Ultra Light Startups audience at Legal Round Table event.
Ultra Light Startups presented a Legal Roundtable discussion Tuesday night designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the tricky business of dealing with immigration.
The panel was made up of three attorneys, Andrew Lerner, Jonathan Freedman and Stephen Chin. Freedman and Chin advise entrepreneurs on the legal ins and outs of getting a new company off the ground, while Lerner deals exclusively with business immigration.
Lerner led the discussion by cautioning that immigration is becoming nastier and more difficult to deal with. Lerner says that immigrants are under extreme government scrutiny right now and many employers are already being targeted.
“Government agencies are making sure that all employees are documented properly and that all employers are following the letter of the law,” said Lerner. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a foreign national or a U.S. Citizen, if the immigration paperwork isn’t perfect, government agencies are cracking down.”
Next up was Jonathan Freedman who covered the ins and outs of when to incorporate your start up company. Freedman says there are two basic factors that should prompt entrepreneurs to incorporate:
- When the business is taking on material contracts.
- When the person is ready to form a partnership.
Freedman says, “When you form a partnership, it’s very important to determine who owns what, even if that partner is your best friend. Conditions need to be set forth and agreed upon to avoid future trouble.”
Stephen Chin rounded out the legal panel by addressing various topics including trademarks, copyrights and patents. Chin explained that it takes about six months to a year to go through the trademark application process and costs approximately $300.
Chin also talked about the hardship of trying to obtain intellectual property rights. He says it can be incredibly difficult and time consuming, but if you are successful in getting them, it can definitely pay dividends in the future.
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