LLC Lawyer

[Keith Williams]

Hey Everyone,

Im working with a lawyer to file my LLC who said originally was not going to charge me but now wants $300 to finish the paperwork and file it.  Someone in the group got there LLC done for free, can i get that lawyers contact information so i can finish mine?

Thanks,

Keith

[Mike Avent]

A large portion/all of that might be the NY/DE filing fees.

Its one thing to do the work for free, but another to ask an attorney to go out of pocket to pay a fee the state requires. I would ask how much is filing fees out of that $300.

[Christina Ciamarra]

Sorry, that wasn't me. Good luck on the search!

[Adam Brooks]

Depends on the fees for NY, I filed mine in Maryland for around 150 I think. You only need articles of formation filed at the state maybe county office.

-Adam

[Anasha Cummings]

Yeah, according to the NYS website, there are at least $250 in fees for filing an LLC (plus whatever it costs to run a public notice, which may well bring you to $300. 

See more details here: http://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/llccorp.html#artorg

On a related note, do you of you follow this blog: http://startuplawyer.com seems like it could be useful, but I haven't had the time to really delve into it recently.

Anasha

[Jason Kuruzovich]

Keith,

Here is the email on the free filing. Will mentioned that their advice was to do a Delaware S-Corp.  My concern with these guys is that they would offer to do filing for free but push people to do a corporate format that is more expensive to keep up and not completely appropriate if you are looking for a corporate structure for liability protection in your search for a business model and are not already massively scaling. While not "dishonest," the type of corporate structure that is appropriate depends mostly on the future, which nobody knows. 

 For example, Remy seemed to say that LLC was the dominate corporate structure among startups and my understanding is that there are a lot of advantages for simplification. C or S-corp is probably appropriate if you know you are going to be a 10 million dollar company, but most Foundry companies are still in the search phase, suggesting an LLC would likely be the right option.

Remy, feel free to comment.

Please keep me updated on this if you choose to use them.

Jason

From: Jeff Unger <jeffunge...@eminutes.com>

Subject: The Foundry and eMinutes

Date: April 20, 2012 4:04:54 PM EDT

To: "kur...@rpi.edu" <kur...@rpi.edu>

Jason, I was so excited to read the information about the Foundry on the website.  I would love to get involved.  As Will might have told you, my law firm has embarked on an insane mission to form 500 free corporations for first-time entrepreneurs. Free means free.  We're even paying the filing fees for 500 candidates.  I am excited to form a corporation for Will in fact.  Because we are trying to help serious entrepreneurs, I have tried to create relationships with organizations such as yours to help me find the most deserving candidates.  For example, we are working with Startup Weekend to form companies for free for any group that wants to continue with the formation of the venture at the end of the weekend.  Below is some more information about what we are doing.  Are you free next week for a few minutes to chat about how we might be able to work with your students to help them?

Sincerely,

Jeff

eMinutes is forming 500 free corporations

For nearly twenty years, the lawyers at eMinutes have formed corporations for A-list celebrities, musicians, and athletes.  Now, eMinutes has embarked on a mission to form 500 free corporations for first-time entrepreneurs.  Free means free.  eMinutes is even paying the filing fees.  For first-time entrepreneurs who have not yet formed a corporation, eMinutes will form the company.  For entrepreneurs who have already formed a corporation, eMinutes lawyers will review the paperwork, determine whether documents need to be "cleaned up", and take whatever steps are necessary to restructure the company.  All of this will be provided at no charge.  See what This Week in Startups' Jason Calacanis is saying about eMinutes' mission.

About eMinutes and Jeff Unger

eMinutes is a corporate law firm that was founded by Jeff Unger in 1997.  eMinutes forms  corporations and LLCs for A-list movie stars, Grammy award-winning musicians, and athletes.  Jeff is a graduate of Babson College where he was awarded the Economics Letter of Achievement.    As a lawyer admitted to practice in both California and New York, Jeff divides his time between Los Angeles and Manhattan. 

Why is eMinutes forming 500 corporations for free

Jeff explains "I had the idea to form 500 free corporations for first-time entrepreneurs.  I thought it was a great way to build my brand and to meet some really interesting people, but I had no idea how it would impact me on a personal and emotional level.  Corporate lawyers usually don't get thank you notes and now I have bunches of them.  We love the enthusiasm and passion that each entrepreneur brings to our lives".

Thanks for the intro Will.

Jeff,

Sounds like you are offering some great services to entrepreneurs.  

The Foundry-RPI is a program we have started at RPI, adapting materials and such from one at the university of Utah.  Glad to talk with you some time.

http://www.foundryrpi.org/about.php

http://www.youtube.com/user/USparkFoundryTV#p/c/1518F9248A4AFA18/0/5420YsMFOSo/

Best,

Jason

Jason Kuruzovich
Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems 
The Lally School of Management and Technology 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, New York 12180-3590
518.698.9910
kur...@rpi.edu

Jeffrey Unger, Founder @eminutes

On May 14, 2012, at 3:40 PM, Adam Brooks wrote:

[O'Connor, Gina]

All,  We hosted a panel of local attorneys at one of our Severino Interest Group breakfasts this spring, all of whom focus on helping start ups.

 

At least three of them are willing to help us.  You may want to invite one to a foundry meeting, or we can ask them to help you if any of you would like.  I am willing to forward this trail to one in particular and ask for his input.  Let me know if that would help.  It is important to get the input of an expert in the field when it comes to this sort of thing.  Lots of consequences down the road.

 

Gina

[Mike Avent]

Gina,

I'm an attorney at Nixon Peabody, I work with Todd Tidgewell. I'm happy to answer any questions. As I said previously, I don't think anyone should expect an attorney to go out of pocket on filing fees, even if they are willing to work pro bono.

I'd be happy to answer any general questions regarding entity choice. My one sentence general advice is that a simple LLC is probably the easiest for the short term unless someone is actively seeking professional funding (as distinct from friends & family fundraising), or expects to be in the next year or so. If you can indulge in a second sentence, I would add that its not terriblydifficult to change entities as a small company, so don't overthink things.

[O'Connor, Gina]

Thank you, both Remy and Mike.  Great to have the experienced view!

 

Gina