If your business is sued, you must respond proactively to the lawsuit so you can protect your company from the risk of an adverse judgment. This means submitting an answer on time, preparing a defense strategy or strategy for responding to the accusations against you, and filing any appropriate counterclaims or pre-trial motions with the court. You also need to preserve evidence which might be requested in discovery, and begin your own investigation so you can effectively respond to any accusations made against your business.
Read More1031 exchanges get their name from the section of the tax code which provides a tax break. As the Internal Revenue Service explains, capital gains taxes are usually required on the profits when a business or investment property is sold. However, Internal Revenue Code section 1031 creates an exception. Under this exception, you can defer tax on the gain if you reinvest the proceeds from the sale in a similar property investment.
Read MoreWhen an employer is making hiring decisions, an employer generally should not take age into account. However, the only legal protections that exist are designed to prevent discrimination against older workers. There is no law that prohibits an employer from refusing to hire people on the basis of the fact that the employer believes that the person is too young. There is a law prohibiting an employer from refusing to hire someone on the basis that he is too old.
Read MoreThe Judicial Education Center indicates that a “A breach is material if, as a result of the breaching party’s failure to perform some aspect of the contract, the other party receives something substantially different from what the contract specified.” Essentially, this means a breach is considered to be a material one if it gets to the very essence or heart of the agreement. A material breach happens when one of the contracted parties fails to do the very thing that the contract was created for. A non-material breach, on the other hand, occurs when the failure to perform was a minor one. The purpose of the contract is still in tact, the parties substantially performed according to the terms of their agreement, but something small went wrong.
Read MoreEvery business faces certain risks, ranging from the chances that a customer will get hurt on a premises or when using a product to the risk of a lawsuit by a disgruntled employee who claims he was discriminated against or not paid fairly. Your company could be sued, and even a claim against your business could result in costly legal fees. Your business could also be adversely affected by disadvantageous contractual agreements which don't protect you and which make profitability harder.
Read MoreTenants have legal rights when they rent property. If you are renting residential or commercial space, you need to know how the law protects you. It is also important to understand what your obligations are as a tenant so you don't find yourself facing eviction or other problems. Unfortunately, if you don't learn about Pennsylvania real estate laws or know how the laws and their lease you, mistakes can happen.
Read MoreContracts can be used to protect your company interests in many important ways. For example, you can use non-disclosure agreements to protect your company's trade secrets and proprietary information. You can also use non-compete agreements to ensure your employees do not go to work with competitors right after leaving your employ. If you have a smaller company, shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, buy/sell agreements and employment agreements are just a few of the many different kinds of contracts that you could end up creating in order to make certain that your business doesn't fall into the wrong hands and to reduce the potential for problems to arise among co-owners.
Read MoreIt is important to understand all of the terms of any financing arrangement that you enter into, and an experienced attorney can assist you with this process. From reviewing bank documents to negotiating agreements with investors, an attorney provides invaluable advice in ensuring that your financing sets your company on the path to profitability.
Read MoreEmployees are supposed to be paid for their time doing work activities. If employers don't pay, workers can take action. A group of employees from Tyson did just that: they filed a class action lawsuit because their employer was not paying for their time putting safety gear on and taking it off. Safety News Alert reported on the lawsuit, which ended up getting all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read MoreWhen you enter into a commercial lease as either a landlord or a tenant, the lease often lasts for a term of a year or more. There may be substantial amounts of money at stake. The terms of the lease can affect whether the building rental is profitable for you as a landlord and can affect whether or not the space actually works for your business interests as a renter.
Read MoreSometimes, it can be difficult to determine if you were fired due to discrimination or not. Some of the red flags that you should look for include a failure of the employer to follow written or implied promises made to you, disciplinary action or a termination despite no wrongdoing on your part, discriminatory statements, other terminations of people of protected classes, a pattern of discrimination, a termination following a specific interaction with your employer,
Read MoreIf you determine a breach of contract occurred, you can file a civil lawsuit. If you can successfully prove an unjustified breach, there are different kinds of legal remedies which could be available to you. You could ask the court to order the other party to follow through on the agreement and comply with contract terms. You could also ask the court to require the breaching party to pay you damages. It is up to you to prove how badly you were damaged and to show the extent of your losses so you can be fully compensated after a contract breach.
Read MoreWhen you hire employees, you take on a host of legal obligations. You need to make sure you comply with all of the requirements imposed on employers so you do not face legal consequences. You also need to make sure your employees do not jeopardize your business interests.
Read MoreBeing a landlord can be rewarding and lucrative, as long as you do not make mistakes which end up costing you. Some of the common mistakes made by new landlords include not understanding anti-discrimination requirements, not conducting background checks before renting to tenants, failing to ensure a lease protects their interests, not understanding rules for eviction, and not understanding bankruptcy rules.
Read MoreThe Small Business Administration explains that: “An employee handbook is an important communication tool between you and your employees. A well-written handbook sets forth your expectations for your employees, and describes what they can expect from your company. It also should describe your legal obligations as an employer, and your employees' rights”
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