44
votes
What's the difference between a share and a stock?
Short answer: There is no difference.
Long answer: Come, ride with me through the veins of history. I'll show you a god who falls asleep on the job. (And how can we win, when fools can be kings? Don'...
- 4,244
25
votes
Accepted
How to interpret or parse this confusing 'NOT' and 'AND' legal clause
It says
They shall not confer the right [[to attend any meeting of members] and [to exercise one vote for every share held]].
The elements joined by a conjunction such as "and" should be ...
- 33.4k
25
votes
Accepted
Legal definitions differentiating 'corporation' and 'private estate' in relation to Duchy of Cornwall
As a matter of law, the Duchy is correct, because a superior court of record agreed, and dismissed the arguments made on the other side.
The cited claims from Republic come from a case in the First-...
- 266
25
votes
Why would a clause apply until 21 years after the death of the last descendant of King Charles III?
It’s a common law rule dating from the 17th to 19th centuries
Known as the rule against perpetuities “that prevents people from using legal instruments (usually a deed or a will) to exert control over ...
- 192k
24
votes
Can a company adopt a child?
In the US, adoptions follow state law. Here is the law for Washington state. RCW 26.33.140 says that "Any person who is legally competent and who is eighteen years of age or older may be an ...
- 206k
20
votes
Spin-off company with all parent's debt?
An arrangement like that (if successful) would be a fraudulent transfer in which creditors could gain access to the assets of the company's to which the assets were transferred, if pursued before the ...
- 185k
19
votes
Can a company adopt a child?
In Germany a legal person can't adopt a person, but can be the legal guardian ("Vormund") if a child has no parents. There are special "Vormundschaftsvereine" (associations for ...
- 982
18
votes
How to form a company in the US while keeping founder information private?
Get a corporate lawyer. The standard practice is to create two LLCs (usually in Delaware, which offers some of the best protections): A holding company owned by the individuals, and an operating ...
- 21.4k
18
votes
Accepted
What are the implications of a company being "not in good standing?"
This has very little legal effect. It means that someone forgot to update their annual registration and pay the fee and could be resolved in half an hour with a small late fee payment. It is a sign of ...
- 185k
13
votes
Is there any significance to "Inc." vs "Corp."?
Is there any significance to "Inc." vs "Corp."?
does it matter if Bob's construction business is Bob's Construction
Inc. or Bob's Construction Corp.?
No.
"Inc." is an ...
- 185k
13
votes
Why would a clause apply until 21 years after the death of the last descendant of King Charles III?
This is an effort to avoid the rules against perpetuities which immediately invalidates contracts that do not expire within the life of someone living at the time that the contract is entered into ...
- 185k
11
votes
Accepted
ability to eat bacon as a job requirement
This potentially (i.e. almost certainly) runs afoul of laws against religious discrimination. However, you can have such a requirement provided you make an accommodation for those with sincerely held ...
- 206k
10
votes
Accepted
When can an NDA be legally broken?
There are many reasons that a contract can be void or voidable. Wikipedia will give you a good rundown. The reasons which apply to contracts generally will apply to NDAs specifically. This answer ...
- 8,616
10
votes
Accepted
Is it legal for a software company to have more than one CTO?
You can have as many people with the same job title as you wish.
You can have more than one CEO as well, although that would be weird and confusing. Nothing prohibits this and CTO isn't even a ...
- 185k
10
votes
Accepted
Is the U.S. entity ban against Huawei against the rule of law?
I believe you are using rule of law when you mean due process. The former refers to equality before the law and the subjugation of executive government to the law while the latter refers accepted ...
- 192k
9
votes
Accepted
I am working with a colleague to create a game. We agreed to split profits 50/50. Would creating a contract promising 50% be legal?
A contract agreeing to share 50% of the profits from the game with him would be legal but it would be unwise, because it could create a general partnership, depriving him of the benefits of limited ...
- 185k
9
votes
Accepted
Why is a company allowed to change the number of shares it’s divided into after its IPO?
There are two different kinds of transactions that are implicated by your question.
The first is a stock stock split. This simply turns 1 share into X shares and trades out existing shares for new ...
- 185k
9
votes
My bank sold a local branch to another bank, including my accounts, without my permission. Is that legal?
Contracts are transferrable
The default rule is that the rights and obligations that one person holds under a contract (your original bank) can be transferred to any other person (your new bank). This ...
- 192k
9
votes
Do corporations have any constitutional rights?
In Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233, SCOTUS held that
A corporation is a "person" within the meaning of the due process and
equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment
...
- 206k
9
votes
Accepted
Who owns the company before the founders' shares vest (HBO's Silicon Valley plot point)?
Governing Law
The governing law in this fact pattern would be the law of Delaware which under the relevant choice of law rules governs the internal affairs of a Delaware Corporation, specifically, the ...
- 185k
8
votes
Are there any limits on the crimes a corporation can be convicted of?
In the United States, a defendant can only be convicted of a crime if they meet certain mens rea requirements. There are some crimes that do not have this requirement, but they are required to be less ...
- 423
8
votes
What laws protect minority share holders from having their share rights changed by special resolution?
It is true that a shareholder who controls a majority of the votes can be quite powerful indeed. This is a somewhat murky area of the law, but in many cases, a majority shareholder has a fiduciary ...
- 2,220
8
votes
Starting a Tech Company: Should I rename and reuse my existing C-Corp, or form a new one?
Better to start fresh. From an investor's perspective, an old C-corp inherently leaves open questions over whether there are any skeletons in the closet and the dollar cost and effort involved is ...
- 185k
8
votes
Accepted
Accepting online contracts on behalf of a corporation
How does the legal system determine whether the resulting contracts
are with my employer as a corporate entity or with me as a natural
person? How do I tell?
The law of agency is one of the oldest ...
- 185k
7
votes
Accepted
Do corporations have equal rights with natural persons to carpool on California freeways?
This is an amusing idea, but ultimately it seems frivolous: How does one establish the physical presence of a corporation in a car?
Yes, corporations have some of the legal rights and liabilities of ...
- 21.4k
7
votes
Accepted
What happens to IP owned by a defunct company?
Companies dissolve by one of two modes: voluntarily or involuntarily.
If it's a voluntary dissolution: the assets remaining after paying all the creditors are distributed among the owners according ...
- 9,806
7
votes
Accepted
How does shareholders' limited liability work in practice?
First, shares are a form of raising capital. A company must have some capital, and Bob receives the shares in exchange. So it is not free (the exact minimum would depend of the requirements for ...
- 5,533
7
votes
Accepted
What is the legal principle which requires Apple to pay the Irish State €13 billion?
The EU has established rules about member governments subsidising industries. The intention is to ensure that trade in the EU is not distorted by government incentives, so that factories get built in ...
- 12.9k
7
votes
Accepted
What happens to a dissolving corporation that cannot afford to pay its franchise tax fees?
What happens to a corporation, or any of its executives, when that
corporation is dissolving but has unpaid state franchise tax fees that
it does not have the assets to pay?
You can't get blood out ...
- 185k
7
votes
Legal definitions differentiating 'corporation' and 'private estate' in relation to Duchy of Cornwall
In addition to natso's excellent answer, the Duchy does not claim in its accounts that it is not a separate legal entity. It claims "it is not a separate legal entity for tax purposes.' These are ...
- 306
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible