Kentucky LLC formation under KRS Chapter 275, operating agreements drafted to fit your ownership structure (not a 50-state template), basic commercial agreements, employment offer letters, and the routine paperwork that makes a small business actually work.
A small-business legal matter is scope-variable — forming a single-member LLC reads differently than a multi-member operating agreement, a commercial lease for a new location, and a buy-sell structure. So we start with a free 20-minute scoping call to put shape on the work before pricing it.
Step 1 — Scoping call (20 min, free). We talk through the business, the entity choice, and the right document shape.
Step 2 — Conflict check. Standard conflict check against the parties before taking the matter.
Step 3 — Engagement letter. Scope and flat fee in writing. The published prices below are real — the engagement letter quotes the specific tier that fits your matter.
Step 4 — Drafting. LLC formation, operating agreement, commercial lease, buy-sell, demand letter — drafted to your facts, not a 50-state template.
Note: $299 base LLC formation IS catalog-shape work (Articles of Organization + EIN + annual-report calendar). Multi-member operating agreements, buy-sell structures, and commercial leases need attorney judgment, which is why those are JL Direct rather than Cornerstone. See /flat-fees for LLC formation ($299–$499), operating agreement, and commercial-lease ($999–$1,999) pricing.
Most Kentucky small-business legal work is foundational and transactional — the documents that make the business operate. Forming the entity correctly under KRS Chapter 275 (LLCs), drafting an operating agreement that fits the ownership structure, putting basic commercial agreements in place with vendors and customers, hiring the first employee or contractor, and building the records-and-meetings discipline that protects the entity's liability shield.
For routine, template-shaped documents — letters of intent, non-disclosure agreements, simple operating agreements — a tech-product flow works fine. For documents that affect title, control, or significant money — buy-sell provisions, multi-member operating agreements with capital and voting complexity, partnership disputes — the firm drafts directly.
Articles of Organization filed with the KY Secretary of State (you can file these yourself; the firm handles them as part of the engagement). Custom operating agreement drafted to fit your ownership structure — not a 50-state template. Initial resolutions, EIN coordination, and the first-year compliance calendar.
Multi-member operating agreements with capital contributions, profit-and-loss allocations, voting rights, distribution priorities, and buy-sell provisions. Drafted to your facts.
Cross-purchase or entity-redemption buy-sell structures, valuation methodology, funding mechanics, and the integration with each owner's estate plan.
Vendor agreements, customer agreements, services agreements, simple licensing. Drafted from scratch or review of a counter-party draft.
Employment offer letters, independent-contractor agreements, basic employee handbooks. Coordination with the LLC operating agreement on profit-sharing and equity if applicable.
For routine Kentucky documents that fit a fixed-fee template — single-member LLC operating agreements, standard NDAs, common consumer contracts — see the Bluegrass Cornerstone catalog (a DBA of this firm under KRS 365.015) at bluegrasscornerstone.com. For multi-member LLC formations, custom operating agreements, buy-sell structures, and commercial leases, the firm drafts directly under JL Direct — those documents need attorney judgment to fit your ownership structure. See /flat-fees for JL Direct LLC formation, buy-sell, and commercial-lease pricing.
We talk through the business, the entity choice, and the right document shape. No engagement letter at the scoping call — that comes after.
$299 base: Articles of Organization (KRS 275.025) drafted and filed with the Kentucky Secretary of State; EIN registration; Kentucky annual-report calendar setup. $499 full: Everything in base, plus a custom Operating Agreement under KRS Chapter 275 — single- or multi-member, with capital, distributions, management form, transfer restrictions, member-liability/indemnification, and dissolution mechanics tailored to your business.
$599 baseline: Simple two-member LLC buy-sell, single triggering event (death OR disability), fixed-price valuation. $1,299 complex: Multi-member buy-sell, multiple triggering events (death / disability / withdrawal / termination / divorce), valuation formula (book value, multiple-of-EBITDA, or independent appraisal), funding mechanism (life insurance), tag-along/drag-along rights, ROFR.
Scope: LLC-context only. Corporate shareholder buy-sell under the Kentucky Business Corporation Act (KRS 271B) is priced separately under engagement-letter amendment.
Single pre-suit demand letter (breach of contract, unpaid invoice, security deposit recovery, tort pre-suit). Includes legal-claim assessment, statute-of-limitations check, damages quantification, and settlement-frame analysis.
Vendor agreements, customer agreements, services agreements, simple licensing. Drafted from scratch or counter-party review. Flat fee quoted at consult.
For routine fixed-template documents, see the Bluegrass Cornerstone catalog at bluegrasscornerstone.com.
Routine documents — NDAs, simple LOIs, basic services agreements — are a good fit for tech-product flows. Anything that touches ownership, control, or the entity's liability shield is not. Operating agreements with multiple members, buy-sell structures, partnership disputes, and ownership transitions need attorney drafting to fit the facts.