Company law lawyer

Goldwin Law Firm assists its clients with all issues relating to company law:

• Corporate law transactions, including transformations, mergers, contributions in kind, partial contributions of assets, contributions-distributions, demergers, carve-outs, TUPs, voluntary dissolutions.
• Capital and quasi-equitytransactions, issues of bonds and composite securities of all kinds.
• Advice and implementation of recommendations concerning the choice and adaptation of forms of corporate and managerial organisation, depending in particular on the type of shareholding (family groups, industrial groups or investment funds) or the distribution of capital (majority block or dispersed shareholding).
• Setting up incentive schemes for managers or employees, such as bonus plans, share subscription or purchase options, free shares, issue of warrants, BSPCE. In addition, the firm can assist you with the legal and tax structuring of these plans, the definition of the conditions for obtaining shares and the implementation of the liquidity process.
• Setting up intra-group contracts and agreements, including current accounts, omniums, services and technical assistance. Our expert lawyers can also assist you in defining and setting up agency agreements (for corporate or individual directors), management agreements or suspension of agency.
• Advice and assistance in the pre-litigation and litigation management of conflicts between shareholders or conflicts between partners , particularly in the event of management bodies being blocked, meetings being blocked or adjourned, a decision being challenged by a minority shareholder or partner, and management appraisals.

Company law lawyer

A lawyer specialising in company law has expertise in corporate and business law. They are therefore able to deal with all types of companies, whatever their size, whether very small businesses, SMEs, start-ups, large groups or groups of companies.

In this way, he can be consulted as an advisor or act as a representative.

A good company law lawyer is responsive and precise. They support companies, their directors and their employees over the long term. His expertise provides the relevant information and advice to enable the right decisions to be taken.

How do you find the best lawyer for your company in Paris? You will find a large number of lawyers specialising in company law on recommendations, on the internet or in online directories. An initial meeting is necessary to assess the skills required to meet your needs. The relationship is just as important. The lawyer you select will undoubtedly work with you from the creation of the company through to its sale.

Advice on company law

A company law lawyer advises the directors, partners and shareholders of a company. This is why his advice can cover all types of procedures, from day-to-day management and organisation to more specific procedures, such as amending the company.

Asa legal professional, a company lawyer also acts as a partner to company directors. His advice and expertise are invaluable in making the best choices when a company is being set up, when it is being developed or when it is being transformed.

By anticipating the problems faced by the company or its directors, acompany lawyer can foresee the worst so that it does not happen. They have the necessary hindsight to take a global and dispassionate view of the company.

Involved at key moments in the life of a company, acompany lawyer is also a key player in day-to-day business. He enables managers to make the right decisions at the right time, with all the facts and figures at hand, an assessment of the legal risks and the likely consequences.

Company litigation and disputes

The corporate lawyer represents the client company before the courts and participates in the development of legal defence strategies where necessary.

They help to find solutions to disputes between the company and third parties, as well as to legal disputes between shareholders, partners or directors.

Finally, business lawyers in Paris can also take part in drawing up agreements and transactions. They conduct negotiations alongside the company’s directors or on their behalf, depending on the mandate given.

In the pre-litigation or litigation phase, the lawyer develops the appropriate strategy for both defence and attack. They use their teaching and diplomatic skills, as well as their creativity, to find the best solutions to the company’s conflicts.

We also intervene to settle disputes amicably through arbitration, mediation or conciliation whenever possible and desirable. Noos avocats intervenes before the Commercial Court and the Court of First Instance in all employment-related disputes. We can request a management report or the appointment of an ad hoc representative. Our business law firm always seeks a solution to avoid dissolution of the company, in particular due to disagreements between partners.

When should you call on the services of a company law lawyer?

A company can call on the services of a specialist lawyer from the moment it is set up until it is wound up or transferred. Whatever the company’s issues, our Paris law firm can answer your questions.

A lawyer for setting up a company

It is a good idea to consult a lawyer from the outset of setting up a company. He will be able to advise you on the formation of the company, the choice of corporate form and legal form, the drafting of the articles of association and all the formalities involved in setting it up.

What are the consequences of choosing one legal status over another? What social security protection is there for the company director? How can you anticipate the company’s future development at the lowest possible cost? Why is it essential to sign a partners’ agreement or a shareholders’ agreement? How can problems between partners be anticipated as soon as the company is set up?

All these questions are discussed with your specialist lawyer. As soon as the company is set up, the founders have to answer all the questions and imagine the future of their fledgling business.

It is easier to bring investors into the capital of an SAS (simplified joint stock company). If a start-up plans to do this in the medium term, it will adopt this status from the outset. The directors envisage a low remuneration but the introduction of dividends. They want to encourage their employees through bonus plans, stock options, free shares, etc.

Our Paris corporate law firm has international expertise. Some of our lawyers are also members of the New York Bar. They make it easier to set up an international company. Our firm therefore handles business law in Paris as well as in the United States.

The drafting of the articles of association and the drafting of the partnership agreement will be the foundations of the company. These legal texts must therefore be solid, personalised and reliable. Drafting the documents for setting up a company with a specialist lawyer will give you the best possible start to success.

Company life

Acompany lawyer plays an important role in the development of a company. They intervene at every key moment in the company’s life, and not just to settle disputes. The skills of a company law lawyer are useful to the company every day. His experience is needed, for example, in :

• Drafting legal documents: a company’s entire corporate life is dictated by legal documents with accounting and tax implications. It is essential to make the right choices in full knowledge of the responsibilities of the company director. The company lawyer drafts all the company’s legal documents, but also advises, clarifies and ensures the legal security of operations.
• Legal monitoring: with the proliferation of French and European regulations, effective legal monitoring is sometimes difficult for entrepreneurs to put in place. Yet company law requires constant updating of knowledge and subtleties. The day-to-day running of a company also requires frequent recourse to the services of a company lawyer.
• Protecting intellectual property: managing trademark and patent portfolios, registering domain names, protecting the company’s intangible assets, promoting the company’s intellectual property rights.
• Capital transactions: issue of new securities as part of a capital increase or capital reduction as part of a restructuring operation.
• Drafting the minutes of general meetings: at least once a year, your lawyer will draft the notices and minutes of the mandatory general meetings. He will check that the company documents comply with the latest regulations in force. Your lawyer also handles all the legal and social formalities.

Company closure and transfer

The sale of a business, the transfer of shares or the transfer of a company are delicate operations. It is therefore essential for company directors to be assisted by a specialist lawyer. Company directors have a major responsibility and commitment when it comes to leaving the business. At this stage, their involvement is sometimes less than when the company was set up. It is therefore even more important to work with a lawyer specialising in company law to draw up a plan for the cessation of business activities or the transfer of the company.

The steps supervised by a lawyer will essentially involve drafting :

• Promises to sell
• Asset and liability guarantee agreements;
• and registering the cessation or transfer with the tax authorities;
• Minutes of the shareholders’ general meeting;
• Information on the terms and risks of the sale;
• management reports;
• the judicial winding-up file;
• or representation at court hearings, etc.

There are many reasons why a company may be wound up: sale of shares or business assets, financial difficulties, the desire to create a new structure with new partners, etc. The advice of a company law solicitor in Paris 16 is essential if you are to move forward with peace of mind. He or she will take care of the formalities involved in terminating the company’s existence with the relevant bodies, and will provide skilful advice to the directors and partners.

Finally, a lawyer is useful for companies in difficulty: for insolvency proceedings, for drawing up the list of creditors, for duly declaring the cessation of payments, for putting in place a restructuring plan, etc. No manager is prepared for the failure of his or her business, and to avoid personal bankruptcy, the right advice is needed to make the best decisions at the right time.

Areas of practice related to company law

Goldwin is a business law firm with offices in Paris and internationally. We act for French and foreign companies in all areas of corporate law, but we also have legal skills related to corporate law. This enables us to advise and litigate for companies in all areas:

• Business criminal law lawyer to handle complex internal or external litigation;
• Commercial law for cases involving unfair competition, contract law, franchising and competition law;
• Employment law for disputes between the company and its employees.