What the business practice covers

This part of the practice is about planning and paperwork. It is the work you do before there is a fight. Each page below explains one piece of it in plain terms.

Why the documents matter more than the filing

Setting up a Missouri company takes one form with the Secretary of State. Running it for twenty years takes written agreements. Missouri law lets owners write their own rules for their company. It tells courts to give those rules “maximum effect.”

That freedom cuts both ways. Anything you leave out gets filled in by default rules in the law. Most owners have never read them.

Some of those rules can surprise you. In a Missouri LLC, an owner stops being a member at death. A person who inherits or buys that share does not become a member unless your operating agreement allows it or every member agrees in writing. So your family may not be able to step in the way you expect. A few paragraphs written today can fix that.

Limited liability has limits too. Missouri law shields you from company debts just because you are an owner or manager. It does not shield you from a promise you sign yourself. A personal guaranty on a lease or loan is that kind of promise. It means you pay if the company cannot.

How a business matter starts

Business matters start with a paid consultation. It is real working time. Harjot Singh Padda, JD, reads what you bring. He spots the legal issues and tells you what the work would involve.

1. Book a time online, or call or text the office.
2. Bring the papers you have: company filings, your operating agreement or bylaws, the draft contract, the letter of intent or the lease. The consultation checklist lists the usual items.
3. Mr. Padda explains your options. Then he tells you the scope of the work and how it will be billed.
4. If you hire the firm, the scope and fees go into a written engagement letter before any drafting starts.
5. You go over each draft with him, line by line, before anything is signed or filed.

Where planning ends and a lawsuit begins

Good contracts cut down on fights. They do not end them. Sometimes a deal falls apart. Sometimes co-owners stop agreeing, or a buyer says the seller lied about the books. Then the matter moves to the firm’s civil litigation practice.

• The other side is not keeping a signed deal: see breach of contract.
• Co-owners, partners or shareholders in conflict: see partnership and shareholder disputes.
• Lawsuits with competitors, suppliers or customers: see business litigation.
• Contracts that send fights to a neutral third person: see mediation and arbitration.

The same office handles both sides of that line. So your documents are written with an eye on how a judge would read them.

Who the firm works with

The firm works with owners of small, privately held companies. That includes one-owner LLCs, family businesses, professional practices, small partnerships and small corporations. Clients come from St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and the rest of Missouri. The office is at 4477 Woodson Rd in St. Louis.

Business law and tax overlap at almost every step. Mr. Padda works with your CPA on tax choices, how a sale price is split, and what the business is worth. He will tell you when a question is for your accountant, not your lawyer.

Common questions

Related reading

• Civil litigation
• Business litigation
• About Harjot Singh Padda, JD
• All practice areas