Writing recently in this column, my colleague John Hanify, referenced Robert Frost’s famous poem, The Road Not Taken, and reflected on the choice made by a traveler who encounters two roads diverged. Far less profoundly, Yogi Berra is reported to have said: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

You know that you want to structure your new business to limit your personal liability, but you’re not quite sure what form your new business should take. Should your business be a limited liability company (“LLC”) or a corporation? If you choose the corporate form, should your business be a traditional corporation, commonly referred to as a C-corporation, or be a corporation electing to be treated as a partnership for tax purposes, commonly referred to as an S-corporation? The answers to these questions depend on your ultimate business objectives.

For members of a limited liability company (an “LLC”), planning from the outset for the termination of a membership and the possible dissolution of the company is imperative. The statutory law in Massachusetts for either event is minimal. Instead, the statutory scheme favors self-determination, allowing the LLC’s members great latitude to orchestrate rules for operation and governance in the LLC’s Operating Agreement.

James J. Marcellino has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers membership to which is extended by invitation only to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy.

Expansion of Services to Include IP Litigation and Prosecution

We have had the good fortune to have worked with our new colleagues at their old firm, to have shared assignments for common clients, and to have confirmed our common commitment to professional excellence and personalized service to our clients. The Washington D.C. office will integrate IP litigation with our trial practice resources in Boston. It expands our ability to serve our clients and also connects what we do very well in complex commercial trial practice, with patent and intellectual property litigation.