Melissa C, Marsh, a Los Angeles California business attorney with 20+ years experience, spends the vast majority of her time providing business advice and drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a myriad of business, employment and real estate contracts. Legal services include: general business counseling and advice; business entity formation, maintenance, reorganization and dissolution; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures (purchase and sale of a business through stock or the assets); and the preparation, negotiation and review of contracts and commercial leases. As a transactional attorney who engages in very little litigation, I understand that every successful business is based on transactions with customers, suppliers, employees, licensees, and others. I have a long history of negotiating and drafting complicated agreements and providing sound business advice based on experience and practice.
Advertising and Promotions Law.
Advertising Law involves an array of state and federal laws affecting advertising in the main stream media channels and over the internet. In this arena, I review advertising campaigns for potential violations, I counsel my clients on content clearance to prevent lawsuits, and I help my clients license and defend their rights to their information, their trademarks, domain names, logos, and content including prose, music, photographs, videos, film, animation, and graphics.
Buying or Selling a Business in California?
I have represented both buyers and sellers in transactions involving the purchase and/or sale of a privately held business.
Starting a New Business in California.
I provide strategic legal counsel to start-ups and technology companies and help such clients develop and refine their business models, set up optimal legal and capital structures, coordinate employment and employee compensation and benefit arrangements, identify and protect their intellectual property and, where possible and appropriate, arrange introductions to providers of capital. Click the link below for a checklist of the issues you should consider before starting a business.
We can also assist you with:
Contracts and Agreements.
This area of my practice involves the preparation, review, and negotiation of all kinds of commercial and business contracts and leases, such as: sales and service contracts, profit participation agreements, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements and sales representative agreements; hardware and software development, licensing and distribution agreements; commercial leases; confidentiality, non-disclosure and proprietary rights agreements; shareholder buy-sell agreements and partnership agreements; and copyright, trademark, and service mark licensing and royalty agreements.
Closing Down a California Business.
Closing down a sole proprietorship is much less complicated than closing down a California corporation, limited liability company, or partnership. With a sole proprietorship all you need to do is: (1) Contact all customers, vendors, creditors and others you do business with so you can settle all accounts; and (2) write the government agency that issued your business license(s) to inform them that you are no longer in business. See also:
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