Overview
Most business legal work is not litigation. It is getting the paperwork right well before it matters — the formation documents, the operating agreement, the contract that gets signed without anyone reading clause nine.
Haberl, Buell, Rice & Bell advises companies of every size, from a single-member LLC filing its first Certificate of Organization to established businesses working through a sale, a succession plan or an ongoing corporate-counsel relationship.
What this covers
- Entity formation — LLCs, corporations, partnerships and nonprofits, including filings with the Pennsylvania Department of State
- Operating agreements, bylaws, and shareholder and partnership agreements
- Buy-sell agreements and ownership succession
- Commercial contracts — vendor, supply, service and employment agreements
- Business purchases and sales, structured as asset or equity transactions
- Commercial real estate and commercial lending documents
- Ongoing general counsel for the questions that come up week to week
Worth knowing in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania now requires an annual report.
Act 122 of 2022 replaced the old decennial report with an annual report filed with the Department of State. Entities that stop filing can eventually face administrative dissolution — and lose the exclusive right to their own name.
The document that governs your company is the one nobody files.
A Certificate of Organization creates the LLC, but the operating agreement — which is not public and not filed anywhere — is what decides how owners share control, profits, and the exit.
Your registered office becomes public record.
Every Pennsylvania filing association needs a registered office address in the Commonwealth, and it is searchable by anyone. Owners running a business from home often want a different arrangement.
General information about Pennsylvania law, current as of publication. It is not legal advice, and every matter turns on its own facts — call the firm to talk about yours.
Attorneys in this area
Erin N. Rice PetrilloCorporate & Business. Erin earned a J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the Katz Graduate School of Business, concentrating in corporate finance and valuation, and is a member of the Business Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Christopher M. BuellCorporate and general counseling. Before returning to Indiana County, Chris practiced more than six years with Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, P.C. in Pittsburgh.
Paul A. Bell, IIBusiness law, alongside more than 40 years practicing in Indiana County.
Montgomery V. BellBusiness law, with a practice also centered on real estate and estate matters.
Have a business law matter? We'd be glad to help.
Call the firm to talk it through, or see the full range of what Haberl, Buell, Rice & Bell handles.