BUSINESS LAW
The Law Offices of Michele A. Peters offer individuals and businesses, general counseling services guiding choices as to operations in New York and New Jersey.
Recent work has included working as advisory counsel to residential cooperative boards in Manhattan, NY; defense counsel to a corporation in New Jersey in defense of a hostile take-over action; counsel to a client purchasing a small business in New Jersey; counsel to medical doctors as to employer/employee contracts and commercial space acquisition.
In New Jersey, relevant statutes include: New Jersey Business Corporation Act, Title 14A, Title 15 Corporations and Associations Not for Profit, Title 42 Partnerships and Partnership Associations, Title 56 Trade Names, Trademarks, and Unfair Practices.
In New York, relevant law is found in the Business Corporation Law.
Importantly in drafting of corporate documents, shareholder agreements and the like, you need a competent attorney who is researching current law - and also someone who will reach out to you as the law evolves to alert you to important changes.
A case at point is the controversy that arose in an important case in 2011 (that greatly affected the value of an estate) - Matter of Bernfeld (Michael Bernfeld, D.D.S. and Yakov Kurilenko, D.D.S., P.C.), 2011 NY Slip Op 05071 (2d Dept June 7, 2011). relating to what a shareholder's agreement in a professional corporation (a "P.C.") did not include -- how the method of valuing the P.C. could be done - other than by book value, in conformity with the P.C.'s regular method of accounting (Business Corporation Law ยง 1510). By not having the valuation drafted in the shareholders' agreement, a dentist's widow who valued her deceased husband's share of the business at over a half million dollars, was denied any compensation at all.
