Commercial Real Estate

Commercial leases are not the same as residential leases and need careful legal preparation. When businesses are involved, consumer protection laws come into play. A properly prepared commercial lease agreement affords certain protections. We prepare and review commercial lease agreements as well as sublease agreements.

We assist businesses with the review and preparation of contracts for business transactions. A contract may be oral, written, express, or implied, and there are basic principles applicable to all contracts. Business sales contracts may require different or additional information based on the goods or services being exchanged.

Goodwill is an asset that is an intangible part of a business being purchased. Despite its intangibility, goodwill may be worth more than concrete assets, such as property, buildings, machinery, or inventory. In the state of Georgia, a bill of sale is required to transfer goodwill. A bill of sale is a legal document, similar to a contract, that makes a record of the agreement to sell and receive the goods from one party to the other. Calculating business goodwill can be complex, so it is essential to have a highly competent business attorney involved in the negotiation process.

A person’s percentage of ownership in a company is determined by the shares they hold. The respective shares can be sold or given by their owners however they see fit, as long as it complies with the shareholder agreements they signed prior to the transfer. If such an agreement does not exist, a person must realistically value its stock before transferring it to comply with IRS rules and state corporation laws. Ownership transfers have legal and financial dimensions that vary by the type of transaction and the type of business structure.