Business & corporate law — Johnston, Moore & Weston

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Tap the one that sounds like your week. It goes straight to a real person.

My partner and I aren’t seeing eye to eye anymore. Partnership counsel → A customer won’t pay and the contract is vague. Contract dispute → We’ve been running on a handshake for years. Get it in writing →

The disputes docket

From a two-party contract to multi-party litigation.

Local, regional, and national companies — in Alabama’s federal and state courts.

What we litigate

Contracts & deals

Breach of contract
Commercial buyer/seller disputes
Unpaid sales commissions
Declaratory judgment actions

Ownership & control

Partnership & shareholder disputes
Business-sale litigation
Business torts
Non-disclosure & non-compete

Money owed

Debtor/creditor litigation
Commercial collections
Fraudulent transfers
Foreign judgments

Property & projects

Construction litigation
Commercial landlord/tenant
Real estate litigation
Intellectual property
Manufacturer/distributor disputes

The two we see most

01

Breach of contractDelays, non-payment, work that doesn’t meet the standard. Resolved by negotiation, mediation, or litigation — whichever actually gets you made whole.

02

Partnership disagreementsDirection, profit, responsibility. A clear agreement prevents most of these; experienced counsel resolves the rest while the business keeps running.

We also handle personal-jurisdiction fights with non-resident defendants — the dispute doesn’t get to leave Alabama just because they did.

How we help

Contracts, formation, and disputes for businesses and their owners — from the first LLC filing to the lawsuit you hoped never to see. We represent local, regional, and national companies in Alabama’s federal and state courts.

The transactional side is where lawsuits get prevented: we review, prepare, and negotiate the agreements your business actually runs on — loans, equipment and goods, business sales, leases, and construction contracts among general contractors, owners, subs, and suppliers. On the collections side, we move fast, because a commercial debt gets harder and costlier to collect every month it ages — contractual debts, personal guarantees, promissory notes, fraud and misrepresentation, fraudulent transfers, and foreign judgments under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act.

◆ Exhibit — photo pending

Matters we handle

Formation & contracts (LLCs, governance, operating agreements, licenses)
Partnership & shareholder disputes
Commercial litigation
Creditors’ rights & commercial collections
Partnership lifecycle: formation, buy-sell agreements, dissolution
Ongoing counsel for small business

The record

Two matters that show how we treat owners who get squeezed:

I.

$400,000+ for a minority stockholderFired after objecting to mismanagement. We proved the majority stockholder had siphoned over $100,000 for personal expenses.

II.

$3,000,000 under a stock bonus planAn employee promised stock for working at reduced salary. The company refused to honor it — so we took it to trial.

Every matter is different. Past results do not predict or guarantee outcomes.

Starting a business? Structure first.

The structure you pick decides your personal liability, your taxes, and your paperwork for years. The menu in Alabama:

I.

Sole proprietorshipSimplest — but you and the business are legally the same person, debts included.

II.

PartnershipTwo or more owners, typically with personal liability. The agreement is everything.

III.

LLCCorporate liability protection with pass-through taxation. The small-business favorite.

IV.

Corporation (C or S)A separate legal entity, the strongest protection — with different tax treatment by flavor.

From there, the contracts your business shouldn’t run without: an operating agreement, partnership agreement, independent-contractor agreements, client service agreements, and NDAs — drafted to be enforceable, not downloaded.

How it works

Tell us what’s happeningA short, confidential conversation about your situation — no legal jargon required.

We dig inThe facts, the paperwork, and the law — we build your real options.

You decideStraight answers about costs and odds. No pressure — the next step is always yours.

What to bring to the first call

Don’t organize anything. Bring what you have — we’ve seen shoeboxes and we’ve seen spreadsheets, and both turned into wins.

Contracts or operating agreements, signed or not
The correspondence that worries you
A timeline of what happened

Common questions

Do I need a lawyer to form an LLC? +

You can file the paperwork yourself — but the operating agreement, ownership terms, and liability protections are where self-filing gets expensive later. A flat fee fixes that now.

A customer owes us money. How long should we wait? +

Don’t. Every month a commercial debt ages, it gets harder and more expensive to collect. A demand letter on firm letterhead is cheap; a write-off isn’t.

What does it cost to start? +

The initial consultation is free, and we’ll explain fees clearly before you commit to anything.

What areas do you serve? +

Huntsville, Madison, Decatur, Cullman, Gadsden, Anniston, and the surrounding North Alabama communities — from our downtown Huntsville office.

Why here

Rocket-city business deserves rocket-city counsel.

Formation to litigation

One firm from the first filing to the verdict — your lawyers already know the business when the dispute arrives.

Both sides of the table

We represent creditors and debtors, landlords and tenants, buyers and sellers — so we know the other side’s playbook.

Federal and state courts

Wherever the dispute lands — including when the defendant is out of state.

Local roots, growing economy

Aerospace, defense, tech, and the small businesses around them — Huntsville’s economy is the practice.

Huntsville · HQ Startups Small business Aerospace & defense Statewide

Before you call, if you like

Read the plain-English version.

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