Legal (Business Law)

Corporate law (also "company" or "corporations" law) is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another under the internal rules of the firm. Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law. It deals with the firms that are incorporated or registered under the corporate or company law of a sovereign state or their subnational states. The four defining characteristics of the modern corporation are: 1) Separate Legal Personality of the corporation (the right to sue and be sued in its own name i.e. the law treats the company as a human being); 2) Limited Liability of the shareholders (so that when the company is insolvent, they only owe the money that they subscribed for in shares); 3) Shares (usually on a stock exchange, such as the London Stock Exchange or New York Stock Exchange - companies whose stock is not traded publicly are known as "private" or "closely held" companies); 4) Delegated Management -- control of the company is placed in the hands of a board of directors. There are many types of business entities and depending on which type of business entity you choose will also influence the legal structure. The legal structure will also be influenced by the type of business entity you choose. Legal Consultants help determine the proper business entity and advise on legal issues important to a company's business. See also: "Legal Consulting": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_law