kammerling online by e-mail, by local phone at 310-526-3463 or toll free at 888-665-2577 to schedule a consultation.
