Cogent Law
    ← Upcoming WebinarsBusiness Structure · Intellectual Property · Small Business

    Small Business Legal Webinar: Choosing the Right Business Structure and Protecting Your Brand

    Thursday, November 5, 2026
    12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
    Virtual · Free
    Thursday, November 12, 2026
    12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
    Virtual · Free

    One registration covers both sessions.

    Join our upcoming live webinar series on business structure and brand protection for small businesses. Register once to access both live sessions, including Q&A.

    Most small businesses choose an entity once, at formation, and rarely revisit it. By the time the company adds a second location, a new product line, or a business partner, that original structure may be exposing assets it was never designed to protect. The same pattern shows up with the brand: names, logos, content, and know-how often go unprotected until a competitor, a former partner, or an AI tool raises the question of who actually owns them.

    Join April Martindale and Donna Haynes, partners at Cogent Law, for a practical two-part webinar series on business structure, advanced entity strategies, and intellectual property protection. The series moves from the foundation to what sits on top of it: first how to choose and adapt the right entity as the business grows, then how to protect the brand, content, and know-how that entity owns.

    Session 1 - Choosing the Right Business Structure: LLCs, Corporations & Advanced Entity Strategies

    Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026

    Time: 12:00 PM ET

    Format: Live Webinar + Q&A (45-minute discussion + 15-minute Q&A)

    The entity you formed on day one is not always the one your business needs by year five. This session compares LLCs and corporations, explains the signs that a business has outgrown a basic LLC, and walks through holding companies and multi-entity structures. It also covers the Protected Series LLC, which is available only in certain states: how it is structured, where its liability protections hold up, and when it may or may not be the right fit, before closing on how to prepare your structure for growth.

    Session 2 - Protecting Your Brand: Trademarks, Copyrights & Intellectual Property

    Date: Thursday, November 12, 2026

    Time: 12:00 PM ET

    Format: Live Webinar + Q&A (45-minute discussion + 15-minute Q&A)

    A business name, logo, website content, and internal know-how are often among the most valuable things a small business owns, and among the least protected. This session covers how trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets each protect a different part of the business, how licensing lets you share those assets without giving up ownership, and what ownership questions arise when content is created with AI tools. It closes with brand protection steps a growing business can put in place now.

    Briefing Agenda

    What You Will Learn

    • What separates an LLC from a corporation in liability, tax treatment, and management, and how to decide which one fits your business.
    • How to recognize when your business has outgrown a basic LLC, and when a holding company or multi-entity structure makes sense.
    • How a Protected Series LLC is structured, where its liability protections apply, and why it is not the right fit for every business.
    • What trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets each protect, and why most businesses need more than one of them.
    • How licensing agreements let you share your brand or content with others while keeping ownership and control.
    • Why content created with AI tools raises ownership questions, and what to put in place before building your brand on it.
    Audience

    Who Should Attend

    • Small business owners reviewing whether their current LLC or corporation still fits the business
    • Founders and entrepreneurs forming a new company or preparing to bring in partners or investors
    • Owners running multiple locations, product lines, or properties who are weighing a holding company or series structure
    • Creators, consultants, and service providers building a brand around their name, content, or methods
    • Marketing and brand leads at growing companies responsible for names, logos, and published content
    • CPAs, bookkeepers, and fractional CFOs who advise small businesses on structure and growth
    Meet the Speakers

    Speakers

    April R. Martindale, MBA, Esq.

    April R. Martindale, Esq., MBA, is a Partner at Cogent Law and the founder and Managing Partner of Martindale Law, where she represents entrepreneurs, business owners, creatives, and nonprofit organizations in business formation, entity structuring, intellectual property, trademarks, copyrights, contracts, licensing, and brand strategy. She graduated Valedictorian from Nova Southeastern University Law School, holds an MBA earned Summa Cum Laude, and has completed entrepreneurship programs at Cornell University and Florida State University. Before law, April was a singer, songwriter, and musician, and she holds more than 50 registered copyrights for her own creative works.

    April brings this combined legal, business, and creative perspective to the Small Business Legal Series, helping entrepreneurs, founders, and growing businesses make informed legal decisions at every stage of growth. In the first session, she helps business owners understand how to choose and structure the right entity—from LLCs and corporations to more advanced structures—as their businesses evolve. In the second, she focuses on protecting the valuable assets they build, including trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property, content, and brand identity. Her goal is to help business owners understand the legal considerations behind the decisions that can strengthen, protect, and increase the long-term value of their businesses.

    Donna M. Haynes

    Donna M. Haynes

    Partner, Cogent Law

    Donna M. Haynes is a Partner at Cogent Law and an intellectual property attorney with more than 15 years of experience helping emerging and established businesses develop, protect, manage, and maintain their IP assets. She earned her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center and has built and managed IP portfolios for companies in complex technical and regulated industries.

    Event Details

    Session 1 — Business Structure & Entity Strategy

    Thursday, November 5, 2026

    12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET (45-minute discussion + 15-minute Q&A)

    Session 2 — Brand & Intellectual Property Protection

    Thursday, November 12, 2026

    12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET (45-minute discussion + 15-minute Q&A)

    Virtual Event – Free to Attend

    One registration covers both sessions.