Legal Issues for Start-ups:

Five Things Every Entrepreneur Needs to Address When Launching a Company

Register Now! 

Please join the Monte Ahuja College of Business Small Business Development Center, the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Shaker Launchhouse for this noteworthy program held at the innovative Shaker Launchhouse.

Launching a successful company requires the alignment of the stars – a good product, a market need, a viable business plan, and the human and financial capital to make it work. When bringing all of these pieces together, the entrepreneur sometimes neglects to give proper attention to the legal issues that are integral to the long-term success of the company. This discussion will review the five legal issues that need to be addressed by every entrepreneur when launching operations in order to avoid unnecessary problems down the road.

Speakers:

John Plecnik, Assistant Professor, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Professor John T. Plecnik's scholarship focuses on the intersection of taxation and public policy.  He currently teaches Tax I; Tax Procedure, Penalties & Crimes; Wealth Transfer Tax; and Estates & Trusts.

Following his graduation from law school, Professor Plecnik joined the Wall Street law firm of Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP as an ERISA associate.  He then served as a law clerk to Judge David Gustafson of the United States Tax Court and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught Tax Penalties & Tax Crimes.

Professor Plecnik earned his B.A., summa cum laude, in Accounting with a minor in Mythology from Belmont Abbey College, where he graduated co-valedictorian.  He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Duke University School of Law.  While at Duke, he was one of six inaugural executive board members to co-found the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy.  He also served as an editor on Law & Contemporary Problems and received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in Taxation & Estate Planning.  Professor Plecnik earned his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.  While at NYU, he served as Executive Editor of the NYU Review of Law & Social Change and was the first part-time student to be selected as a member of that review.  In addition, Professor Plecnik was awarded the Certificate in Business Excellence and alumni status by Columbia University Graduate School of Business for completing a number of Executive Education programs.

Professor Plecnik currently serves as the Chairman of the Recreation Commission for the City of Willoughby Hills, a board member of Slovenska Pristava, and Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library System.

 

Mark Sundahl, Associate Dean, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Mark Sundahl is the Associate Dean for Administration and an Associate Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law where he teaches International Business Transactions, Commercial Law, Space Law and Ancient Athenian Law. Prof. Sundahl is a leading expert on the law of outer space and focuses primarily on the business, legal, and policy issues arising from the recent increase in private space activity. He has lectured around the world on space law and his writings have appeared in leading academic journals. He currently serves as a member of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) which advises the Federal Aviation Administration regarding new regulations governing private space activity. He is also a Member (and former Assistant Secretary) of the International Institute of Space Law (headquartered in Paris) and was a member of the UNIDROIT working group that was charged with drafting a new international treaty on the finance of satellites and other space assets - the Space Assets Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment.

Prof. Sundahl holds a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a Ph.D. in Classics from Brown University. Prior to joining the faculty at Cleveland-Marshall, he was an associate in the International Transactions Group at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in San Francisco. He currently serves as Of Counsel to the the Law Offices of Jon P. Yormick Co., L.P.A.

The Small Business Development Center Program of Ohio (SBDC) program is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBDC program is also funded in part by the Ohio Department of Development. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact 216-687-4750.

Register Now!