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Florida Lawyer Services & Packages
HR Legal Logistics advises growing and established businesses, strives to avoid litigation, and reduces overall legal costs. We advise on what we know best, which is why focus our practice areas on select areas. Using our client-centered approach, we are able to achieve your specific goals. We believe most matters can be resolved through proactive and preventative measures, conflict resolution, or pre-litigation settlement discussions, eliminating the need for risky litigation (although not a guarantee). Many services are billed on a flat-fee basis, so there are never any hidden costs.
We offer all the services listed below, but in our mission to be efficient, we also offer packages for those who needs multiple services at an affordable rate.
As your employment lawyer, we’ve got you covered when it comes to an employer handbook, employment contract, or non compete and more.
- Providing legal advice, consultation, and training on all phases of the employee life cycle, from hiring to counseling and termination
- Conducting risk assessments and workplace investigations
- Drafting employment policies
- Implementing employee management strategies
- Addressing employee grievances
- Classifying workers (i.e. independent contractors versus employees)
- Ensuring legal compliance
Customizing employee handbooks
Drafting customized job offer letters and job descriptions
Assisting with onboarding new hires
Assisting with executing performance improvement plans
Witnessing employee disciplining and counseling, as well as terminations
Creating an injury’s and illness prevention program
Preparing and customizing a variety of tools for human resources functions, including:
Personnel File Checklists
- Leave Request Forms
- Requests for Reasonable Accommodations
- FMLA Forms and Checklists
- Performance Evaluations
- Discipline Forms
- Incident Forms
- New Hire Packets
- Termination Packets
- Business Expense and Mileage Reimbursement Forms
- Telecommuting Request Form
- Lay-off and WARN Notices
- Employment Contracts
- Independent Contractor Agreements
- Nondisclosure Agreements
- Confidentiality Agreements
- Separation Agreements
As your business lawyer, we handle business start up including help to form an LLC.
For Established Businesses:
- Structuring, formulating, and dissolving business entities (i.e., corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships) on Florida’s Division of Corporations
- Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial contracts
- Managing corporate governance (i.e. bylaws, etc.)
- Filing intellectual property applications for trademark (national and state) and copyright
- Serving as outside general counsel
- Ensuring legal compliance
- Providing website privacy policies and terms and conditions
- Assisting with hiring employees or independent contractors
Preparing business-specific agreements, such as:
- Shareholders Agreements
- Operating Agreements
- Compensation Agreements
- Confidentiality Agreements
- Licensing and Distribution Agreements
- Purchase Agreements (products and services)
- Consulting Agreements
- Manufacturers Representative/Sales Agent/Dealer Agreements
- Equipment Lease Agreements
For New Businesses:
- Setting up new business entities, including completing license applications, verifying name availability, drafting operating agreements or bylaws, and establishing core values
- Assisting with hiring employees or independent contractors
Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial contracts and agreements
Providing website privacy policies and terms and conditions
For Estate Planning:
Drafting and amending: Last will and testaments; trusts; powers of attorney; and advanced directives (living wills)
Administering estates through probate court
For Succession Planning:
Establishing a succession plan for your business that protects key positions and helps groom employees
Evaluating skill sets that are complimentary to foster employee growth
Creating development plans
- Reviewing and drafting all other types of contracts, from everyday agreements to complex agreements
Reviewing, negotiating, and drafting all other types of contracts, from everyday agreements to complex agreements, including:
Vendor Contracts
Service Contracts
Purchase and Sale Agreements
Reseller and Distribution Agreements
License Agreements
Commercial Real Estate Leases
Non-Disclosure & Confidentiality Agreements
Non-Compete Agreements
Operating Agreements
Partnership Agreements
Franchise Agreements
Employment Contracts
Severance Agreements
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A business lawyer can help protect you and your business by reducing your risk. It’s the idea of being proactive and not reactive to lawsuits. A business lawyer can help ensure your business is legally compliant with local, state and federal laws.
A business lawyer focuses on a variety of business needs for small, medium, and large businesses, including start-up and formation, contracts, employment issues, and everything in between. Whereas, an HR lawyer only focuses on employment laws, protecting your business and your employees from employment-related issues. We handle both business and HR law matters, so we have you covered all around.
You can easily start a business on your own, but talking with a lawyer before doing so can help reduce your risk of exposure. For example, we counsel clients on the different types of entities to make sure they choose the right one for their new venture. Among other things, we also do an extensive trademark search to make sure the name you are planning on using for your new business is available for use. Talking to a lawyer can save you hundreds of hours and dollars later to fix formation issues
Ideally you’d want to consult with a business lawyer to make sure you’re selecting the right entity type, a business name not already in use, and properly completing your license paperwork with the state and your local county and city.
Only limited liability entities need an operating agreement. Even those with one owner/member should have an operating agreement. It’s like having one with yourself, but it helps formalize the entity.
An operating agreement is the formalization of a limited liability entity that outlines the membership, management, compensation, as well as other important details related to the entity. Meanwhile bylaws are similar, but are necessary for corporations, and can be in a short or long version, depending on the details included. We draft both of these documents for clients forming new entities, or those who previously formed an entity and are now ready formalize it.
There is no one size fits all as this really depends on the type of business you have. Some businesses may need independent contractor agreements, and others may need employee agreements. Some may need vendor or distributor contracts, some may not need either. Other examples may be nondisclosure or noncompetes. It all depends on your business needs, but we can help figure that out during either a consultation or strategy session.
Core values can help a business grow and thrive. They send a message to clients and workers the kind of business your business is. It begs the question: What matters to you? We work with clients in establishing core values to solidify the right ones for your business, then incorporating them and rolling them out company-wide.
Employee handbooks are useful tools whether you have 5 or 500 employees. Indeed their importance grows as your business grows because they are the compilation of your policies and procedures in written form so everyone knows what is expected of them. However, we always recommend at least maintaining a few policies in a handbook to clarify issues like benefits, payroll, etc. We thrive at not only creating employee handbooks, but also reviewing and updating existing employee handbooks, because first we make sure we understand your business and it’s needs to properly customize it
While it isn’t necessary, having an HR or employment lawyer draft an employee handbook is highly recommended because it guarantees that the policies contained within it are legally compliant (with state and local government) and drafted to best protect you and your business.
If you have employees and you have feedback for them, then raise your hand. (Nearly everyone’s hand should be in the air.) It is at this time you know it’s time for your business to start annual performance evaluations. Performance evaluations are often tied to annual increases, employee self-evaluations, and formal meetings for feedback and goal-setting. They can be particularly useful when succession planning and to set a record of performance expectations. On the one hand if you have an employee you want to groom for more, this is a great way to identify that and lay out SMART goals for them. On the other hand if you have an employee with performance issues, this is a way to identify that and help lay out expectations for improvement so there is less of a surprise if you decide you need to terminate the employment relationship. Think of performance evaluations like check-ups for your car, not fun but necessary to run your business.
Employees are on you payroll, you cover their taxes, and they are at-will by nature unless they sign an employment contract, meaning their employment can be terminated by you or them at anytime, with or without cause (as long as it is not for an unlawful reason such as a discriminatory or retaliatory reason). Independent contractors have more autonomy, they are usually paid for projects or specific tasks completed over which they have control and decision-making authority. Additionally, taxes are not paid for contractors, and there may or may not be a term depending upon the nature of the relationship. It is our recommendation that independent contractors sign an agreement to protect you and your business, which we can help draft and customize.
Independent contracts should not sign an employee handbook because they are not employees.
It is advisable to consult with a lawyer and have them draft a severance agreement to make sure you are not including any illegal or overbroad terms in the agreement. Often employees will seek independent counsel before signing, as they should, and the negotiation process could be far more drawn out if it is not properly drafted.
This is one of our most favorite questions! In fact we wrote an entire e-book on the topic and if you subscribe to our e-newsletter you can download it for free (back on our Home page [LINK Words HOME PAGE TO https://www.legallogisticsfl.com]). If you wish to pay for these sorts of things, then jump over to our Resources page [link RESOURCES PAGE to: https://www.legallogisticsfl.com/resources] and you can download it from your favorite e-book retailer (it’s available on Apple Books, Nook, and Kobo).
By having a relationship with an employment attorney you should be given updates of new laws or information, and then you can decide if it is the right time to review and update your employee handbook. We usually recommend giving it a look annually and if you have any questions or desire to change something then that can be done at that time, but at most it shouldn’t be greater than 2 to 3 years that you look at your handbook.
An employment lawyer who doubles as an HR consultant, like us, can help with new hires. First we make sure your job application, interviewing process, and hiring checklist are legally compliant. More so, we then provide you with advice on helping them assimilate and succeed in their new role.
An estate plan is a compilation of documents that focus on managing and distributing your personal estate at the time of your death, and a comprehensive one also covers your bases if you become incapacitated during your lifetime. A succession plan is for your business, and this identifies folks who have skill sets that benefits other, top-tier positions in your business. It protects your business if someone, including yourself, retires, falls ill, and/or passes away, so you can avoid a breakdown in its success.
FMLA is the acronym for the Family and Medical Leave Act, which overhauled the idea of maternity leave and covers more life events for a greater number of workers. It can provide workers with up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year, among other benefits.
HR Legal LogisticsSM
About: HR Legal Logistics is a boutique law firm aimed at helping entrepreneurs protect their assets, their employees, and their brand. We accomplish this through preventive measures such as establishing legally compliant entities, providing human resources guidance, reviewing or drafting contracts, protecting trademarks and copyrights, and forming estate and succession planning.
(561) 480.0779 | Text: (561) 571.8921Copyright © 2020 to 2021 by HR Legal Logistics PLLC. All rights reserved.