Because the concept of buyer beware applies to commercial real estate transactions in Florida, due diligence is crucial and rests on the shoulders of the buyer.  The Law Office of David Steinfeld guides both buyers and sellers in structuring certain aspects of commercial real estate transactions.  Depending on the property, due diligence may include reviews of rent rolls and the operation of a business or businesses on the property or it may focus more on the condition of the property itself. 

​Helping the purchaser bring together a qualified team of professionals, such as accountants and property inspectors, is a value that the Law Office of David Steinfeld can bring to the proverbial team in addition to reviewing purchase and sale agreements.  Florida law requires that real estate sales occur under written contracts, but unlike residential transactions that largely now use form documents approved by the Florida Board of Realtors known as FarBar contracts, such standard contracts are rare in commercial transactions.
 
Thus, having an expert business litigator like David Steinfeld who has experience litigating breaches of commercial real estate contracts is of great benefit to parties that intend to buy or sell commercial real estate in Florida.

​For almost one hundred years in Florida, real estate has been considered a business and lawsuits over real estate have even been addressed on the business litigation board certification exam.  While many people purchase a home in which to live, many others buy for investment either in their name or through a business entity, which may also involve several investors.  Properly structuring a business for such investment is as important a step just as with a business that intends to sell a service or product and is a service that the Law Office of David Steinfeld regularly offers.
 
Disputes over the purchase and sale of real estate, real estate contracts, and rentals concerning landlords and tenants are matters that the Law Office of David Steinfeld regularly addresses, but closings and title work are not within the expertise of the Firm and referrals are commonly provided to local attorneys who do that type of work.  Chapter 83 of Florida’s Statutes is the Landlord-Tenant Act and provides the obligations applicable to landlords in residential tenancies.  However, the obligations of landlords and tenants in commercial rentals is largely governed by the terms of their written lease.  The Law Office of David Steinfeld reviews commercial leases to assist and guide businesses in renting space for their operations.

​While trademarks and service marks are one method by which a business can add value to and protect its brand, non-compete agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and non-disclosures are also mechanisms by which a business can place itself in a position to more easily enforce its rights and protect itself.  However, there are certain legal restrictions that apply to some of those documents leading one to the recommendation of “don’t try this at home”.  Business owners that elect to create their own contracts or download these documents from an unknown source and opt not to invest in expert business law advice, such as that from Florida Bar Board Certified business litigation lawyer David Steinfeld of the Law Office of David Steinfeld, usually create a bigger and more expensive problem for the business later. 
 
A business that relies on its self-created documents can, for years, believe that it is protected by such defective documents only to find out when it tries to enforce them that the business is unprotected, has exposed its proprietary and confidential business information, and created its own competition that can damage or destroy the business.  After spending years and significant sums to grow a business, one of the worst imaginable issues that the owner or owners can face is learning that they are helpless to fight off an attack from a former employee or new competitor who has absconded with what the business owner thought was protected proprietary business information. 
 
Thus, sophisticated business owners invest the time and money to consult with Florida law business experts like David Steinfeld to understand the options available to them and to be able to make informed decisions on those points, which avoids more costly future disputes ever time.

​When a business opens in Florida, it will generally either provide a service or sell merchandise.  In either case, the intent is usually to operate the business to earn a profit for its owners and to that end they strive to market and promote the business to increase sales and generate that profit.  But, what many business owners overlook in their quest for growth is the need to protect and insulate the business from attacks.  Such battles can develop internally, which is why governance documents, like operating agreements for LLCs or bylaws and shareholder agreements for corporations, are beneficial.  These fights can also come from employees or independent contractors from adjacent to or outside the corporate entity or from competitors or vendors outside the business.
 
Protecting the brand of a business promotes the growth and development of the business and enhances the possibility for profit that the owners seek.  Protecting a business in this regard is not limited to the filing of a trademark application on Sunbiz, for example, but is an operational program as to how the proprietary information of and developed by the business can best be protected.  Designing such a program for the business is a service provided by David Steinfeld and the Law Office of David Steinfeld. 

​How do you set up a business in Florida – Part 7: Non-Florida business doing business in Florida
 
Florida encourages and provides an easy means for non-Florida businesses, that is a business either registered in another State or Country, to register to conduct business legally in the State.  The method is similar to creating a business here and is done online on the State’s website, Sunbiz.   If a foreign business as it is called, either a corporation or LLC, has a credit card, internet access and a registered agent to accept service of process of lawsuits, it can register to do business here.  There are even businesses in Florida that cater to such foreign businesses and offer their services as a registered agent for the foreign business in Florida.
 
Although a foreign business need not always or absolutely register to do business in Florida, the benefit of so doing affords the business benefits that it would not otherwise enjoy.  How such benefits will apply to a particular foreign business and whether it is helpful for a particular business to do so is a topic better addressed in a discussion with David Steinfeld. The Law Office of David Steinfeld employs a great deal of technology to move at the speed of its business clients.  Therefore, a foreign business wishing to discuss these topics will find it easy to do so from anywhere in the country or the world.