by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
The Corporate, Banking and Business Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association benefits JBA members and other local attorneys whose practices include business and corporate law services.
According to Mike Lindell, chair of the section, those services include assisting businesses with their initial organizational requirements, selecting the most appropriate form of business entity for companies, negotiating and reviewing business contracts, handling ethical concerns that arise in representing multiple shareholders and the business entity, acquiring and selling businesses, protecting against personal liability issues regarding corporate or business obligations, protecting trade names and trademarks, handling securities issues, presenting options for raising the capital of emerging businesses and tackling any other matters of a primarily business nature.
“The benefit [to lawyers in the section] is the opportunity to become acquainted with other local attorneys who practice in the field and who can become a resource in serving their clients,” said Lindell of Lindell & Kellison. “Secondly, the section provides an opportunity to participate in local seminars that address topics of current relevance to the area of business law.”
From March 2000 to November 2001, the Corporate, Banking and Business sections sponsored three local seminars. Past seminars have touched on limited liability partnerships, the impact of legislation such as the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act on online contracting, intellectual property assets and concepts such as protecting business methodology through patents, privacy concerns involving e-commerce transactions, business transactions with companies that have significant intellectual property assets and the enforceability of “click-wrap” agreements where the terms and conditions of sale are only accessible by hyperlink.
The first seminar Lindell organized as chairperson in 2000 featured him as one of the speakers.
“Over the course of time as chair, my role has included initiating meetings for the purpose of planning local seminars and selecting topics that have current relevance and broad interest,” said Lindell, who has acted as chair since 1999.
The group will hold another meeting this month to plan its upcoming spring seminar.