Prepare a letter to the organization’s legal counsel identifying the criteria he or she should utilize in developing standard contracting language for your organization when dealing with a specific supplier or business customer.

Stand-Alone Project_17 Stand-Alone Project: Managing the Legal Aspects of Establishing and Operating a Business

You should begin working on the Stand-Alone Project early in the course. Each assignment provides a benchmark for completing the Stand-Alone Project in a timely manner while working through the course. You will find this information in the “Stand-Alone Project Benchmark” section of each assignment.

Instructions: This project requires you to think critically and analytically about the legal aspects of forming and operating a business. You will apply the legal concepts in this course to the practical aspects of conducting business. You are expected to research the information on these topics in order to gain a broader knowledge of how others are handling these issues. Your writing style should be professional, logical, and clear.

In preparation for your work on this Stand-Alone Project, we will begin with some background material on the business with which you are involved and for which you will manage the legal aspects of its establishment and operation. You and two former employees of GoSoftware have developed a software program to address a variety of human resource needs, from hiring, to compliance with legal rules, to termination. You want to establish a business to market and license this program and develop others. You have a few programmers who are working on a contract basis, but you want to hire them as employees and add more workers in the future. You are seeking investments from venture capitalists in exchange for an ownership interest in the business. Your Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (300 points) (A 20-page response is required.)

Part A Groundwork for the Business: Address the following basic elements of business formation. (119 points)

1. Develop an idea/vision for the business. (11 points) 2. Identify and define two (2) legal and two (2) regulatory issues to consider when establishing this business. (36 points) 3. Select at least four (4) professionals on whom to rely for business advice. List the types of professionals you would choose, discuss why you would choose them, list at least three (3) methods you could use to select them, and describe the roles you would expect each of these professionals to play in connection with the business. (30 points) 4. Select a specific legal entity for your business. Discuss the possible choices and explain why you chose your particular legal entity over the others. (42 points)

Part B Contract Letter to Legal Counsel (91 points)

1. Identify four (4) types of suppliers and three (3) business customers with which the organization will be contracting. (39 points) 2. Prepare a letter to the organization’s legal counsel identifying the criteria he or she should utilize in developing standard contracting language for your organization when dealing with a specific supplier or business customer. Include at least the following in your letter. (52 points) a. Performance Specifications: Describe the basic elements of what is to be provided under the contract, such as product specifications, description of services, project deliverables, etc. (16 points) b. Terms and Conditions: Address the basic elements of how the parties will work together, including payment, timing, contact information, etc. (16 points) c. Dispute Resolution: Describe the method(s) to be used to resolve disputes arising under the agreement. Should a dispute resolution be included? (20 points)

Part C Liability Assessment Letter to Legal Counsel: To enable legal counsel to recommend how to protect the business, identify and assess at least three (3) likely risks in each of the following legal areas arising from the operations of the business. In the letter you write, ask legal counsel to address the risks you have identified. (90 points)

1. Tort and Breach of Contract (30 points) 2. Employment (30 points) 3. Intellectual Property (30 points)