Confidentially, how good is your NDA – the Non-Disclosure Agreement you have your employees sign periodically? For the time being, it appears better to be in New England to protect your private data where the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld legal protections under federal law. In the Pacific Northwest – the 9th […]
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Shareholders and Trade Restrictions
Have you heard about Demoulas Super Markets (DSM) interesting family litigation? While many people know of its stores, few know that DSM has been a significant source of Massachusetts’ corporate laws about shareholder disputes. * The history of the family litigation reads like some TV courtroom drama, with a greedy uncle taking advantage of his […]
Read more...Employee Terminations: Best Practices for Employers
Some of you might like a short primer on employee terminations, something we all prefer not to do, but sometimes it is unavoidable. This is one part of my topic: Hiring, Firing, Disciplining and Laying-off Employees for an Employment Law Update Seminar. Terminating someone, whether or not “for cause,” may be one of the harder […]
Read more...Get Serious with Series LLCs to Save Costs?
An article by a Robert Geurden about a novel idea here in Massachusetts called the Series LLC recently appeared in Mass. Lawyers Weekly. I wanted to comment on it, share the concept, and urge our business community and legislators to push for a change in the law to give us the same flexibility here as […]
Read more...Choice of Business Entity: LLC v. S-Corp v. C-Corp.
When starting a business, or changing it from a sole proprietorship or partnership,* there are many things for the owner(s) to consider in their choice of entity. They range from tax treatment, to the future sale of the business, to the cost of setting it up and maintaining it. In the past, we have discussed […]
Read more...The VPA: Asset Protections Part II
In the first of our two-part series, we talked about certain protections for profit corporations.* Today we review the considerably greater protections for volunteers, including volunteer officers and directors serving non-profit, charitable corporations under the VPA. The doctrine of the Corporate Shield (or Veil) protects those owning interests in for profit Corporations, and those in […]
Read more...The Corporate Shield: Asset Protections Part I
This is the first part about For Profit Companies and with a second about Not For Profit Corporations focused on avoidance of claims reaching personal or other entities’ assets. Business owners who are incorporated or LLCs or considering those protections need to know the rules. So do individuals who are Officers, Directors, or Volunteers of […]
Read more...Don’t Let the Cat’s Paw Claw You!
Sometimes employers suspect that an otherwise valuable manager has given biased advice in recommending firing an employee. In the case when you, your HR department, or a supervisor thinks that trouble lies ahead in taking that advice, they must consider the Cat’s Paw Legal Doctrine. Based on a fable about a monkey getting a cat […]
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