Alabama Business Legal Questions

To be successful in a lawsuit, you must ordinarily be able to satisfy the court that the defendant's complained of conduct was negligent or willful AND that you were injured or damaged in some material way.  You have not said that you were injured or damaged in some way by the quote.  If not, a lawsuit would almost certainly fail.  ... Read More

Conflicts over the name of a business can arise basically in two ways.  The most common conflict is encountered as a business first starts up.  Normally, the business is set up either as a corporation or as a limited liability company.  When someone forms either of these entities, it is necessary to reserve the chosen name of the entity through the office of the Secretary of State.  The Secretary of State, upon receiving a request for a name reservation, will search its records to see if there is another business entity somewhere in the State doing business under the same  or a similar name.  If so, the name will be disallowed and another name must be selected.  (Under prior law, the name of a limited liability company did not have to be reserved.  This enabled duplicated names from time to time.) The other area where such conflicts arise is where one business has trademarked the name and another business starts up using the same or a similar name.  The conflict ordinarily arises when the trademarked entity either sues the other or threatens to sue it.  Almost certainly the trademarked entity will prevail.  If that is your situation, you would probably do well to consider changing the name of your restaurant before you incur the cost and the bad publicity of a lawsuit.  If the other business is 60 miles away and the two of you are not in active competition with each other, the other business may be content to just leave matters alone.  If you have received threatening correspondence from the other business, you should consult a competent business/trial lawyer in your area.   ... Read More

Without giving an exhaustive discourse on the concept of "fair use," the Copyright Act does not preclude the use and reproduction of very small extracts from a much larger entire work. This result may be vary depending on other factors. If there are significant commercial aspects to your proposed use, you should consider obtaining permission from the copyright owner for your proposed use. Such permissions are frequently given without charge.... Read More

When you end by saying "and I'm in tn", do you mean you're in Tennessee?  You live there?  Did you live there when you entered into the lease?  How far are you in Tennessee from the  leased site? You're statement of facts is too sketchy to understand clearly what is going on -- and to answer your questions, anyone would have to be able to read the lease and know the circumstances surrounding the signing of the lease. If you rented the site for the operation of a salon and the landlord rented it to you with that understanding, and the lease says the place is suitable for that purpose, you probably have a right to disavow the lease.  If those circumstances do not exist, you may be stuck with the lease.  You should make an appointment to see a good, competent real estate lawyer in or near the site of the leased premises and ask him to advise you about your rights.  He will need to see the lease.  You may have to pay a conference fee -- but a modest fee is well worth it if you learn what your rights are.     ... Read More

This is the first time I have seen this question -- and I notice it was apparently posted June 19, 2011, almost 6 months ago.  And your narrative states that the act complained of took place 6 months prior to that.  If I understand correctly, this act occurred approximately January 2011.  Surely by now you have either recovered your money or you have consulted legal counsel - maybe both. I will assume from your statement that you were the seller of the restaurant business and that it was the net sale proceeds that were misdirected.  Of course, when the attorney and the broker were placed in control of your funds they had a fiduciary duty to handle the funds honestly and efficiently.  They both broke their fiduciary duties.  They both exposed themselves to civil and criminal prosecution.  For that act, I think they both could have lost their professional licenses.  It is abhorrent for most of us in the legal and real estate brokerage business to hear of such abuses.  If you have not already resolved the situation and recovered your funds, you should immediately consult a good trial lawyer in your area.   ... Read More

I understand from your statements that you and your ex both signed the note when the car was purchased.  If so, then you are both obligated legally to pay the debt.  It does not matter that you later got divorced.  The finance company that loaned the money can and will look to either of you - or both of you -- for payment. I also understand from your statements that you have possession of the car and that you have arranged for another finance company to refinance the loan -- in your name alone.  In order to do that, you will have to get your ex to sign over his interest in the vehicle.  It seems to me he would be foolish to refuse since, if the car is repossessed, he will probably get sued by the finance company.  If you have not asked him to sign, you should test him.  You may be surprised.  If he refuses to sign, you might try to induce him to sign by offering a sum of money -- it seems that he did contribute something to the purchase.  If that fails, it is a judgment call on your part as to whether to keep making payments or to let the finance company repossess it.  If you keep making payments, you may eventually pay the debt off but you will own only a half interest in the car.  If you stop making payments, the finance company will eventually repossess the car and may sue you on a deficiency.  If they repossess and re-sell the car they will probably suffer a loss - they will not be able to sell it for enough money to pay the loan off.  Whatever sum is left due and owing will be the deficiency.  The finance company will be legally entitled to sue either you or your ex -- or both of you.... Read More

You have not provided a clear statement of facts.  You seem to be saying the president of a home owner association filed a quitclaim deed.  You don't say whether the quitclaim deed was to him or from him; and you don't say what property was described in the deed.  There could be many legitimate reasons for the president of a homeowners association to either grant or receive a quitclaim deed.  The simple fact that such a deed was made does not alone suggest there is a conflict of interest.  If you believe the president had a conflict of interest, you may wish to submit a better statement of facts and provide enough details to support your belief.  Or, if the matter warrants spending a bit of money, you could consult a good local real estate lawyer and ask him/her to give you an opinion.... Read More

I understand from the information provided that you live in NY, but that you hired a contractor in Alabama to perform work on property in Alabama -- and that you are unhappy with the work. Under the law in Alabama, a contractor who performs work on realty is entitled to file a lien on the property if he is not paid.  If he is a general contractor, he normally has six months from the date of the last work performed to file his lien, and he must file suit within that time frame to enforce the lien.  Such a dispute must be resolved the same way all disputes are resolved.  Hopefully, if you have valid complaints about the quality of the work, you and the contractor can work out a resolution short of litigation.  If you are unable to find room to agree, then the courts are available to resolve the dispute for you.  Very often, the results are not wholly gratifying to either party -- and the cost of litigation is usually more than was anticipated.  You should both work hard to keep the dispute out of court.  That is especially important for you since you live in NY and the dispute will have to be resolved by courts in Alabama.  If you are convinced that the contractor has done truly shoddy work and it appears a court resolution is unavoidable, I recommend that you hire a competent contractor (one with a known reputation for excellent work) to examine the property, make recommendations for correcting it, give you a written estimate for doing the work, and then actually performing the corrective work.  Be sure he is willing to appear as a witness in court on your behalf.  Before you commit to spending money, however, and before you draw any line in the sand, I recommend that you confer with a competent real estate attorney in the community where the realty is located.    ... Read More

The details of your question are sketchy.  I will assume that the debt was signed for by both of you.  That means you both probably signed a note or other instrument promising to pay a specified sum for a product or a service.  You were later divorced. I will assume that the divorce agreement (or divorce decree) called for you paying half and your former spouse was to pay half.  You have said you paid your half but your ex-spouse did not.  Now a garnishment has been filed against you.  The problem is:  You signed the note saying to the merchant that you would pay all the debt.  Your ex-spouse did the same.  The merchant can look to either of you or both of you to pay the agreed sum.  The fact that you and your ex-spouse agreed to split the debt (even if it was in a divorce court) is of no interest to it.  The merchant was not party to that agreement.  He will pursue collection from whichever of you he feels he can collect.  I think your only possibility is to go to the merchant and show him the divorce arrangement and show him where your ex-spouse is employed -- and ask that he pursue the ex-spouse.  There is no obligation for him to do so.  If that doesn't work, you probably have a claim against your ex-spouse for not paying his/her share of the debt.  If you were represented in the divorce action, you should confer with your attorney.  If you were not represented in the divorce action, I recommend that you confer with a divorce attorney and explore whether there is a feasible chance for you to recover your losses against your ex-spouse.  ... Read More

Your parents are entitled to name as executor anyone they choose.  Are "they" having second thoughts?  It is a bit unusual for people to name their attorney as executor, although there is nothing wrong with doing so.  It is a bit troubling to hear you say that the attorney suggested it.  While I think it is immaterial that you may question your parents' choice, if you feel that your parents are slipping in their judgment, you might do well to mention your concerns to them and, depending on the circumstances, you might wish to make a discrete inquiry in the community about the lawyer's reputation.  Certainly, being in their seventies is not of itself an inference that they are slipping.  Many people are still employed in their seventies and well beyond.  ... Read More

As a general matter, your employer may condition your employment on your satisfactorily passing a drug test administered from time to time, even if you have not signed anything. If you refuse to take the test, you may be sacked. Overtime hours are required to be paid in accordance with federal law, and you have a legal basis for recovery if they are not paid.... Read More

As a general matter, you are entitled to notice and a hearing before a judge before your probation can be revoked; it is not something that a probation officer can do unilaterally. Sometimes a probation officer may suspect that prescription drugs are being misused. If your prescription relates to a bona fide medical condition and you can prove it, then you should not have anything to fear. This is not legal advice, and you should consult a criminal defense attorney for specific advice.... Read More

A tenant is a person who signs a lease and who is legally obligated to pay the rent.  That person owns the exclusive right to live in the property that is leased.  In your case, since you are the only one who signed the lease, you have the right to occupy the property all by yourself, exclusive of anyone else.   If someone else is listed as an "occupant" on the lease, in most states it means that the person can stay in the leased property with the permission of the tenant.  In addition, in most states the occupant has no legal obligation to pay rent unless  they signed a paper in which they agreed in writing to pay some or all of the rent.  You do not have to let anyone in your apartment except your landlord (with your permission, or without your permission if there is an emergency).  If your former roommate still has his belongings in your apartment, then you should collect them and give them to him at an agreed location, or ask him to arrange one time to come to pick them up from the apartment. I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio and I am not licensed to practice law in the State of Alabama.   This answer is intended to give general information about the law of tenant's rights but the laws vary from state to state.  For specific answers to your questions, you should consult an attorney licensed to practice law in Alabama and you should let the attorney review your lease and any papers the roommate signed as an occupant.... Read More

If an entity owns or leases property they have a right to try and secure that property.  They may do so by any reasonable means necessary, short of creating an environment where someone could be hurt or injured.     This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

The facts of your inquiry are not entirely clear. If I understand them correctly, during your employment, you established an email account which was used for your employer's business. You did so with the knowledge and approval of your employer. It was part of your job to establish this account. You also used the account to send and receive personal email. Now that your employment has terminated, your employer is concerned that you are continuing to receive business email intended for the employer at that account. If that is correct, and the personal uses of the account are merely incidental and isolated, then there is a strong argument that the account should be turned over to your employer. The possibility that your employer is "picking" on you does not really matter.... Read More

Assuming you had a valid common-law marriage (both Texas and Alabama are states that recognizes such marriages), the only way to end that marriage is through conventional divorce proceedings. In other words, although a common-law marriage is contracted without a ceremony, it is like a ceremonial marriage in every other respect, including how to end it. If your "ex" (who is really still married to you) has remarried, that marriage is bigamous and void. Unfortunately, there is no "form" you can fill out to solve this problem. You need to consult with a divorce attorney. It sounds as if your "ex" has some problems, and they may be bigger than yours.  ... Read More

As a general matter, workers compensation insurance covers only employees, but certain people performing services (such as officers and directors of the "employer") may be deemed to be employees even if they are unpaid. You should consult with an insurance broker regarding the wisdom and necessity of such insurance.... Read More