# Legal and corporate

URL: /systems/legal-and-corporate · Id: `page:systems/legal-and-corporate`

> The Systems that own the company, sign agreements and protect what it makes.

The [Systems](/business/nouns/system) in this group own the [Company](/business/nouns/company), sign agreements and protect what it makes. [Agents](/business/nouns/agent) prepare every filing and contract; an officer signs what the law says a person must sign.

## The Systems
They keep each [Agreement](/business/nouns/agreement), [Share](/business/nouns/share) and [Instrument](/business/nouns/instrument) the Company holds.

| System | What it does | Say |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Corporate records](/systems/corporate-records) | Formation, officers, registered agent, annual reports, board approvals and good standing | "Is the company in good standing?" |
| [Agreements](/systems/agreements) | Contracts drafted from templates, signed, and tracked to renewal | "Send the customer contract for signature" |
| [Equity](/systems/equity) | The cap table: Shares, SAFEs, options, vesting and conversions | "Show me the cap table" |
| [Intellectual property](/systems/intellectual-property) | Trademarks, patents, domains and handles, with every deadline watched | "Register my trademark" |

## What a new Startup gets
A [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) that needs its own Company gets [entity formation](/systems/legal-and-corporate/entity-formation), a [registered agent](/systems/legal-and-corporate/registered-agent) and a [business address](/systems/legal-and-corporate/business-address). Every annual report and state renewal arrives as a dated [Task](/business/nouns/task) before it is due.

The [Contracts Manager](/agents/legal/contracts-manager) agent signs an Agreement only inside its signing [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate) and [Limit](/business/nouns/limit). Anything outside it waits for a person.

## The rules every Startup follows
Whatever it sells, every Startup follows the [legal floor](/systems/legal-and-corporate/floor): each rule the law sets, what wakes it, and the [Role](/business/nouns/role) that signs.

## Who runs it
The [Legal Lead](/agents/legal/legal-lead) owns Corporate records and Intellectual property, and the Contracts Manager owns Agreements. Equity answers to the founder.