Are you searching for California corporate attorneys with proven experience and skill to take your company or corporation to the next level?  Corporate attorneys are about a lot more than governance and compliance and associated legal paperwork.  Your San Diego and California corporate attorneys should be valuable business partners who provide sound counsel in every aspect of the life of a corporation.  This extends from the board room through executive management to the employees of the corporation itself.  The Watkins Firm protects the corporate veil and works to prevent disputes and setbacks so your corporation can prosper.

The Watkins Firm has served the San Diego and California business and corporate communities for more than 40 years.  You can entrust your business and corporate legal needs to us, and depend upon sound advice and counsel for your corporation from the moment of conception through a merger, acquisition or corporate dissolution.

Corporate Compliance is the Duty of Corporate Ownership

Corporate compliance is a duty of every officer of the corporation and the Watkins Firm ensures all corporate governance and compliance and related housekeeping is completed and appropriate filings are made with state and federal agencies.  We advise the corporation’s Board of Directors from selection of board members through meeting planning and legal consultation.  We work with the corporate management team to keep all corporate documents and bylaws up to date.

Prevent Employee Related Disputes Before They Arise

You need California corporate attorneys with proven experience to ensure compliance with all federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations related to your responsibilities as a California employer.  We work with all employment documents from the hiring process through employment and ultimately departure, including but not limited to:

• Employee Handbook
• Policies and Procedures
• Employment Agreements
• Disciplinary Process and Actions
• Severance Packages and Separation Agreements

We ensure your corporate team maintains the training and up-to-date knowledge of legal and ethical requirements to ensure all employees, executives and directors are compliant and take proper actions on behalf of the corporation.  They say “the best defense is a good offense” and this is especially true when it comes to preventing wage and hour issues, employee disputes and risks associated with a PAGA (Private Attorneys General Act) action.

Pro-Tip: “The corporate veil applies to both limited liability companies and corporations and also some other trust and things like that. But if you have a separate business entity, you have something called a corporate veil. And the thinking is if you keep everything separate and you treat it as a separate entity, you don’t co-mingle funds. You don’t fail to keep records.

Then if there’s an obligation of the corporation or if there’s no statute saying it goes right to the primary owner, owners, and shareholders, then you are not personally liable for that. And that means you can take more risks in the business place. You can take out loans, you can get vendor contracts, you can get employment contracts, you can do all kinds of things, joint ventures, mergers, all kinds of things in the name of the business. And when you get home, if things go bad, you don’t have to tell your spouse, yeah, I lost the house. 

Corporate governance is maintaining your corporation in a legal and proper fashion, such that you’re in compliance with all the laws of the state of California, so that you may be respected in your corporate form as a separate legal entity. It’s about fairness, it’s about fraud, it’s about doing business in a proper manner, which doesn’t rip off customers, doesn’t damage vendors or lenders. If you maintain your corporation in a proper fashion, keep your minutes, keep your statement of information with the Secretary of State filed, have your meetings and maintain proper records and do business separately, then you should have benefits. You should have tax benefits, you should have investor benefits. You should have benefits of when you want to sell your company. The ones that really stay on it and run their business the right way are usually much more successful” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Corporate Dispute Resolution

The California corporate attorneys with proven experience across decades at the Watkins Firm also manage all disputes and lawsuits for our corporate clients.  We take a unique approach to disputes and lawsuits which is designed to resolve them in a timely and cost-effective manner.  We represent our clients in negotiations, mediation and arbitration.  If a lawsuit or business litigation is brought before the Court our experienced trial attorneys aggressively protect the corporation while working to achieve its goals and objectives in the matter.

If you realize San Diego corporate attorneys are about a lot more than advisors on corporate governance and compliance  you will value the extensive services, responsiveness and cost-effective strategies of the Watkins Firm.  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 10 – The Importance of a Strong Corporate Attorney as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.