WARNING - Lardiere McNair, LLC has become aware of a corporation in Cincinnati which is registering trade names with the Ohio Secretary of State.  According to the information we have received, the corporation has registered over 30 trade names in the past 75 days.  The trade names appear to be identical to existing businesses.  They are targeting businesses which have not registered their trade names with the Ohio Secretary of State, or whose trade names have expired.

If you have any questions about this process, we’d be happy to discuss it with you.

HOW YOU COULD BE AT RISK #1 – Registrations with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office expire after a certain number of years.  Depending on the business type, affirmative steps must be taken to ensure  the registration remains active.   Otherwise, the registration becomes expired.  If you are uncertain about the status of your current registration, you should seek legal advice.

HOW YOU COULD BE AT RISK #2 – Often times, businesses will operate uder “trade names” or “DBAs” that aren’t necessarily registered with the Ohio Secretary of State.  This is a risky way of doing business if your trade name isn’t registered because someone else can step in and register it.  If you are uncertain about the status of your current registration, you should seek legal advice.

HOW LARDIERE MCNAIR CAN HELP – First, our firm can ensure that your business is properly registered with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.  We can also take preventative measures and act as your statutory agent, to ensure you don’t have these issues in the future.  A statutory agent is a business or individual designated to receive service when a business is a party in a legal action, such a lawsuit or summons.  It’s often a good idea to have an entity, other than your own, be the statutory agent for your business.  That’s why our firm has developed an entity for this specific purpose, known as “LM Counsel Statutory Agent”.  We’d be happy to allow your business to use our service, and be your first line of defense, if something goes wrong.

Chad Stonebrook is an Associate at Lardiere McNair, LLC.  To read more about our firm, please visit www.lmcounsel.com.

The information presented here has been prepared by Lardiere McNair for promotional and informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice.  This information is not intended to provide, and receipt of it does not constitute, legal advice.  Nor does the receipt of this material create an attorney/client relationship.  An attorney client relationship is not established until such time as Lardiere McNair enters in to a written engagement agreement with a specific client for a specific legal matter.

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LARDIERE MCNAIR, LLC

3956 BROWN PARK DRIVE, SUITE B

HILLIARD, OH  43026