A Starter Guide to Doing Business in the United States is a new “must read” for non-U.S. businesses, foreign attorneys, law firm associates and new entrepreneurs. Edited by Woon-Wah Siu (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP) the Starter Guide covers the main legal and regulatory issues to be considered before entering the U.S. market, including:
- Choice of a business entity—describing the requirements for a corporation, LLC, partnership, and sole proprietorship
- Federal securities law—discusses the major statutes, provisions and regulations controlling the creation and exchange of business interests; the chapter includes what is required to qualify as a Foreign Private Issuer
- Buying a company: the M&A process—highlighting each step of the process and the differences between buying a U.S. company and a non-U.S. company
- Employment considerations—providing general guidance on the issues and statutes that arise when hiring employees in the U.S.
- Equity incentives for U.S. employees—comparing the permissible types of equity incentives and the related, relevant tax and accounting treatment of such incentives
- Immigration law—describing the requirements for the various types of employment-related visas and other business-related provisions
- U.S. international trade law—exploring, in the book’s most extensive chapter, the many major statutes and international agreements that regulate importing into, exporting out of, or investing in the United States
- Protecting intellectual property—describing the kinds of protections in the U.S. and how to derive maximum value from your IP through licensing, and how to assert or defend your IP in litigation
- Environmental law—describing the requirements mandated by major federal and state statutes and regulations, as well as providing suggestions on successful compliance strategies
- Taxation—describing the many kinds of taxes affecting trade and business, and focusing on the distinctions between how U.S. persons versus non-U.S. persons, as well as U.S. source versus non-U.S. source income, are treated
- Litigation before courts and agencies, mediation and arbitration—providing a general discussion of the structure of the court systems in the United States as applied to civil cases, the terminology and procedure generally used in U.S. courts, enforcement of court judgments, and specialized tribunals, arbitration and mediation.
The Starter Guide also includes concepts in U.S. commercial real estate transactions, regulation of the energy sector, products liability law, and business insurance. This new guide also provides useful charts, tables, best practices and highlighted tips.
