About Business Law Disputes

When in business, it is not surprising to get involved in disagreements with customers, suppliers, employees and competitors. Business disputes is undesirable distraction to running a business and can arise from a number of different issues. One of the most common business law disputes includes contracts. While the specifics of business contracts differ, all of them are complicated and too detailed.

Having a well-organized and in effect dispute resolution system in place for that reason particularly is important in order to minimize the effects of any complaint that someone may have with your business. Failure to deal with a problem punctually and thoroughly could end up costing you valuable time and money, or even land you in legal concern if the individual in question is found to have a valid complaint.

When a dispute arises it is suggested that you seek legal advice from a specialist in business and commercial law and make an honest attempt to settle down the dispute by conforming to the other party. Check the contract between you and the other party as it may enclose clauses that outline the process should any dispute arise. There may also be a termination clause which clarifies how either party can cease the contract. 

Details at https://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/business/disputes-and-litigation

Related Links
http://www.pqlawfirm.com/practice-areas/business-law/business-contracts
http://www.frettens.co.uk/site/library/frettensnews/Dispute_Resolution_What_does_it_mean_bournemouth_poole_solicitor
http://www.americanbar.org/publications/blt/2015/02/01_means.html
http://www.univie.ac.at/intlaw/wordpress/pdf/95.pdf

Successful Company Merger or Acquisition in 7 Steps

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Recessions like the one we've lately been through be likely to to make companies stronger—those that survive, anyway. With the economic prospects looking up, therefore, your company may be in a great position to think about getting a competitor or making a strategic acquisition to build up yourself for the years ahead. But obtaining another company is more than just a financial transaction. You have to think about everything from meshing computer systems to sorting out your sales and marketing team.

In other words, making a merger and acquisition is a lot of tough work. Given that, we asked Paul Burmeister, a partner at Tatum, a nationwide professional services firm that helps executives with all sorts of operational, financial and strategic challenges, for some guidance.

Here’s the 7 steps:
Check your own liquidity and financial health 
Make sure your people can see clearly
Define your goals and success factors
Consider M&A candidates
Plan and execute
Create a transition team 
Carefully plan and perform the integration

Detailed info at https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/7-steps-to-a-successful-ma-a-small-business-guide/

Related Links:

http://www.streetinsider.com/Special+Reports/Notable+Mergers+and+Acquisitions+77%3A+%28HZNP%29%28DEPO%29+%28LGCY%29+%28MR%29+%28DNN%29/10706149.html
http://betanews.com/2015/06/12/2015-is-the-year-of-merger-mania/
http://investorplace.com/2014/12/mergers-and-acquisitions-biggest-deals-2014/
http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/?p=6220
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27204716
http://www.successfulacquisitions.net/david-braun-speaks-on-using-ma-to-drive-growth-in-biofuels-despite-uncertainty/

Employment Litigation Definition

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Employment litigation is a complaint in which an employee sues an employer or an employer is sued because of an employment-related issue.  It involves pay, overtime and other situations in which an employee suffered biased treatment in connection with his/her job. At question it may be claims of discrimination or harassment. 

Employment litigation can also include an employee’s claim of action illegal under whistle blower protections, violations of workplace safety, or issues related to benefits such as insurance, workers compensation, or pension. Though many employees are well thought-out to have employment on an at-will basis, much employment litigation result from terminated positions. If the employer was found to have taken the action because of the employee’s race, gender, or other protected class, the action was illegal. Employers are advised to provide employees with their expectations in writing and develop a process that leads to discipline and dismissal in order to protect themselves against this type of employment litigation.

Full story at http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-employment-litigation.htm

Related articles:
http://www.befblegal.com/employment-litigation.php
http://www.proskauer.com/practices/employment-litigation-arbitration/
http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/dunlop/section4.htm
http://www.nixonpeabody.com/labor_and_employment_litigation
http://www.constangy.com/services-employment-litigation.html
https://www.orrick.com/practices/employment-law-and-litigation/Pages/default.aspx

Real Estate Law: Why Home Buyers Need A Lawyer?

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Even though using the services of a lawyer can easily increase several thousand dollars to the cost of a real estate business deal, it's a lot money well spent. Read below benefits when hiring attorney and find out how a lawyer will help you close the deal and the consequences that may end up costing a lot of money.

Here are benefits when hiring a Real Estate Lawyer:

Contracts
Attorneys can do that by not only discussing on your behalf, but also making certain that the contract abide to all state laws as well as discuss any specific issues that might affect the future use of the property.

Addressing Rights
Another important service that attorney carry out is called a title search. Title searches are accomplished by or through attorneys, and their purpose is to make sure that the property being sold is free of any inconveniences, such as liens or judgments.

Property Transfers
This is about, when one or more parties are corporations, trusts or partnerships, the contract preparation and the following negotiations are complicated.

Filings
Real estate deeds regularly need to be filed at the county and state level. An attorney will be able to do this swiftly and professionally.

Full story at http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/08/real-estate-attorney.asp


Related Links:

http://realestate.findlaw.com/buying-a-home/why-you-need-a-lawyer-when-you-buy-or-sell-a-house.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/mortgages/home-buying/when-it-comes-to-home-buying-what-should-your-real-estate-lawyer-do/article11892290/
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/do-you-need-a-lawyer-to-buy-sell-a-home
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/I_AM_A_FIRST_TIME_HOME_BUYER_DO_I_NEED_A_LAWYER_-175787
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/hire-real-estate-agent-or-lawyer-29527.html

Things to Know About the California Paid Sick-leave Law

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California’s law requiring three days of paid sick leave for every California worker that goes into effect last July 1.

 

How many hours is three days?
The Department of Labor says employers must provide three paid sick-leave days or 24 total hours each year. The law is unclear on which option employers should use for employees with an alternate work week, meaning they work less or more than the typical eight hour day. To be on the safe side, employers should provide whichever is greater -- three days or 24 hours, said Largent.


What qualifies as sickness?
An employer is restricted in what it can ask an employee about an illness. The law says employees must provide an oral or written request for sick time. Employers could violate the law by asking for a doctor’s note and withholding pay if an employee does not provide one.

How much notice must sick employees provide?
The law also is unclear about this, but Largent mentions using “serious caution" before disciplining an employee for giving last-minute notice.


Full Story at http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/05/27/five-things-to-know-about-the-paid-sickleave-law.html

Benefits of Hiring a Business Lawyer

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The business world is getting bigger at a fast pace and handling all the tasks including preparation and meeting the legal requirements to run any business act in accordance with all the legal regulations has become pretty challenging for businessmen. This makes a business lawyer a vital professional to help business run successfully. Regardless to the type of business you have, a start-up firm, an established firm, a small business or large corporation, a legal expert dedicated in business laws, plays a vital role for the very existence of business.

A business lawyer offers a full legal services to you. His role may be essential right from the setting up of a business. Therefore, if you are thinking that until you have a sheriff coming to you to serve you courts summon, you need not need a legal representative, you are probably wrong. Hiring a lawyer after summon has been served, and if you are most likely guilty of the offence charged with then you just need representation to bring down the penalty. However, retaining a lawyer ahead of time, make certain that you run your business lawfully and meeting all the essential regulations.

Hiring or retaining a business lawyer is no doubt a helpful decision, as the complicated laws regarding contracts, trades and business running may be hard for a non-lawyer to understand and follow. Also, a non-lawyer businessman may not get sufficient time to review the updates in rules and regulations and make the conforming amendments in his business.

A business attorney acts in several capacities, such as a legal advisor and legal representative to the firm. Such lawyers also have transitory understanding of criminal laws and employment laws and therefore, they can share their knowledge in issues related to these areas as well.

Hiring a business lawyer in short means that you are rest guaranteed of expert legal services, and you can be worry-free about the matters related to business contracts, agreements, negotiations, business acquisitions, and so on. Attorney will ensure that the business sustains and runs steadily while earning reasonable profits under commercial principles.

Full Stories at http://www.commercialblawg.com/business-law/benefits-of-hiring-a-business-lawyer/

Related Articles:
http://technori.com/2013/06/4575-how-to-choose-the-best-lawyer-for-your-small-business/
https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/business-topics/money-tax-and-legal/legal-matters/hiring-a-lawyer/
http://www.corporationslaw.com/benefits-of-hiring-a-corporate-lawyer/
http://www.cpsslaw.com/Articles/Entrepreneurs-Top-reasons-to-hire-a-business-lawyer.shtml

Labor Standards in California Businesses

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Here’s a selection of regulations that are also distinctive to California or come with abrupt requirements here:

• Most states don’t permit workers to collect overtime until they exceed 40 hours of work in a single week. In California, workers are allowed to it if they work more than eight hours in a single day.

• Federal standards exempted many higher-level workers from getting overtime. California’s standards are more complex.

• The state obliges that companies to let workers take a paid 30-minute meal break for every five hours of work and a paid 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked.

• California’s $9 an hour minimum wage go beyond the U.S. rate of $7.25 an hour, and the state’s minimum wage arranged to increase to $10 an hour in 2016. San Diego voters also are set to agree that year whether to progressively increase the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour.

• The state’s Private Attorney General Act allows workers charging labor violations to file suits seeking civil penalties for faults that may involve multiple employees rather than rely on a state agency to do so.

• California has more strict reporting requirements in advance of layoffs. The federal directive needs companies with more than 100 full-time workers to inform workers 60 days before major closings and large-scale layoffs. The similar California law applies to companies with 75 or more full-time or part-time workers.

• Almost all California companies will be mandatory to provide workers at least three paid sick days a year thanks to new legislation authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this summer. Sick leave is not required under federal law.

• California mostly bans non-compete clauses, making it far at ease for workers to start new companies and move to other ones and share the knowledge they’ve gained with a previous employer.

Details at The Most Frustrating Labor Rules For California Businesses

Related Articles:
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/lawsuit/california_labor_law.html
http://sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=430
http://www.calchamber.com/california-employment-law/pages/california-employment-law.aspx

What's Intellectual Property Law?

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Intellectual property is the part of law that decide in protecting the rights of those who produce original works such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in business. It covers everything from unique plays and novels to inventions and company identification marks. The purpose of intellectual property laws are to inspire new technologies, artistic expressions and inventions while endorsing economic growth. When persons know that their original work will be protected and that they can benefit from their labor, they are more likely to continue to generate things that create jobs, develop new technology and make processes for being more efficient. IP is protected in law by, for example, copyrights, patents and trademarks, which allow people to receive recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or generate. 

Copyrights

Copyrights protect the expressive arts. They give owners special rights to reproduce their work, publicly display or perform their work, and create imitative works. Additionally, owners are given economic rights to financially benefit from their work and forbid others from doing so without their permission. It is important to understand that copyrights do not protect ideas, only how they're expressed.

Patents

Patents protect a creation or invention from being made, sold or used by others for some period of time. 

There are three different types of patents in the United States:

Utility Patents - these patents care for inventions that have a specific function, including things like chemicals, machines, and technology.

Design Patents - these patents protect the unique way an industrial object appears.

Plant Patents - these patents protect plant variability that are asexually reproduced, including hybrids. 

Inventors may not take responsibility that their creation is patented unless they apply and are approved for a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office. This process can be complex and time consuming. It is a good idea to hire an intellectual property attorney to make sure you file the appropriate paperwork and get the patent you need to protect your invention and make it profitable. 

Trademarks

Trademarks protect the names and identifying marks of products and companies. The purpose of trademarks is to make it easy for consumers to differentiate competitors from each other. Trademarks are automatically anticipated once a business begins using a certain mark to identify its company, and may use the symbol TM without filing their symbol or name with the government.

Strict laws are in place to protect intellectual property rights of an individual. When intellectual property rights are violated, it is essential to hire an intellectual property lawyer. A proficient attorney can assist you sue for damages that include lost royalties. If your case is successful, the person who violated your intellectual property rights are required to pay to all of your legal fees in addition to pay off for using your work without permission.

Detail information at What is Intellectual Property?

Related Articles:
http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/intellectual_property
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Intellectual+Property

Definition, FAQs and Importance of Dispute Resolution

Dispute resolution, a term that denotes to a number of procedures that are used to resolve a conflict, disagreement or claim. Dispute resolution may also be referred to as alternative dispute resolution, appropriate dispute resolution, or ADR for short. Dispute resolution processes are replacements to having a court (state or federal judge or jury) choose the dispute in a trial or other institutions decide the resolution of the case or contract. Dispute resolution processes can be used to decide any type of argument including family, neighborhood, employment, business, housing, personal injury, consumer, and environmental disputes. In addition, the United States Federal Government make use of dispute resolution processes to assist government employees and private citizens resolve objections and disputes in many areas including workplace, employment, and contracting matters.

Why Use Dispute Resolution Process?
Dispute resolution have some advantages. For example, many dispute resolution processes are inexpensive and more rapidly than the traditional legal process. Definite processes can provide the parties involved with greater participation in accomplishment of a solution, as well as more control over the result of the dispute. In addition, dispute resolution processes are less formal and have more flexible rules than the trial court.

Is Attorney Needed to Participate in Dispute Resolution?
In many processes, clients are not required to have an attorney to participate. In cases where the court or judge has talk about the case to a dispute resolution process, attorneys often participate. The role of an attorney in a dispute resolution process varies depending upon the nature of the dispute and the type of dispute resolution process. In many dispute resolution processes, attorneys accompany their clients and participate either as counselors or as advocates.

What Are the Different Kinds of Dispute Resolution Procedures?
Dispute resolution takes a number of different forms. Here are brief descriptions of the most common dispute resolution processes:

Arbitration, Case Evaluation, Collaborative Law, Cooperative Practice, Divorce Coaching, Early Neutral Evaluation, Facilitation, Family Group Conference, Litigation, Mediation, Mini-Trial, Multi-Door Program, Negotiation, Neutral Fact-Finding, Ombuds, Parenting Coordinator, Pro Tem Trial, Private Judging, Settlement Conferences, Special Master, Summary Jury Trial and Unbundled Legal Services.

More information about this types of dispute resolution at http://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/resources/DisputeResolutionProcesses.html

Definition: About Commercial Real Estate Law

What is Commercial Real Estate Law?

Image via http://deen-law.com/san-diego-real-estate-law/

 

This is the area of the law allocating with real property: permanent property such as land, buildings, and fixtures, but most importantly the property produces income. This includes properties such as offices, retail space, restaurants, malls, factories, medical office, industrial, and flex / research and development space. Both federal and state laws administer commercial real estate transactions. For legal purposes commercial real estate can contain anything dealing with real property in a business setting. This could be selling real property with or without a business involved, selling an apartment complex, or renting out executive office space.

Lease or Buy? The Pros and Cons of Commercial Real Estate

As the old business saying goes: location, location, location. A business often depends on the location of its commercial real estate to continue and grow. Sellers use their location to draw in as many clients as possible, while other businesses may be more concerned about lease rates, square footage, and suitable access for their employees.

Factors whether to Buy or Lease Commercial Real Estate:

•    Access to cash at the beginning of the business

•    The type of business you wish to engage in whether the company has established credit

Types of Commercial Leases

There are plenty of different types of commercial leases a business owner may enter into with a landlord. Some examples of commercial leases are:

• Fixed leases: A fixed lease is much like a typical residential lease. In a fixed lease, the parties agree to a specific amount of rent for a fixed period of time.
•  Step leases: In a step lease, the parties agree to increase the rent a certain amount yearly. The step lease is meant to acknowledge the potential cost increases the landlord may incur.
•  Gross leases: In a gross lease, the tenant will pay a set periodic (or fixed term) rent to the landlord. The landlord in a gross lease will agree to pay for some or all of the operating costs of the business.

For more information regarding Commercial Real Estate Law visit this link for details http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/commercial-real-estate-law.html

The Legal Definition of Employment Law

Employment law is a very extensive area covering all extents of the employer/employee relationship except the mediation process covered by labor law and collective bargaining. It consists of thousands of Federal and state laws, administrative regulations, and judicial decisions. Many employment laws (e.g., minimum wage regulations) were passed as protective labor legislation. Other employment laws take the form of public insurance, such as unemployment compensation.

This is body of law that administers the employer-employee relationship, together with individual employment contracts, the application of offense and contract policies, and a large group of statutory regulation on issues such as the right to form and exchange collective bargaining agreements, protection from discrimination, wages and hours, and health and safety.

Outside launching an economic relationship between employer and employee, work provides a authoritative structure for establishing social and cultural life. The employment relationship is more than the exchange of labor for money. In U.S. society, self-worth, dignity, satisfaction, and accomplishment are often achieved by one's employment responsibilities, performance, and rewards.

The development of employment law demonstrates the importance of work. Since the 1930s, employees have attained more legal rights as federal and state governments have legislated laws that give them the power and authority to unionize, to engage in Collective Bargaining, and to be protected from discrimination based on race, gender, or disability.

What is Estate Planning and Why it is Important?

Estate planning, the process of officially organizing the future disposition of current and expected assets. That is estate planning making a plan in advance and naming whom you want to receive the things you own after you die. In short, it involves deciding on how you want your assets to be disseminated after you die and who will be the beneficiary of which is very essential for the wealthy who wants to control the disposition of their assets after their death. Estate planning is somewhat complicated, so it's best to consult a financial adviser and a lawyer when making an estate plan. It is one of the most important steps any person can take to make sure that their final property and health care wishes are honored, and that loved ones are provided for in their absence.

Why some people don’t plan to get an estate planning?

"Some of you may be thinking that you don't have enough wealth to worry about estate planning. You have an estate if you own pretty much anything. Something as simple as owning a car or a home can be a problem if you don't decide who will receive it when you pass. If you don't have a will or a named beneficiary, then the probate process could be pure hell for your survivors. Make sure you do some estate planning today before things get complicated." – (quoted from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-a-dedman/why-we-avoid-estate-plann_b_6763860.html)

Interested and need help to have an estate planning? Contact me via email or call at 619-993-8873 or visit my website at Deen Law (www.deen-law.com) for more details.