BUSINESS LAW PROJECT You should understand the basic business forms (sole proprietorship, general and limited partnerships, Limited Liability Company, and Corporations.) You should understand what elements are required for a valid contract; You should have read about how some employment practices may not be legal. You should also understand how to do an online search on the Internet.

YOUR NEW BUSINESS You have been making chocolate chip cookies for your family and friends since your mother-in-law, Delilah Fields, gave you her super-secret chocolate chip cookie recipe 5 years ago. Everyone raves about how good the cookies are. You and your friend(s) think that you can actually start a business selling these cookies to the public. You have located a commercial kitchen near your home in Lowell, MA, that the public is allowed to use for a nominal fee. You will be able to make the cookies there and meet all health code requirements. You and your friend(s) want to own the business together, but your friend(s) are surgeons, and own very expensive homes in Massachusetts. You own a vacation home on the lake in New Hampshire, and two expensive automobiles. You and your friend(s) are worried about personal liability if anything ever went wrong. You want to protect these assets from creditors and from law suits. You would prefer to only pay taxes once on your business profits, not twice. You want the income to flow through the business to you and your friend(s). Because the business will be just you and your friend(s), you would prefer not to have to go through all the hassle of holding annual meetings or maintaining a book of minutes from your meetings with each other. You hope that your business will grow, but you don’t have any plans to ever “go public.” You plan to name your business after your spouse’s mother, who gave you her secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies. You think a good name for your business might be “Mrs. Fields’ Chocolate Chip Cookies.” Required: 1.1 Locate on the internet and complete the required documents to be filed with the state of Massachusetts, if any 1.2 Create the optional document(s) that will help you operate your business successfully if any 2. You and your friend(s) have been running your chocolate chip cookie business for over 5 years now. And you have had tremendous success! You have purchased your own kitchen that meets all health requirements; you have a relationship with a product distributor; and you are anxious to add more products to your line. But to do this, you need to spend more time in the kitchen and less time in the office. So you have decided to hire someone to help you with bookkeeping and general office work. 2.1 Create an advertisement to attract candidates for this position; include a realistic salary and benefit information 2.2 Create 6-8 interview questions. Be certain to follow all legal requirements. 2.3 Create a simple contract of employment; the contract should include protection for your super-secret chocolate chip cookie recipe; and prevent your new hire from working for a competitor after he or she leaves your employment. Be certain to follow all legal requirements.