Orlando Business Law Firm

Godfrey Legal

2601 Technology Drive
Orlando, Florida 32804
USA

(407) 459-1285 or(866) 249-2256

www.godfreylegal.com

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Law Firm Overview

At Godfrey Legal, we have an experienced business attorney that can help you and your business's legal needs. A combination of corporate counsel and private practice experience has produced a practical, business-minded lawyer that is B.F.

"Biff" Godfrey, with a strong track record of producing results in an efficient and cost-effective manner. While not limited to any particular area of law, Mr. Godfrey has extensive knowledge of transactional law, including general contracts, business purchasing and sales, mergers and acquisitions, real estate development, licensing, trademarks, franchising and intellectual property.

He has more than 35 years of experience addressing a wide variety of business concerns. His practice has expanded to include liquor licensing, residential real estate, living wills, and health surrogate designation. His experience allows him to develop strategies tailored to each business's specific needs. He works diligently to provide efficient and cost-effective resolutions for business clients, handling the legal details so owners can focus on running their companies.

Believing in the value of community service and civic involvement, attorney Godfrey has served as president of both the Associate Board and Guild for the Orlando Shakespeare Theater and is a former member of the Board of Directors. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors of the British American Chamber of Commerce and the Orlando Downtown YMCA. In addition, he is a member of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

Year this Office was Established: 2009

Areas of Law

Areas of Law Description

Godfrey Legal provides legal representation on the following areas of practice:

- Business Transactions

Complex business transactions often include numerous legal matters to be addressed before their completion. The advice of an experienced business transaction lawyer can help you avoid costly legal situations following your transaction, and can serve to smooth your transaction along to an efficient completion. Godfrey Legal offers comprehensive representation for a wide variety of business transactions. Leveraging more than 35 years of experience, Attorney Godfrey provides informative advice on your business's specific needs. Attorney Godfrey works diligently to examine each detail involved in your specific transaction. He can assist with a number of business transactions, including: Business start-ups; Business sales and purchases; Mergers and acquisitions; Business contracts and agreements; Asset sales and purchases. Whatever your business transaction need, Attorney Godfrey has the knowledge and experience to affect efficient resolutions to your business's needs.

*Purchases or Sale of Businesses
Offering comprehensive service during the sale or purchase of a building, Attorney Godfrey carefully examines the books for the business in question, providing educated input on the state of the business. He also assists in the determination of the type of sale, offering legal advice on the benefits of a stock or asset transaction.

*Acquisitions
Business acquisitions often include legal concerns that might not arise in a normal purchase. Attorney Godfrey is well versed in the challenges of business acquisitions and acquaints himself with each detail of your acquisition plan to help smooth the process to fruition and avoid costly legal errors.

*Business Contracts
From buy and sell agreements, non-compete agreements, business contracts, drafting leases, to trademark sales agreements, Attorney Godfrey has the experience necessary to guide your business to an efficient completion.

*Mergers
With numerous liability questions involved in the merger of two separate business entities, Attorney Godfrey offers knowledgeable advice on blending the entities and their personnel.

*Domestic and Foreign Businesses
Owning and operating a business on US soil provides foreign business owners an outlet for obtaining a Visa for business purposes. Attorney Godfrey can assist Domestic and foreign businesses owners with establishing a business in the United States. In addition, through a long-standing relationship with immigration lawyers, Attorney Godfrey is able to offer guidance on properly securing business owners' Visas.

* Franchising and Franchised Development Agreements
Assisting with the complex federal and state disclosure documents, franchise agreements and development agreements, Attorney Godfrey provides efficient support designed to move your process along. His service assists franchise owners as well as potential franchisees in building a successful business model.

* Corporate Law
Business ownership comes with countless legal concerns and issues that need to be addressed to protect the future of your company. Starting with the very formation of a business, key decisions need to be made that can affect the viability of your business in the long term. Turning to an experienced lawyer for guidance can help your business avoid costly mistakes during initial formation and throughout its operation.

* Asset and Stock Purchase
There are a number of legal methods used to purchase or sell a business, but the two (2) most prevalent are the asset purchase and the stock purchase. There are significant differences between these methods that should be understood and considered prior to committing to the method which is most advantageous to the parties involved, and which is the most appropriate for the transaction based on the results to be achieved. Attorney Godfrey has the experience necessary to assist in identifying the appropriate approach based on the total circumstances of the sale and the business concerns of the parties.

* Sole Proprietorship
The first step in forming a business entity is deciding what type would best protect the future of your company. A " sole proprietorship" is the simplest, and initially, the most frequently used form of business entity. It is owned and operated by a single individual. The use of the term "sole" is intended to contrast it with a partnership which has multiple owners, even between a husband and wife. Effectively, there is no legal distinction between the owner and his or her business.

- Intellectual Property

Protecting yourself against trademark or copyright infringement can be a challenging task. Having the assistance of an experienced lawyer can aid greatly when trying to recover the compensation you deserve for intellectual property you have created.

* Trademarks
Including both state and federal trademarks, Attorney Godfrey offers advice on protecting ideas that are unique to your type of business. Attorney Godfrey is able to provide support on hundreds of different types of trademark categories, and can guide your business throughout the lengthy filing process. His representation is geared towards protecting your business and its unique ideas.

*Trade secrets
Protecting your business's secrets through noncompete and nondisclosure agreements can effectively save countless dollars and valuable time. Requiring all employees to sign such contracts can assist in the protection of vital business practices or recipes including the formula for cookies, candies or a design for a product.

*Copyright
Attorney Godfrey offers advice on self-registering a copyright and helps each client understand what a copyright can do for their business. For those who already own a copyright, he can help you maximize its potential through the creation of licensing agreements.

- Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate investments can be highly profitable ventures. These investments are laden with legal concerns that need to be addressed at all stages including the initial purchase, the sale of the property and throughout your ownership of the building and land.

* Purchases or Sales
Comprehensive support throughout the transaction, including due diligence, title and survey review, negotiation of contact, engineering and environmental studies, building inspections, review of existing contracts such as leases and service contracts that may be affecting the building.

*Construction and Development Contracts
Working with developers to have contractor build to your specifications, Attorney Godfrey will handle all administrative duties, including legal oversight of construction to enforce contractors' compliance with terms of contract.

*Retail and Commercial Leasing
Attorney Godfrey provides comprehensive negotiation and drafting of leases on both the tenant and landlord side.

*Title and Survey Reviews
Attorney Godfrey will shoulder the burden of reviewing title and surveys, leveraging his relationships with engineers, surveyors, forensic CPAs, and building inspectors.

*Zoning and Easements
Attorney Godfrey provides efficient representation in obtaining rezoning orders, reciprocal easement agreements, cross easements and utility easements.

- Liquor Licensing

Florida statutes can catch the unwary in a cumbersome and time consuming bureaucratic morass when applying for a license to sell beer and wine for on-premises consumption. The assistance of an experienced attorney can simplify the process significantly, saving you time and hastening the day you can start making money. Also be aware that if you want to sell "hard liquor" or "spirits" (generally, vodka, scotch, bourbon, etc.), the process gets even more complicated, and possibly quite expensive, if you have to buy your license. Attorney Godfrey can assist you in all such endeavors, guiding you through the obstacles of obtaining your license.

- Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreements

It is common to encounter requests for non-disclosure agreements (a/k/a confidentiality agreements) in a number of business settings. Whether it is requested in regard to the purchase or sale of a business, settling a disputed claim, or starting a business relationship with another person or company, it is likely that one or both of the parties to the transaction will be concerned about providing the other with information that is considered sensitive and proprietary in nature by the providing party. To address these concerns, the providing party often will request the non-disclosure and/or confidentiality agreement.