1963-09-01 - Four vs State of New York Pt 2
Summary: Continuing the exciting legal adventures of the Fantastic Four!
Related: Four vs State of New York
Theme Song: None
reed johnny jennifer sue 


*

Sponsorship will be cause for multiple different forms, things for Reed to examine in fine detail and summarize in fine detail. Written instructions may come with carbon paper to limit the need for Priscilla and other GLKH staff to duplicate everything painstakingly, though they no doubt will be burning the midnight oil for the benefit of the Fantastic Four. Books and filing cabinets consulted like ancient oracles, the model of order in a society plunging towards the brink of chaos. Modern, venerated men and women of law are left to decipher the proper path in a labyrinthine legal codex, the Combined Laws of the state of New York demanding their due.

Long story short, it takes a few minutes. Coffee will be refreshed, a plate of butter cookies brought in. Activity spins around the hive. They all know full well how the routine goes; it's a firm on the forefront of mutant rights, in the state and the country.

Jennifer doesn't exactly bounce back in, but she does have a certain spring to her step those short, polite heels allow for. Squeezing in, she carries a box not unlike a banker's box, stuffed to the gills by paper. It's much too heavy for someone as committed to the gym as she is, but she drops it on the side table with excitement gleaming in her eyes. "Ha! I found most of what we need. Don't be alarmed by the size of this, I brought two or three books to consult in case we start heading into estates and trusts, cooperative corporations, civil practices, and finances. Things get rather odd. Did you know there's even a second class cities folio? True fact!" Like they care. But it /is/ neat to her.

"So, where shall we like to begin?"

*

The fact that Johnny was willing to stay at the meeting for this long probably speaks volumes about… something. How pleased he is that Sue and Reed liked his idea? How much he likes Jennifer? How desperate he is for free coffee and cookies? Something.

He's quite happy to drink as much coffee as they put in front of him, god help his family as the day goes on. When Jennifer comes back in, Johnny looks up with a cookie held in his mouth, his hands busy re-heating Reed's cup of coffee. He hums around the cookie and heartlessly abandons Reed's drink, eyes lighting up. Stuff! Stuff that sounds important!

Johnny quickly swallows his mouthful of cookie and scoots in closer to the table. "I don't know the first thing about any of this, so… I'll follow your lead?" he says hopefully, beaming at Jen.

*

Reed makes a thinly-creased frowny face briefly as Johnny abandons his coffee short of optimal temperature. But he picks it up to drink without complaint. "Perhaps we can start with the Incorporation paperwork. That is where all the money will be coming from, after all," he suggests. "Then get the Foundation put together, and fill in the rest from there."

*

"Nothing wrong with admitting this is all Greek to you. They make us learn that so we can translate, or embezzle ouzo and expound like a Stoic from a pillar in front of the Supreme Court," the youngest daughter of those statues of blind justice says, settling into the seat across from them. She sorts paper into neat categories, forms pointing to Reed with a selection of pens, and then a yellow legal pad for Johnny with another pen, and a third pile for herself. "The financials of a living trust, loosely structured upon the Rockefeller Trust, will be Kurtzberg's expertise. He can start up the details, though he is going to need to talk to Ms. Storm about the particulars, or your banker, or however you have it set up. He knows the laws for divisions and multiple bequeathals better than I do by this point. I can translate to English, but effectively your idea for that will have to be durable to avoid excess taxation and invested wisely. As to incorporation, /that/ is easy."

A tap indicates the third pile, and she smiles. "You are going to file a name with the state Division of Corporations in Albany. A fee of $8, a princely sum, reserves the name but we hardly need that. We'll fill out the form here for your certificate of incorporation here, and Mr. Richards, if you'll so kind as to add Incorporated, Corporation or Limited to the name, it's required by state law.

"After that, you have to decide how many authorized shares you have. Two hundred is standard; given your numbers, can I suggest four hundred?" She grins. "Four being the solid number you work with. We also determine if they have a set price value or no par value, which means they trade on the stock exchange according to market value. We'll file and pay for any taxation on your shares, which is a minimum $10."

*

Johnny draaaaags the legal pad and pen in front of himself, listening very attentively to Jennifer as she explains. He immediately begins fidgeting with the pen, spinning it between his fingers a few times before he looks down. Maybe he should be taking notes. Or doodling. Yes. He should definitely be taking notes and doodling.

"I should probably let Sue handle most of that, anyway. I have an okay head for numbers, but she's a lot better at this stuff than I am," Johnny tells Jennifer with absolutely no shame whatsoever, absently running his free hand back through his hair. "She's the brains. I'm just the pretty face."

*

Returning to the office after her phone call, Sue's expression is somewhere between pleased and distraught as she slips back into the office. The corners of her eyes speak to the status of things while the warmth in her eyes reflective of the familial nature of the phone call she'd made.

She treads back just in time to be called the brains. She smirks, "I'm pretty sure Reed is the brains." Her eyebrows arch, "I'm more the administrator." Pause. "Not the secretary," she deadpans. She clears her throat, "Sorry about that." She shoots the trio a tight lipped smile before slipping back into her seat.

*

Reed adjusts his glasses and begins going through the paperwork. Big surprise— he reads EVERYTHING. "Yes, Sue would be the one to talk with regarding the financial details. I know what I need to, but she's devoted study time to—" He's interrupted by the return of that notable, giving her a long thoughtful look over the rim of his glasses while he, like Johnny, spins his pen from finger to finger and back.

After a few moments, he turns his attention back to the forms. "You are both more than capable," he notes. "Everyone is the brains in their own ways." A pause, and he scribbles on a line of a form. The Fantastic Four, Inc. It has a nice sound to it, he supposes. "Even Ben, though he'll deny it. Loudly."

*

"I am sure all of you have your strengths. You can possibly design or lay out any logo that you want submitted to the trademark office, if there is one in particular," Jennifer goes on, encouraging Johnny to be more than pretty face. He might as well make something pretty. She looks up when Sue re-enters, and gives the woman a warmer smile. "Have a cookie if you like. No trouble done for taking a call. I am well-used to interruptions, given this is a law office."

It's quite true in a way. "For the finances, you need to disclose nothing for the incorporation documents. It all goes into the trust, how you want the financial elements separated, what tax measures apply, and far too many things involving numbers to dice through this very instant." No one wants to RP about money like that, and if they want to do 'Executive Trust MUX,' go get yourself an accounting degree and play on Shangrila, just to see what happens when you start emitting long codicils. How sexy to note subsection 7.1-13(a) to (e)!*

*

Johnny offers Sue a warm smile that is just a touch concerned around the edges when she rejoins them, his eyebrows going up in silent question. And, after a moment, he adds a not-so-silent question, a quiet <Is everything okay?> murmured to her in Korean, keeping his voice low enough to avoid interrupting Jennifer and Reed's back-and-forth.

Of course, since Jennifer has reminded him, Johnny also grabs for the plate of cookies and drags it closer to Sue. Because he's helping.

*

Sue issues Johnny a small nod. <Ben just sounded sad to me> she returns with a faint arch of her eyebrows. She accepts one of the cookies and chomps down on it pensively while getting lost, temporarily, in her own thoughts. A glance is given back to Johnny, <… don't tell him that. Forget I said anything,> because ammunition is something Johnny doesn't need.

Her fingers drum on the able. She manages a tight smile as she looks between Reed and Jennifer and then finishes off the cookie.

*

Reed does not speak Korean. If there's a reason, he's kept it to himself thus far. Knowing him, there could be any number of them. So he doesn't join the exchange, nodding as he fills out some more forms, and passes one to Sue for some odds and ends she can answer better. "Our Fantastic Four logos and trademarks are all squared away, including codenames, likenesses, and so on— previous counsel managed that much before becoming troublesome." He give Johnny a brief glance. "The Foundation will need its own set, of course. As long as you're on a roll for bright ideas…" he leaves the suggestion hanging.

*

Nor does Jen, by the looks of it. She raises her hand and laughs. "Ah, very good, then you have all those details figured. You are two steps ahead of me, though make sure to file any variations you might be thinking about because several of them might be considered copyrightable if you use them in the future." She waves her head. "We can handle the matter for the Foundation and keep going. Is there anything else that occupies your thoughts? Perhaps we ought to just run around saving the world, and property damage concerns. Ah. That's more an ad hoc basis."

*

It might come as a surprise that Johnny actually looks genuinely concerned at this news from Sue. Still, the request is met with a nod and he looks towards Reed, lifting his eyebrows. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, I can come up with something," he muses, lightly scratching his chin as he looks down at his legal pad. Right. Time to doodle with an actual purpose. "It's not juuuuust saving the world. Sometimes it's smaller things."

*

The notion of previous counsel becoming troublesome has Sue virtually choking on her cookie. She mutters, "That's the understatement of the year." Her eyes rolls lightly and her head shakes as she clasps her hands together and sets them on the table. She cranes her neck to watch Johnny doodle away. "I honestly think the big things were the insurance, the potential incorporation, the sponsorship…" her lips twist to the side. "Property damage you said was a more as needed basis…" she shrugs. There's nothing else on her radar.

*

Reed finishes his collection of forms, and slides them back to Jennifer with a finger… that just keeps extending until the pages have crossed the table surface. "I don't have anything else," he agrees. "the legal side of attaching my patents and other work to the corporation is straightfoward and can wait until everything's officially filed and processed." He looks to Jennifer. "I can send that information over by courier once I've gone through my files."

*

The rather content smile that touches Jennifer's expression warms up her shyness for a moment. "Excellent. I can whisk these over to the right people and start moving that along. Now that we have the ball rolling, it won't be long. The insurance," she adds, "I intend to work on immediately. Out tonight and off to the land of make believe." She gives a faint sigh and then runs her hand over her hair. "I hate to leave you but I have to get this drafted, if you don't mind. Much as I want to stay."

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