Education & Non-Profits Industry

Education and Non-profits are unique entities with their own particular quirks and requirements. Carbon Law Group founder Pankaj Raval has headed a national student consulting group, helped build an award-winning charter school from its inception, and successfully guided clients along the path to securing 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

LIST OF SERVICES

Non-profit Filing + Tax Exemption

Is non-profit filing worthwhile? Do the benefits of tax exemptions and built-in financial and liability protections for founders and employees justify the time and legal cost involved in formation?

Carbon Law Group will evaluate your situation and proposed non-profit filing. Carbon Law Group will help you determine if registering your business as a non-profit organization is the most efficient use of your time and resources.  If you choose to pursue a non-profit filing, Carbon Law Group will help you establish the proper entity structure, craft the necessary documents, and file them with the appropriate state and federal agencies.  Once your non-profit status is granted, we will instruct you on how to take full advantage of your tax-exempted status and how to maximize your organization’s income potential.

Charter Schools

Charter schools operate independently from the public school system within the district in which they are located.  Thus, charter schools may be entitled to a share of public funds.  Additionally, when charter schools are founded with the proper non-profit status, they can solicit charitable donations and other funds available to businesses that operate under tax-exempt status.

Carbon Law Group founder Pankaj Raval served on El Pueblo Integral Charter School’s board in Tucson, Arizona.  Pankaj understands charter schools’ the inner-workings, and the steps necessary to launch a successful non-profit organization. Along with Carbon Law Group, Pankaj can help you evaluate your proposed project and guide you through the steps to bring your charter school to life.

Employment Issues

Many non-profit entities are charitable organizations dedicated to bettering the lives of the poor and disabled. Part of an organization’s charter may mandate the hiring of disabled individuals.  For example, Goodwill is dedicated to hiring needy and disabled persons.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates numerous accommodations that you are required to make for disabled employees, as well as the potential risks involved. Carbon Law Group will help you understand and comply with ADA laws and regulations.  If you have any ADA issues, we will be there to help you address employee complaints and lawsuits.  We will do our best to resolve complaints and suits amicably, which will help you avoid lengthy and costly litigation.

Technology

Technology Industry, when you launch a startup, you will need to consider how you want to form your business, define founders’ roles, and protect your business’s intellectual property.  As your technology company grows, you may need to seek financing or issue securities to help you expand your business operations.

Carbon Law Group has the experience you need to launch and manage your startup.  We understand technology companies’ unique requirements, from the formation and foundational issues to soliciting venture capital and issuing securities, to managing tax law and corporate law, and to intellectual property protection.  We have handled a broad range of legal matters that impact technology startups and companies.  We will use our experience to guide your company through a successful launch or expansion.

LIST OF SERVICES (Technology Services)

Investor Agreements in Technology Industry

Your company will need an investor agreement when you solicit seed, angel, and venture capital financing.  An investor agreement will help you limit investors’ power and control, as well as help your company comply with securities regulations.

You will want to control investors’ power and control of your business.  For example, if you grant initial investors pro-rata rights, then you risk stopping future investor solicitation.  Or, if you grant too much power to many investors, then you could significantly hinder your company’s growth.

Securities regulations apply to companies launched as formal legal entities that accept investor capital, such as S-Corporations and C-Corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships.  A company’s failure to comply with securities regulations can result in stiff financial penalties, and even require a company to buy back all of the investors’ shares.

When you are launching a new company, dealing with investors can be intimidating.  You may feel that you do not have much leverage with investors.  You might even be tempted to agree to terms and conditions that are not advantageous for your company in the long term.

Carbon Law Group can help you fashion investor agreements that protect your position while appeasing your investors’ concerns and needs for capital returns.  We will negotiate for you.  We can help you create an investor agreement that will satisfy all parties’ interests without sacrificing your power and control of your business.  We will then guide you through the process of issuing investor shares that meet all applicable securities regulations.

Founder Agreements in Technology Industry

Many startups begin as an idea shared between friends, who then decide to start a business.  The founders’ focus tends to be on the idea, and not the finer points of their company’s formation.  This, in turn, can lead to misunderstandings and problems as the company grows.

The following are just some of the issues that founders much consider when starting a business:

• What roles and responsibilities will founding partners play?
• How are deadlocks going to be decided?
• What happens if roles change over time?
• How is “ownership” determined?
• How is compensation calculated?
• How is capital investment balanced against “sweat equity?”

Carbon Law Group can guide you through your company’s formation.  We can help you choose whether you want your company to be a limited liability company, a corporation, or a partnership.  We will explain the benefits and consequences of each choice, and how your choice will affect founding members’ roles and responsibilities, ownership percentages, decision-making power, how those roles change over time, and compensation.  Once you decide on how you want your company formed, we will draft a founder’s agreement for you that clearly defines your choices.

Non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements

Your technology company’s most valuable assets are its ideas, designs, trade secrets, and other intellectual property.  This is why technology companies must carefully secure their intellectual property, especially from the outset.  Your company must be protected from losing intellectual property because a partner or employee has left the company.  Without protection, that partner or employee could use your company’s intellectual property for his or her own gain, to your company’s detriment.  That, in turn, could be financially devastating to your business.

Under California law, most non-compete agreements are unenforceable.  There are a few limited exceptions, but in most cases, California courts will not enforce non-compete agreements.  In Arizona, non-compete agreements can be enforceable.  A non-disclosure, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreement can help you protect your company’s intellectual property. Carbon Law Group will help you create agreements that limit how departing partners and employees exercise their acquired knowledge.

Trademarks & Intellectual Property

Software development is one of the hottest and most lucrative sectors in the technology space. Multi-million dollar applications are being launched every day.

A technology company’s brand is valuable intellectual property.  A brand is how a company differentiates itself from others in the same market.  With a recognizable brand, a company can create customer loyalty.  A company’s name, taglines, and logo all contribute to a company’s brand.  If the company’s brand is not protected, then other companies can try to capitalize on a company’s brand and customer goodwill.  Brand recognition is a valuable piece of intellectual property that, if managed and protected properly, can potentially be worth millions.

Carbon Law Group can assist you in trademarking your company’s name, taglines, and logo. Carbon Law Group can conduct a preliminary or full trademark search report, evaluate your brand, and file your trademark application and statement of use.

Retail and Personal Legal Services in Los Angeles

Retail and Personal Servies are important. At some point, your growing business will need space to grow into. Finding the right space that meets your business’s unique requirements is critical. When you finally do find a space that fits your needs, you will have a lease agreement that could be anywhere from 5 to 150 pages. Leases agreements vary greatly; you do not want to risk hidden terms or ambiguous language creating issues for your business in the future.

Carbon Law Group is skilled in the art of pouring over dense lease agreements and translating those agreements into plain language. We can clarify your lease’s terms. We can explain what terms like triple net, CAM, and breakpoint mean. Or, we can help you negotiate your lease, and then ensure that you and your employees are well acquainted the duties and obligations created by your lease agreement.

Whether you are looking to rent space or manage a budding franchise, we can help you navigate complex legal hurdles and help your business succeed.

Contact us today at [email protected] or (323) 543-4453.

Entertainment and Fashion Industry

Entertainment and Fashion Industry have an artist’s or a celebrity’s artwork(s) and brand name are incredibly valuable assets.  As an artist or celebrity, if you have proper brand protection, then you have the opportunity to maximize your earning potential.  Brand protection ensures that others do not steal your artwork or trade on your name or brand.  Brand theft can cause a severe financial and emotional impact.

Carbon Law Group can help you maximize your earning potential and protect your artwork and brand namein enteretainment and fasion industries with royalty agreements, copyright registration, trademark registration, and general artist representation.

A royalty agreement is a licensing agreement that can potentially be a lucrative source of income. What is your intellectual property, and how much is your intellectual property worth?  Licensing in the enteretainment industry can help you extract value and access markets you perhaps never knew existed. Carbon Law Group can craft an agreement that maximizes your earning potential, while protecting your intellectual property.

Copyright law can protect your original, tangible work of authorship.  Copyright law protects literary works; musical works, including any accompanying works; dramatic works, including any accompanying music; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; and architectural works.  Your work is inherently valuable. Carbon Law Group will guide you through registering your copyright.

Celebrities with household names and a brand could benefit from trademarking their name.  Not every name can be trademarked, but if your name has acquired a secondary meaning, then you could register your name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  Trademarking is a great way to protect your brand and assess significant damages if someone tries to steal your name or likeness.

Finally, contracts govern working conditions and compensation for musicians, performers, actors, writers, and content creators in the entertainment industry.  A contract can be the difference between feast or famine.  This is why a qualified attorney is an integral part of any artist’s management team.  As that attorney, Carbon Law Group can help you secure your artistic growth and development.

List of Services

• Music
  • Music Production Agreement
  • Independent Record Label
  • Creation
  • Film
  • Motion Picture Distribution
  • Motion Picture Acquisition and Distribution
  • Composer Agreement
  • Loan Out Agreement
• Management
  • Personal Management
  • Contract
• Choreographer Agreement

OVERVIEW

Carbon Law Group attorneys are trusted advisors for various startup businesses, investors and venture capital firms. We have helped many new businesses in a variety of different industries including technology, AR/VR, retail, e-sports, education, health care, cannabis, CBD, restaurants, security, lending, influencers, non-profits, nightlife, with their financing legal needs. We have also advised VCs and corporate investors on numerous debt and equity financings.

With offices throughout Los Angeles undoubtedly, Carbon Law Group maintains a strong network of relationships with VCs, entrepreneurs and third party experts in the local start-up ecosystem.

REPRESENTATIVE TRANSACTIONS

• Advised, structured, or formed:
  • $25M venture fund and drafted Limited Partnership Agreements under Reg D
  • $5M Venture Fund Agreement, Private Placement Memorandum, and related documents
  • $3M Private Placement under Reg D using Convertible Notes for a telemedicine startup
  • $15M Initial Public Offering (IPO) under Reg A+
  • $5M Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for parallel investment opportunities
• Facilitated $250K angel venture financing for a real estate application
• Counseled numerous startups on angel financing through Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and Convertible Notes
• Negotiated the sale and acquisition of a clinical research site
• Negotiated Commercial Lease Agreement valued at over $2.5M
• Successfully formed over 200 LLCs and corporations combined
• Advised hundreds of startup founders on financing, governance, entity structure, and operations

Carbon Law Group,start-your-company

OVERVIEW

Intellectual property (“IP”) can be one of the most valuable assets to any startups or growing companies, whether it is the customer goodwill associated with a trademark and brand, or a copyright over some original works of authorship. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP rights are like any other property right. They allow creators, or owners, of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, of the United States Constitution grants Congress the enumerated power “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Traditionally, IP is comprised of four categories, copyright, trademark, patent and trade secrets.

Copyright

One of the important Intellectual property is Copyright. Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings. Copyright law grants the owner of the copyright certain exclusive rights to protect the original works of authorship, such as books, films, and music. In the United States, federal copyright law protects a wide range of works, including–but not limited to–literary works; musical works and lyrics; dramatic works; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works; motion pictures and other audiovisual works; sound recordings; architectural works; and computer programs. Federal copyright law is set forth in Title 17 of the U.S. Code. Copyright law protects only the original expression set forth in those works, however, and not the underlying ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, and discoveries themselves.

Trademarks

One of the important Intellectual property is Trademark. A trademark is a word, a symbol, a combination of words and symbols, three-dimensional features such as the shape and packaging of goods, or non-visible signs such as sounds or fragrances, or color shades, which are used as distinguishing features to be placed on or associated with goods and services and used to identify those goods or services. When a symbol, picture, or other design is used as a trademark, it is often referred to as a “logo” or as the “brand.” A trademark informs the consumer that the product comes from a particular source and guarantees that the quality of the product will be the same as that of other products sold under that trademark. In the United States, trademark rights arise from use of the trademark in commerce and registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is not required. However, significant benefits arise from registering a trademark with the USPTO. Trademarks are governed both by common law and Title 15 of the U.S. Code. Trademark laws confer an exclusive right to use the trademark to trademark owners and allow trademark owners to license the right to use their trademarks to other parties in return for payment. Patents Other important Intellectual property is Patent. A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention. Patent laws protect original, novel, and useful inventions. Generally speaking, a patent provides the patent owner with the right to exclude others from, among other things, making, using, or selling an invention that is claimed in the patent. In exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information about the invention publicly available in the published patent document.

TRADEMARKS

Carbon Law Group has a depth of experience in policing and enforcing our clients’ brands. We help our clients to develop and implement sound and cost-effective brand protection strategies tailored to each client’s unique needs online and offline.

Our attorneys help our clients protect the words, phrases, designs, logos, and other commercial symbols they use to identify their products or services in the marketplace. Carbon Law Group counsels its clients concerning the selection, availability, and use of trademarks, service marks, and trade names.

We have filed hundreds of trademark applications and we have been engaged with respect to advising on and clearing many more brand names and logos.

We can also assist clients with cybersquatting disputes under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP).

What we can do for you

Pre-Registration

• Initial Name Clearance
• Search
• Analysis
• Application Preparation
• Monitoring
• Statement of Use
• Extensions
• Office Action Responses (and Insurance)
• International Trademark Filing Post-Registration Enforcement
• International Trademark Filing
• Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Oppositions and Cancellations
• Trademark and Trade Dress Infringement
• Domain Name Disputes
• Unfair Competition (State Law Claims)
• Cease and Desist Letter
• Trademark Litigation
• Trademark Monitoring Service Intellectual Property Audits

Every Brand Deserves To Be Protected
Carbon Law Group has a depth of experience in policing and enforcing our clients’ brands. We help our clients to develop and implement sound and cost-effective brand protection strategies tailored to each client’s unique needs online and offline. Our attorneys help our clients protect the words, phrases, designs, logos, and other commercial symbols they use to identify their products or services in the marketplace. Carbon Law Group counsels its clients concerning the selection, availability, and use of trademarks, service marks, trade names, and trade dress.

We have filed hundreds of trademark applications and we have been engaged with respect to advising on and clearing many more brand names and logos.

We can also assist clients with cybersquatting disputes under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP).

OVERVIEW

Commercial transactions are broadly defined as an interaction between two or more parties in which goods, services, or something of value is exhanged for some type of payment. To sum it up, commercial transactions = business deals.

As the “law firm for deal makers and risk takers,” commercial transactions work is at the heart of what we do. We take pride in providing our clients with pragmatic, insightful counsel that not only addresses the risks that clients take with deals, but also help them uncover hidden value.

We do this by being strong yet diplomatic advocates for our clients. As opposed to a “bulldog” litigator that many clients look for when they are entanged in complex litigation, good deal lawyers are skilled negotiators that possess the empathy necessary to get both sides to come together to make a deal. A good deal lawyer will help the client understand the nuances of each deal and ask questions that the client did not think of. Moreover, a good commercial transactions lawyer will save a client from a bad deal. You want an attorney you can trust to help you weigh the pros and cons to every deal and challenge your assumptions.

With a team of commercial transactions lawyers, Carbon Law Group assists clients across industries and sectors navigate complex matters to help manage risks and ensure compliance with contract terms. We provide a broad range of legal services in various types of commercial and business transactions. We have advised our clients on the legal ramifications of their business decisions and drafted many tailored-made, high quality agreements to protect our clients’ rights and provide them with the most effective solutions to their specific needs.

WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU

• Contract Drafting
• Contract Review
• Contract Negotiation
• Joint Ventures Agreement
• Commercial Co-venture Agreement
• Separation Agreements/Termination Agreement
• Offer Letter for Prospective Employee
• Confidentiality Agreement
• Employee Intellectual Property Assignment/Work-for-Hire Agreement
• Non-Disclosure Agreement
• Employee Interview Confidentiality Agreement
• Employee Handbooks
• Employee Exit Interview Declaration
• Workplace Policies and Procedures
• Wage and Hour Rules
• Independent Contractor Agreement
• Executive Compensation Agreement
• Master Service Agreement
• Website/Mobile Application Terms of Use
• Website/Mobile Application Privacy Policy
• Commercial Real Estate Leases/Agreements

INDUSTRIES

• Advertising and Marketing
• E-Commerce
• Entertainment and Sports
• Franchising
• Health and Fitness
• Beauty
• Apparel
• Technology
• Oil and Gas
• Pharmacutical
• Professional Services
• Finance
• Real Estate
• Public Entities
• Non-profit organizations
• Education
• Food, Dining, and Restaurants
• Transportation
• Venture Capital

Get the benefit of having an in-house legal team at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time, executive-level in house general counsel. Our Outside General Counsel service provides your businesses with the help of experienced lawyers and staff, who can tackle your most pressing legal and business issues.

Carbon Law Group’s legal professionals have ample experiences working with businesses in various industries including healthcare/wellness, tutoring /education, entertainment, social media (Instagram and Youtube), fashion (apparel and cosmetic) and technology/software. Our legal knowledge combined with our business background and industry experience allow us to provide our clients with the help they need to grow and refine their businesses.

We are dedicated to providing custom-tailored legal services for each client and great client experiences are what distinguishes us in the market. We believe that there are no one-size-fits-all business and legal solutions. We are aware that our clients’ goals and needs differ and change with time and circumstances.

We are always happy to supply flat-fee estimates for specific projects, allowing you to budget and plan appropriately.

Counsel to Chinese Companies

中文外部法律顧問服務

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Whether you’re already well established or just starting out, you make decisions about your business every day. Leading a company can be challenging, especially when it comes to optimizing your performance. Our years of experience helping clients navigate complex problems along with solving our own operational struggles makes us a great partner whether you are just starting or thinking about scaling your business.

Through a series of discovery conversations, we get to know you, your team, and your business so we can worth though the ideal solutions that will fit your working style and your growth objectives. Our advice is practical and results-driven.

We provide one-on-one coaching to get to know you on a personal level. We are here to provide lean solutions that can be implemented to fit your budget. Our services allow you to uncover the right solutions to build your business.

• Strategic planning
• Financial management
• HR management
• Technology selection
• Sales & marketing
• Digital strategy, website development, eCommerce implementation
• International expansion
• Operational efficiency

If your business is experiencing rapid growth, we have a program designed specifically for high-impact firms.