Do you know how Tony Robbins, Peak Potentials, and many others who do workshops/classes/events all over the USA are legally registered? I wa...

Question

Do you know how Tony Robbins, Peak Potentials, and many others who do workshops/classes/events all over the USA are legally registered? I was recently speaking to someone and they said you have to register in every state you do events. Is this true? I can't imagine these people are registered all over the place or is this a risk that one takes? Maybe there's a special way of setting up one's business if you do events in many different states? Or a special release to have participants sign to protect yourself? Thank you.

Answer

If you maintain a consistent presence (address, boots on the ground, employees or ICs, showroom, warehouse, etc.) in all these different states, then you should qualify your entity to do business there. For example, we have a client in the real estate education space that holds seminars around the country and he is qualified in I think 38 of the 50 states. This is quite common.

Now if you are only going to be there once in a while or just a one-off program I would not worry about it. But there are other considerations that might force registration. For example, the venue might demand that your entity carry insurance for your engagement. No problem, but the insurer might require that the entity then be properly registered in the state where the venue is taking place.

The following offer a brief overview of foreign qualification that might be helpful:

http://www.lanternlegal.com/foreign_entity_qualification.php

If you would like to discuss further over a free phone consult, feel free to contact me anytime that is convenient.

Our firm is now referred by the American Bar Association (see under the New York section):

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/delivery_legal_services/resources/programs_to_help_those_with_moderate_income.html

Kind regards,

Frank

www.LanternLegal.com

866-871-8655

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DISCLAIMER: this is not intended to be specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. No attorney-client relationship is formed on the basis of this posting.