Ocean County · New Jersey
Lavallette Business Attorney for Seasonal and Family-Run Shore Businesses
A Lavallette business may earn most of its year in a single summer, which leaves little room for a weak lease or a staffing misstep. Paul H. Appel helps barrier-island owners get those documents right in the quiet months.
Life on the peninsula
Between the ocean and Barnegat Bay, on a summer calendar
Lavallette is a barrier-island borough on the Barnegat Peninsula in Ocean County, with the Atlantic on one side, Barnegat Bay on the other and Route 35 running through the middle.
Its businesses are mostly small and local: food and ice-cream counters, beach and bike rental outfits, gift shops, property management and cleaning services, and contractors who maintain shore homes. Many are owned by families who have run them for years, and many close or scale back after the season ends.
Owners here work with Paul by phone and video during the busy months and often meet him at the Freehold office, by appointment, once the season winds down. The firm has one office, in Freehold, and Paul handles every matter personally.
Before Memorial Day
An off-season legal list for a Lavallette business
Winter is the right time to fix documents, because once the season opens nobody has time to renegotiate.
- Confirm when your lease renewal notice is due, and diarise it well before the deadline
- Check that the lease use clause covers anything new you plan to sell or rent
- Decide which summer workers are employees and which, if any, genuinely qualify as contractors
- Update rental waivers and booking terms, including cancellation for weather
- Make sure the business and any rental property are held in the entity you intend
- Review the annual report and registered agent details for your LLC
The firm's guide to legal tips for shore and seasonal businesses covers several of these points in more depth.
Seasonal staffing
The contractor question every summer business faces
Calling a seasonal worker an independent contractor does not make them one. New Jersey applies the ABC test for wage, unemployment and related purposes, and a worker is generally presumed to be an employee unless the business can show all three parts: freedom from control, work outside the usual course or places of the business, and an independently established trade.
A teenager staffing a rental stand or a counter almost always fails that test. A licensed electrician who serves many clients and bills you for a repair may pass it. Getting the line wrong can lead to back wages, taxes and penalties that New Jersey has strengthened in recent years, so it is worth settling before hiring begins. More detail is on the independent contractor agreements page.
Services in use
What Lavallette owners bring to the firm
Seasonal commercial leases
Rent structured around the season, renewal options with clear notice dates, responsibility for storm damage and repairs, and an assignment clause that allows a future sale.
Commercial lease agreementsEntity set-up and clean-up
Forming an LLC for a new venture, or untangling a business that has been run informally under a family member's name for years.
Passing the business on
A written plan for transferring a family business to children or a long-time manager, with the price, timing and roles set down before anyone retires.
Succession planning
Questions
Lavallette owners ask
Can our summer helpers be paid as independent contractors?
Usually not. Under New Jersey's ABC test, workers who staff your counter, rentals or shop on your schedule are generally employees. Misclassification can lead to unpaid wage and tax claims plus penalties. If you use outside tradespeople who run their own businesses, a written contractor agreement helps, but the facts of the relationship matter more than the label.
What should a seasonal lease say about the off-season?
It should state plainly whether rent is due all year or reduced in winter, who maintains and secures the premises while closed, who pays for storm or flood damage, and whether utilities must stay on. Ambiguity on these points is a common source of disputes between shore landlords and tenants.
How do we pass a family-run shore business to the next generation?
Start with a conversation about who will run it and whether the transfer is a gift, a sale or a mix. The plan is then documented through an updated operating agreement or a purchase agreement, with your accountant addressing tax effects. The Ocean County business law page describes how Paul works with families across the county.
Nearby
Also serving businesses near Lavallette
Your attorney
Paul H. Appel, Esq.
Every matter at the firm is handled personally by Paul — the same attorney reads the documents, gives the advice and negotiates on your behalf.
- Education
- Columbia Law School, Juris Doctor (1967)
- Experience
- 58+ years in commercial and business law
- Focus for this matter
- Commercial and business law for owner-run companies
- Office
- Freehold, NJ — serving Monmouth, Middlesex & Ocean Counties
Contact
Discuss Your Business Matter With Paul
Describe what the business is dealing with — a contract on your desk, a deal in progress, a dispute or a company you are about to form. You will hear back from the attorney who handles the work.
- Phone917-748-6124
- Office11 Crestwood Drive, Freehold, NJ 07728
- ConsultationsBy phone, video or in person by appointment
Start a conversation