Business & Corporate Law

Business and corporate lawyers

Business & Corporate Law Attorneys in Florence & Myrtle Beach

Willcox, Buyck & Williams, P.A. has been a trusted business law firm for well over a century. With offices in Florence and Myrtle Beach, we serve clients in and around these cities. Our talented business and corporate attorneys have well-honed skills in all legal aspects of business, including startups, various types of business structures, transactions, and employment law. Whether you are ready to start a new business, restructure an existing one, negotiate a contract, draft a non-compete agreement, or deal with an issue of employment law, Willcox, Buyck & Williams is the place to come. We are not only knowledgeable about business law but we are also experienced in both negotiation and litigation. We look forward to giving you premium legal representation that will settle any problems you have and move you closer to increasing success.

We’ll Get Your Business Started

Our business law attorneys are well-prepared to help you start a business of any size. Almost half of the businesses in South Carolina are small businesses, but all businesses large and small start with a great many of the same concerns, including:

  • Determining which business structure will work best for you
  • Hiring, managing, and terminating employees
  • Calculating and filing business taxes
  • Dealing with legally binding contracts (e.g. to hire independent contractors)
  • Choosing the appropriate type of business insurance
  • Managing invoices, extending credit, collecting past due amounts
  • Complying with health, safety, disability, discrimination and environmental regulations
  • Deciding how best to invest profits for business growth

We’ll Help You Zero In on the Best Business Structure To Suit Your Needs

With the wide variety of business structures available to you in South Carolina, you may be uncertain about how to proceed. With Willcox, Buyck & Williams on your team, you can rest assured that we will clarify your options and explain the benefits of each. Having assisted many satisfied clients for many years, our business attorneys have the insight to guide you to the type of business structure of those listed below that will be most practical and profitable:

Sole Proprietorship will give you the advantage of being the only owner, not having to consult with anyone (except perhaps your reliable business attorney) about your decisions. Even though you will still have to obtain all required documents (e.g. permits, licenses), the process will typically go smoothly because it is simplified. Though sole proprietorship is perfect for some business owners, others find it frightening to have no real protection from legal liability.

Partnerships

Frequently two or more individuals are interested in sharing ownership of a business. In South Carolina, this can take place in a number of ways. On the plus side, all partners will share both profits and losses. On the other hand, the amount of personal liability each partner assumes is usually predicated on the type of partnership formed. The types of partnerships available to you in South Carolina include:

  • General Partnerships in which responsibility, profits and liabilities are equally divided among the partners and each partner pays personal income tax
  • Limited Partnerships (LPs) in which at least one partner assumes the role of “general partner,” with greater liability for debts and lawsuits, but the other partners’ liability is limited to the amount each invested
  • Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs) which provide limited partners with some of the tax benefits of a general partnership, and are protected from many of the general partners’ liabilities
  • Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a kind of composite of a partnership and a corporation in that the owners’ assets receive personal liability protection but each partner still pays business taxes as part of his/her personal income tax
  • Joint Ventures differ from partnerships as follows: in a joint venture the parties are in business together only for a limited period with a short-term goal

As a new business owner, it is also possible to form a corporation, which offers the most powerful liability protection of all. This is because corporations are legal entities, meaning they are comparable to a person in the eyes of the law. This status offers full protection to the owners who can no longer personally be held responsible for the corporation’s debts or lost lawsuits. There are two types of corporations:

Subchapter C Corporations
Subchapter C corporations are typically large and publicly held. They face double taxation since, if they pay dividends to their shareholders, they file their own tax returns. This means they pay taxes on profits before paying out dividends. Nonetheless, their shareholders’ individual returns will be taxed again based on their individual returns.

Subchapter S Corporations
Subchapter S corporations, however, are permitted to avoid double taxation, enabling them to protect their shareholders. While beneficial in some ways, Subchapter S Corporations have requirements that not all owners wish to meet. Among other things, they must be domestic, unaffiliated with larger corporate groups, have fewer than 100 shareholders, and have no alien shareholders.

Willcox, Buyck & Williams Is a Full-Service Corporate Law Firm

Our sharp corporate law attorneys do not only assist you in establishing the structure of your company. We negotiate and draft:

Willcox, Buyck & Williams provides integrated comprehensive services to get your business up and running and to ensure its protection and success.

Contact Our South Carolina Corporate Law Attorney To Put Your Business on Track and Keep It There

Once you choose us to be your business attorneys, we will assist you in weighing the pros and cons of any crucial decisions. We will help you with the complexities surrounding taxation, personnel matters, location changes, compliance with federal and state laws, and maintaining profit and cash flow. You can always turn to us with confidence if any type of dispute arises with employees, partners, or competitors. We will leverage our keen knowledge of the law and our well-developed powers of persuasion to make your business the successful entity you intend it to be. Contact us soon through our website or phone if you prefer.

Willcox Law helps clients with Business Law cases throughout South Carolina including Florence and Myrtle Beach.