Meet Sophia Pappalardo

Business Start-Ups & Contract Drafting

Legal is the last place that you want to cut corners when you’re starting a business. Because Sophia has experience working with businesses through their life cycle, from formation through their scale or sale, she can help set your business up for success. With a detail-oriented, creative eye, she can form your business and draft your contracts while incorporating your brand and helping you actualize your vision—setting you apart from your competitors.

Sophia’s regularly drafts:

• Intellectual property protection agreements and assignments

• Privacy policies, Terms of Use, and other contracts needed for online platforms

• Employment agreements and independent contractor agreements

• Non-competes and non-solicitations

• Business sale and purchase agreements (stock sale, asset sale, etc.)

• Non-disclosure agreements

• Business ownership, partnership, and joint venture agreements

• Client services agreements

• Commercial and residential real estate agreements, including residential and commercial leases

• Agreements used by general contractors and subcontractors, including construction agreements, revolving subcontractor agreements, and others

Mergers & Acquisitions

When it is time to grow your business or sell it, no transaction is too big or too small. A firm believer in drafting documents that fit a client’s individual needs, Sophia will help develop the right agreement for you while tapping into her business litigation experience to advise her clients on the deal.  

Sophia’s recent merger & acquisition deals include: 

• $32 million sale of a crawl space encapsulation and repair business

• $1.6 million sale of an accredited electrical testing business

• $1 million purchase of a dog kennel and boarding business

• $430,000 purchase of a beach-side restaurant and bar

• $275,000 sale of a commercial cleaning company

• $230,000 sale of an online women’s clothing company

• $250,000 purchase of a laundry business

Trademarks & Intellectual Property

You’ve worked hard to build your business’s reputation so you should protect it. Intellectual property is a vital component of your business’s brand and value.  Sophia has successfully applied for and obtained trademarks at the state and federal level which: protects her clients from infringement with nationwide or regional protection, discourages competitors from capitalizing on her client’s brand, helps current and potential customers find her client’s business, and adds monetary value to the business.

Sophia has successfully obtained trademarks at the state and/or federal level for the following types of businesses:

• Mobile laundry service company

• Solar energy data company

• Technology company

• Construction company

• Business consulting company

• Clothing company

Litigation

Sophia represents businesses and individuals in federal and state court throughout North Carolina who are pursuing or defending lawsuits.  Her business transactional experience informs her business litigation strategy while her passion for justice makes her a zealous advocate when representing clients who stand up to state and local governments and agencies.  

Sophia’s litigation experience includes: 

• Suing the government, police departments, and agencies to push back on government overreach and fight for civil rights to be afforded all

• Disputes between business owners, businesses, and employees related to unfair or deceptive trade practices, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and breach of contract

• Disputes between businesses for trademark infringement 

• Defending against amotion proceedings

• Disputes involving the enforcement of a contract’s non-solicitation and non-competition provisions 

• Disputes between individuals or businesses and general contractors for breach of contract

• Inverse condemnation cases

The Personal Side

Sophia enjoys watching the Buffalo Bills and Demon Deacons, trying new bars and restaurants for her food blog, and boxing and playing soccer.