After working with professionals to determine which entity type is right for your worker cooperative, the next step is to work with professionals to develop your governing documents. Bylaws and operating agreements should include high-level information about the governance of the organization. They clarify and codify the democratic governance and ownership of your cooperative, help provide a structure through which the cooperative can grow, and provide a last resort for conflict resolution if relationships break down.

Don't start from scratch. Sample worker cooperative bylaws in word doc form for you to edit for your own cooperative. 

28 essential questions for any start-up to ask - and try to answer - before meeting with a lawyer. 

The legal and financial framework described here came out of three and half years of collaboration with attorney Bart Deamer, a partner at the Silicon Valley office of Bingham McCutchen LLP. Key concepts and terms used in our system are highlighted in bold italics. Those who are interested can use the footnotes to learn more about the technical details of implementation and find the corresponding provisions in the legal documents.

Ten Articles of incorporation for Equal Exchange as of 2004.