Connecticut Business Legal Questions

It's unusual to have a Connecticut business where the employees' duties include riding a horse.   You may have a claim for negligence and/or fraud if your agent negligently failed to get the coverage which you had engaged him/her to obtain, and/or lied to you about getting it or failed to inform you that the policy had not gone through.... Read More

As far as you are concerned, it is legal (unless there is something else wrong with it which you haven't mentioned).  The husband can authorize his wife (or anyone else) to sign on his behalf.  If she was authorized, the contract is valid.  If she was not authorized, the husband may (but probably doesn't) have the right to cancel the contract, as he would be the one whose rights were abridged, but you would not.  The husband probably does not have the right to cancel the lease, even if his wife was not actually authorized to sign on lhis behalf, because she would probably be considered to have what is known as "apparent authority", in other words, by allowing her to deal with the lease with you, the husband led you to believe that she was authorized to deal with it, and he can't now complain that she lacked authority.  If the husband is allowed to cancel the contract because his wife was not authorized to sign the lease for him, you can sue the wife for any damages you incur from the cancellation. I don't think that the fact that you were not in the husband's presence when the lease was signed is relevant.... Read More

That depends on what you mean by "bought out".  If the buyer buys the assets of the public corporation, the money would be paid out to creditors of the corporation and the remainder distributed to the shareholders.  If the buyer buys the stock of the corporation, it is buying the stock from shareholders, who will be paid for their stock if they agree to sell.  If not, they would remain shareholders of the corporation.  If the corporation is merged into another, there will be a forumula in the offering documents which will set forth the conversion rate for stock, i.e. 5 shares of the original corporation's stock would be converted into one share of the buying corporation's stock.... Read More

You don't say what the suit is about, or whether you own the warehouse, each of which could be an important factor.  You also don't say what other contacts, if any, you have with Mass. An court from a state in which you don't reside can get jurisdiction over you if you have "minimum contacts" with the state so that it is not considered unfair to sue you there.  Generally, owning real property in a state is sufficient so that you can be sued there, so if you own the Mass. warehouse, you can probably be sued there. Also, the contacts needed to confer jurisdiction are less if the dispute arises from those contacts than if they are unrelated.  Thus, for example, sending one letter to Mass. in the past  year is probably not enough of a contact, by itself, to allow a Massachusetts court to exercise jurisdiction over you, but if the suit is over what you wrote in that letter it probably is sufficient. Assuming that you don't own the warehouse, other factors which could be important to an analysis of whether you can be sued in Mass.  include whether you ever visit the state, and if so how often and for how long, whether you advertise in Mass., whether you own any personal property in the state (like a car registered or stored in Mass., or stock in a Mass. corporation), etc. Even if you don't believe the Court has jurisdiction over you, you should not ignore the lawsuit.  You should at least make a motion to dismiss based on lack of jurisdiction.  If you ignore the suit, a default judgment will likely be entered against you.  If so, the plaintiff will seek to collect on that judgment in Ct., and your only defense will be that the Court lacked jurisdiction.  If it is found that the Mass. court did  have jurisdiction, you will have lost.   You will not, at that late date, have the opportunity to litigate any other defenses you might have. ... Read More

You should check the papers filed by the business with the applicable agency.  If the business was a New York corporation, for example, you could check it out with the NY Department of State website and get some information which might confirm the employee's involvement.  If that doesn't work, however, you may have to commence a lawsuit against the employee and get the information you need in the discovery process.  Another way to go is you might ask the employee to sign a sworn statement that she has no involvement with any of the company's vendors, and understands that any such involvement would be a breach of her duty to her employer for which she will be liabile in damages, and that if her statement is found to be false it will be grounds for termination.... Read More

The answer is almost certainly yes, but it may depend on which jurisdiction's law applies, which I can't tell from your question.  Many (probably nearly all) American jurisdictions now have statutes which make electronic signatures as binding as handwritten ones, although some impose certain conditions.  For example, the Electronic  Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq (a federal statute), the Electronic Signatures and Records Act, Title 540 of the New York State Technology Law, and the Connecticut Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, Section 1-266 et seq of the Connecticut General Statutes.... Read More

The provision is not really designed to address under ground tank responsibility.  It may encompass the tank if you can show the landlord was some how negligent in relation to the tank which developed a problem.  The question of liability may vary also depending on whether it is to the Tenant, the State of a third party.  The may be environmental or other statutes that create responsibility.  Generally a landlord can not contract his liability to third parties away in a lease to a tenant.  More information and documents will be required for a proper analysis.... Read More

There are numerous questions contained in your question. The IRS can challenge salary as being excessive and partly a disguised dividend. Normally expenses must be company related, unless a contract permits an officer/director/employee reimbursement for personal expenses as part of compensation, which would not be rare. If you are a member or a manager, you may have standing to sue for breach of fiduciary duty, but you will really need to be interviewed by a lawyer to see which of your complaints have standing and legally recognized damages and which don't.... Read More

No. In general, a manufacturer can sell to whomever it wishes, to the exclusion of others. While the antitrust laws generally protect consumers and competition, they do not protect competitors and thus you have no particular right to sue to continue your source of supply. Any result in a case like this also depends on how much market power the manufacturer has, which is information you do not supply.... Read More

As a general matter, neither the federal government nor the State of Connecticut requires any form of licensure for ordinary retail home-based businesses. You do not specify precisely where you live. Occasionally local zoning and other land-use laws limit the uses to which residential property can be put, including the storage of inventory.... Read More

It is entirely possible to form a partnership or other legal entity with another person and have it do business under your existing assumed name or tradename. However, you alone are the insured under your current insurance. You will need to have your insurance agent obtain an amendment to your policy to cause it to cover the operations of your related entity. Because this will involve a larger business and different risks than your policy currently covers, the carrier may require an additional premium. An attorney can assist you in forming the partnership (which would probably not be the correct legal entity) and arranging for these other matters.... Read More

Such so-called consequential damages are generally not recoverable in such circumstances. Because the mechanic could not reasonably foresee that you would suffer such damages, courts do not award them. Moreover, there are steps you could have taken to mitigate your damages, such as renting a replacement truck.... Read More