Legal Question in Business Law in District of Columbia

Re: Lawyer recommended I lie

First, do not lie. It will only get you in more trouble when you are caught. Second, get another attorney. Third, pay the $200 penalty. Fourth, you can ask the attorney to reimburse you for the $200 penalty but it probably is not worth much effort to recover. You would have to prove that you told him you were doing business in MD and that he did not tell you about the need to register as a "foreign" corporation. Very expensive & frustrating for you and it could open you up to other problems. It is unfortunate, but my advice is that you take this experience as a lesson learned and not make the same mistake again. Good luck to you in your business.

Re: Lawyer recommended I lie

If the attorney knew you were planning on doing business in MD at the time he did your DC corporation papers, and didn't advise you of the need to file as a foreign corp. in MD, you could look to him for the MD penalty, but there's not enough involved to make it worth your while. If you are really concerned, you could report what happened to the Attorney Grievance Commission in MD, which investigates potential misconduct by attorneys in MD.

Re: Lawyer recommended I lie

I agree with Messrs. Kaufman and Sher. But note also that the definition of doing business for the requirement to file as a foreign corporation requires more than sales into the state from outside, for example. If you have less than a permanent estabishment in MD, you may want to look into whether you are indeed doing business. But whatever you do, don't lie.

Re: Lawyer recommended I lie

I must agree. It is never a good idea to lie to the government (federal, state, or local) and I commend you for not taking the advice of your attorney in that respect. I also agree that it is probably not worth your time, effort, and mental health to try to recover the amount of the penalty. You should consider that you may be able to recover the fees you paid to the attorney as well as making him pay the penalty. If you paid thousands of dollars for the "bad advice" you may want to try to recover all of that. You certainly don't want to spend thousands of dollars chasing after a couple of hundred dollars, though.

I also would advise you to consider reporting the attorney to the Attorney Grievance Commission. They have a fairly good web setup which tells you everything you need to know before you file a complaint that can be accessed through the Maryland Judiciary's website.