- Employees carry all sorts of legal requirements with them.
This is definitely a place to consult an employment lawyer
before you hire anyone.
It's easy to make a mistake, even during
the interviewing process and that mistake
can cause you to run afoul of multiple laws.
You'll also have to deal with contractors.
Contractors can be reasonably easy.
A simple contractor agreement should suffice.
Again, get legal assistance with drafting one.
Also, be sure you're aware of any legal issues
related to retaining contractors so you don't accidentally
turn them into an employee without realizing it.
For employees and contractors, adhere to all labor laws
and understand issues that could trip you up
like treating a contractor like an employee.
If you govern too much of a contractor's daily work
and you're their only client, you run the risk
of them being considered an employee.
That triggers all sorts of tax and employment law issues.
Get legal advice on how to properly handle relationships
with contractors so this doesn't happen.
Clients will want your contractors to be bound
by the same contract terms you have with the client,
especially with respect to confidentiality.
Be sure to have your contractors execute
any required documents along those lines.
In addition to managing employee legal issues,
if you plan on generating proprietary intellectual property,
you'll want to protect it.
Things like trademarks, service marks, copyrights,
and patents can be challenging processes to navigate,
but they help you protect some of your greatest assets.
There are a lot of great intellectual property
attorneys out there.
Be sure to consult one on which of these protections
might be best for you.
Unless you're an attorney, I don't recommend
you tackle these legal challenges alone.
It's worth the money to pay an expert for guidance
on these subjects.
That said, get intimately familiar
with how contracts, laws, and regulations work.
It'll make you a better business person
and enable you to run your consulting firm
with less risk.