Table of Contents
Written by : Alvina Verrecchia |
Current |
Write a comment |
Write a comment
hi this is Lee Phillips I want to talk for two seconds about a weird topic for a lawyer to talk about yeah I'm a lawyer don't hold that against me and in fact I'm United States Supreme Court counsel but the topic is business cards what does the lawyer have to do with business cards well it's pretty easy actually whenever you set up corporation LLC that gives you this corporate shield this asset protection you need to make sure that the people that you're dealing with understand that they are not dealing with you they are dealing with a company one of the ways that you do that is that company needs to be on the letterhead it needs to be on the business card and when you give that business card to an individual they need to be able to see a company I'm dealing with company this guy's representative of company had a case a while back where the individuals had done some interesting things and got in big-time trouble and the argument was and the people actually lost the argument or actually won the argument depends on which site you're on but they had not put that it was a company on the letterhead it was John Doe engineering it wasn't John Doe engineering LLC or John Doe Engineering Corporation and John Doe happened to design a building with a swimming pool on top and the swimming pool failed not a good idea they came back and they went against John Doe personally and they said we didn't know that this was a company it's not even on your letterhead we were dealing with you John Doe engineer you can't hide behind the corporate shield by the way corporate shield corporation corporate shield LLC same corporate shield you can't hide behind it because we don't know who you are we thought we were dealing with you and I had a case number of years ago big ad agency in LA that been doing the same thing for years they changed to an LLC and the guys who changed him to an LLC happened to be one of the big internet peoples and they kind of give him the papers and kiss him goodbye they didn't bother to tell them that they had to changed the letterhead that they had to notify the creditors that they had to start representing themselves as a company not just a continuation of what everybody had been dealing with they got in trouble the court took 15 minutes to say no no no you're not an LLC you're still a partnership because these people have dealt with you as a partnership for decades they didn't know that you are an LLC you do not have the right to try and put a corporate shield in between you and the creditors because they didn't know they thought they were still dealing with you so they passed so when you set up an LLC or corporation it's critical that you notify everybody that you've been dealing with and it's critical that you have your letterhead your business cards your webpage everything reflect the fact that you are a company not the individual or not the partnership that you've always been this is Lee Phillips just giving you a little heads-up on how to try and protect that corporate shield when you set up a corporation LLC in an entity that you've already been running under or even one that you're just setting up for the first time or an entity that you're now dealing with where you've changed the nature of the entity
Thanks for your comment Prudence Shulse, have a nice day.
- Alvina Verrecchia, Staff Member
today's question why is it important for me to include the letters LLC or the words limited liability company in my business and on my signage and context when I'm doing business okay this is a very common question a thing you see out there if you're driving around town and you see a small business it's more likely you've seen a van that says Ted's painting LLC or a plumbing company Smith Plumbing LLC and they all put the out not all but most put the LLC right on the van right on the side why do they do this well under the law if you're operating as an LLC a limited liability company you're required to inform the public of the fact in other words you're saying this is my business and it has limited liability limited to the business asset if I as a member of the public do business with you I'm supposed to be aware that I am contacting with your business entity Ted's plumbing LLC and that with Ted Smith personally for those services in other words Ted Smith is not personally guaranteeing his work if he does a faulty job to my plumbing system I can sue Ted's plumbing LLC but I can't go sue Ted Smith personally and try to take his house for my damages so if you operate an LLC make sure you are disclaiming that fact to the public on your signs your business letterhead your checks your business kite if you do not do this and later you try to claim the privileges of LLC protection but you were not adequately advertising that you operate as an LLC the court could choose to do what we call piercing the veil piercing the corporate veil saying you weren't really acting as a business entity therefore they could allow someone to sue you and get to your personal asset so if you form an LLC it's a great idea for personal liability protection to separate your business life from personal liability but make sure you're observing those LLC formalities to keep the protections of the LLC for your business great question and thank you for asking
Thanks Arlinda your participation is very much appreciated
- Alvina Verrecchia
About the author
I've studied medical education at Trinity College in Hartford and I am an expert in library technical services. I usually feel morose. My previous job was marking clerk I held this position for 31 years, I love talking about checkers (draughts) and weightlifting. Huge fan of Jackson Pollock I practice golf and collect prizes.
Try Not to laugh !
Joke resides here...