New Jersey Business Legal Questions

It depends. As a general matter, your duty is to pay for your utilities in full as they come due. The utility may, but is generally not required to, accept installment payments from you toward a past-due balance. If your balance is large enough and is getting larger, rather than smaller, it is likely that your service will be suspended.... Read More

You will need to engage the services of an attorney who practices, or is capable of arranging to practice, in Santa Clara County, California, because that is the only place Google can be sued with respect to AdSense. You will need to give careful consideration to whether the costs and benefits of suit make sense. My guess is that you are "out" a relatively small amount of money. It is unlikely that any attorney will represent you in such a matter on a contingent-fee basis, which means that you are facing thousands (and perhaps hundreds of thousands) of dollars of legal fees over what is essentially a small claim. Moreover, you should carefully read Google terms for this program, which give it the right to terminate anyone at any time for any reason or no reason at all. Good luck with your claims.... Read More

As a general matter, your interest in a qualified retirement plan must be paid out to you within 60 days after the last day of the plan year in which your employment ended, which, in this case, would be approximately February 29, 2012. You can complain to the U.S. Department of Labor, or you can, probably with greater effect and more expense, engage an attorney to make a formal demand of your employer.... Read More

An organization with "PA" or a similar abbreviation in its name organized under NJ law is called a "professional corporation" for purposes of the NJ corporation law, title 14A. A professional corporation in New Jersey is treated the same as a business corporation for most purposes, except that it cannot limit the personal liability of its professionals for malpractice by incorporation. But in other respects -- such as the claims of ordinary creditors, employees, etc. -- the stockholders of such a corporation enjoy limited liability.You are not correct that most states do not recognize this form of business organization. However, with liberalization of the Internal Revenue Code's provisions with respect to employee benefit plans, few new organizations of this kind are now organized. If you are continuing to render professional services of the type that may only be rendered by a professional corporation -- such as medical or legal services -- you cannot convert your business to an ordinary business corporation. If you are not rendering such services and are otherwise eligible to convert, it should be possible to do so, although it is not clear why you would want to go to the effort of doing so. Please call my office at (203) 399-1320 to discuss your needs. We do these kinds of transactions all the time.... Read More

Anyone can be sued for anything. The chances of a successful claim depend completely on facts and circumstances. If the transaction was conducted by a tenant without the landlord's knowledge (facts which you do not provide), the likelihood of a successful claim against the landlord is small.... Read More

Any lender anywhere can (if it wishes and your parents meet its credit standards) make such a loan. The loan will need to be closed in accordance with New Jersey law and recorded in the New Jersey land records. Lenders in states bordering New Jersey, as well as national lenders, may be perfectly willing to make such a loan.... Read More

The amount that your cable operator is allowed to charge you is set by a tariff, or schedule, or charges agreed to with a public utilities commission. As a general matter, you will have no claim against them if they charge you  the scheduled amount, even if you and millions of others think it is excessive. If your bill is incorrect -- that is, if they have billed you more than permitted by the tariff -- you can get that straightened out without litigation.... Read More

You will need to take steps to protect you busiess name as a trademark. While it is possible to have trademark rights in an unregistered ("common law") mark, as a general matter protection will consist of a combination of use of the mark in commerce followed by registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. An attorney can assist you in doing this.... Read More

It depends, among other things, on what form "the business" takes. As a general matter, if a dentist purchases the assets and customer list of another dentist, he does not become liable for the malpractice of the previous dentist. The result mi be different if a different form of business is used. See an attorney.... Read More

The correct course of action would have been to file a mechanics' lien on the property.  This, unfortunately, needs to be done within 90 days of last work.  Now your only recourse is to file a lawsuit for services provided against the GC and the properties respective owners.  The amount of the contract will determine what court you should file in.  My guess is that you will file in New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division.  You could probably approach the police regarding theft of services.  However, it is likely that your complaint would received much attention as it is only about money and the police have far more to worry about these days.  My advice would be to contact an attorney regarding issuing a demand letter to the GC and the property owners.  ... Read More

It depends on what form of ADR was used. Every state (and the federal government) has a statute for the enforcement of arbitration awards. If the ADR was a different form than arbitration, the settlement can still be enforced, provided that it can be proven. The enforcement method in every case involves commencing a lawsuit and alleging the outcome of the settlement process as the cause of action.... Read More

It depends. If you personally guaranteed the account -- most small-business credit cards are guaranteed by a principal -- the creditor will likely attempt to collect the account from you personally. If that occurs, they will obtain a judgment against you, and the judgment will appear on your credit report.... Read More

Unfortunately, neither member of the LLC is "right." In the absence of an agreement as to how the company will be controller, each equal member in a two-member LLC has equal rights to determine how the company will be operated. No legal principle dictates that the demands of either member should be followed. The conventional solution, of course, is to follow "A's" solution -- reduce expenses until the debt is paid. But "A" has no way of forcing that on "B." It will be worth your while to consult with an attorney who practices in this area. If you are "A," perhaps your attorney can persuade "B" that "A" is the right solution.... Read More

Generally, a former employee is free to make sales calls on prospects of whom he learned while previously employed by a competitor. Indeed, the employee's familiarity with the industry and the sales prospects will often be precisely why such an employee is hired by the new employer; and it is the public policy of the United States to encourage employees to be free to change employment to maximize their value to new employers and themselves. There may be limits on the use of the former employer's confidential information. For example, an employee may generally not leave employment and take customer lists with him. These limitations generally do not prevent the employee from using his own memory or from using information generally available to those in the industry. In the event of a serious questions, the new employer should consult with counsel.... Read More

As a general matter, a non-profit membership organization has no duty to "post" (or otherwise publicize) its by-laws to its members. Nevertheless, members are subject to the by-laws to the extent that the by-laws provide. This is perhaps a surprising result, but unfortunately that's how it works.... Read More

The quick answer is that you probably have no rights as an owner.  Your father and uncle are the owners and you are not.  What you have is the fact that only you can make the company go.  They should make a deal transferring a certain percentage of the stock each year.  This would keep you bound to the company since you will own more each year that you stay.  It will also get their shares out of their estates without tax consequences.  There are few "win-win" situations in the world, but this is one of them.  If they don't buy the idea, I suggest you look for a company which appreciates you.  Good luck.... Read More

Assuming the "companies" involved are corporations, it is a relatively simple matter to merge the acquired corporation into the acquiring corporation. In a merger between corporations, the acquiring corporation generally acquires all of the assets and liabilities, including licenses and permits, of the acquired corporation. Let me know if you require further assistance in this matter.... Read More