The limited liability company (“LLC”) has emerged as the entity of choice throughout the small business community over the past 25 years. However, for many professional service providers, Virginia offers another, yet confusingly similar, option: the professional limited liability company (“PLLC”). Because (i) the two types of entities are similar in many substantive respects, yet different in some very important respects; and (ii) the distinctions between LLCs and PLLCs and overall regulation of professional service providers vary from state to state and profession to profession, there is naturally confusion among professionals in Virginia as to which type of entity is right for their business. As a side note, this article does not discuss the Virginia stock corporation and Virginia professional corporation, which are still commonly used but have arguably taken a backseat to the newer, more flexible LLC structure.

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