Business Legal Questions

Well, you may have something, but it certainly isn’t a clear-cut issue to me. If you had a non-disclosure agreement in place, then that would be a different story. Depending on the language contained in your business plan or your non-compete, you could have something there. Now, that said, if the non-compete is well-drafted then you can likely seek to enforce that. The end point is that I see a few potential options, but I’d say it comes down seeing what language is in the plan and the non-compete. Potentially, you could have other claims for the theft of the property. I would suggest seeking a consultation with a business litigation attorney so that you can discuss the details of what happened and review the documents in confidence.... Read More

We would be happy to speak to you to determine what legal services you need in determining the fairness of the operational agreement you have been presented.  Any such review would include determining the factors  giving rise to your current situation, what your understanding of the arrangment might be and whether or not the agreement reflects that understanding.   Please feel free to contact us at the below number to further discuss your particular situation.     We look forward to hearing from you.   Very Truly Yours   Bruce A Hatkoff, Esq. Hatkoff & Minassian A Law Corporation Phone: (818)990-5180email: Bhatkoff@hatkofflaw.com  ... Read More

Not per se.  Is there any contract, either individual or union, that mandates equal treatment or some such?  If not, and if the discriminatory compensation wasn't based on some statutorily forbidden factor, such as race, religion, gender, etc., the owner of hte business can generally give bonuses to whomever they want.  If the person giving the bonuses is not the sole owner, he/she may have breached a duty to the other owners by using the business's assets to benefit her own family at the expense of the other owners, but I don't see any duty to the other employees to treat them the same as her family.... Read More

If I understand you correctly, you lost your case and now want to try again before the same judge, but that is very unlikely.  Barring extraordinary circumstances, you can't try your case again.  You can appeal, but you would have to show some error by the Court which affected the verdict.  Thus, if, for example, the evidence was not allowed in because the trial court made a mistake, that could lead to reversal on appeal, but if it was not let in because your attorney screwed up, that is not appealable.  Your remedy would be to sue your attorney for malpractice.  This is very difficult, however, because it is difficult to prove that the attorney acted incompetently and that you would have won the case if he/she had been competent.  I know of legal malpractice cases which have been handled on a contingency, but it would have to be a very strong case.... Read More

The two are not mutually exclusive because DBA is not a form of business, it simply means "doing business as", thus the owner of the business, either you or some entity you create, such as an llc or corporation, would be "doing business as" some trade name.  Forming an LLC would offer other benefits, such as protection from personal liability, but would offer little protection for the name.  Registering the name as a dba would help some, but what would help more (although nothing can promise complete protection) is if you were able to register the name as a trademark.... Read More

The answer to "can I be sued?" is always yes.  Anybody can sue anybody for anything.  Whether you would prevail depends on the likielihood of your name causing customer confusion, i.e. leading customers to think that they are dealing with the other store with the similar name, in effect trading on its goodwill.  This in turn depends on a lot of factors, including how distinctive the name (i.e. is it something like "Smith" or "bargain", or is it something like "adurabi's" or "fragilistic") and how much has the name become associated in consumer's minds with the type of business being conducted.  The fact that you sell to somewhat different markets improves your case, but not as much as if one business was a restaurant and the other an auto parts store.... Read More

If I were you, I would start by creating an LLC, obtaining an EIN number and opening a seperate bank account for the business.  You should also make sure you have an agent of service and if you do this only as dba, make sure you get registered with the town you are in.  My office handles all these matters for many small business owners.  Please feel free to contact us for further assistance.... Read More

Most contracts don't have to be in writing, let alone notarized, to be enforceable.  Of course, that doesn't mean that you can't challeng the agreement.  Non-compete agreements between employer and employee are scrutinized closely by the Courts and, depending on numerous factors (particular job, particular industry, length of restriction, geographical scope of restriction, employer's investment into developing goodwill, into training employee, etc. etc.) may not be enforced.... Read More

If a judgement has been entered against YOU (which would mean that you are not being sued, but have already lost the suit), then your assets, including any interest in any other business, can be used to satisfy the judgment.  Thus if a judgment was entered based on your personal guaqranty, your assets can be used to satisfy that judgment, regardless of how the underlying obligation came about.  If the judgment has only been entered against the business and the business is an independent legal entity, such as a corporation or llc, then the judgment would only entitle the creditor to seek paymetn from the business entity, not you personally (except to the extent that monies may have been transferred out of the debtor business entity without fair consideration, which is a whole other topic).  If the business was not a separate legal entity, but was just a sole proprietorship, you are personally responsible for the debts of the business and, again, all of your assets (save those few that may be exempt, which varies depending on your state) can be used to satisfy that debt.... Read More

It is very doubtful that the park would be responsible to pay these fees as part of the attorneys' representation - even if the retainer agreement provided that the park was responsible for the attorneys' own fees in a separate action independent of the rent increase litigation, which is very unlikely, such provision is unlikely to be enforceable in Court.  Of course, this doesn't mean that the attorneys won't try to bill for them.  Also, if the accusations are unfounded, it is possible that the attorneys could recover their expenses as damages in a lawsuit they bring for wrongful prosecution or some similar tort (e.g. abuse of process). ... Read More

You can have more than one dba for an llc, but in your case I would not recommend it.  LLC's are separate legal entities; dba's are just trade names, not separate entities.  In other words, if you have 2 llc's and operate them correctly, they will each be independent entities and not responsible for each other's obligations.  No matter how many dba's you use, however, if they are all used by the same llc, that llc is reponsible for all of its obligations, regardless of which name was used in incurring the obligation.  It is one entity for tax purposes as well.... Read More

I'm not sure whether you propose to form another llc that you and your husband would own, or to have the first llc own the second llc.  In either case, the two llcs COULD share equipment, but it may not be a good idea unless the owning entity charged the using entity market rate rent for the use.  The advantage (apart from your insurance issue) of having separate entities is that neither will generally be liable for the other's obligations, nor would you and your husband be personally liable for the obligations of the llc's.  If, however, you don't treat the llc's as independent entities, but rather as one and the same, you run the risk of a claimant "piercing the corporate veil" of the entities to hold one liable for the obligations of the other, and even to make your husband and you personally liable for the obligations of the entities.... Read More

You would sue for your damages, which may or may not be the amount you paid.  For example, if it cost you $10,000 to have someone else complete the work, you would sue to recover those damages, even though you only paid this iperson $6,300.  If your contract provides that, in the event of a dispute, the losing party willl pay the prevailing party's attorneys' fees in connection with the dispute, you would sue for that as well.  However, New York law (assuming that NY law governs this transaction, which I can't tell from the facts given) does not allow punitive damges for breach of contract except in truly egregious cases, which you don't have.  I doubt that Washington law is different.  Moreover, I don't believe that small claims courts in NY have the power to award punitive damages (I don't know about Washington).... Read More

Absent a contract limiting your right to fire her, you can terminate her employment at any time for any reason other than those prohibited by statute, i.e. based on race, religion, etc.  If you're asking about unemployment insurance considerations, I am not familiar with California's unemployment insurance laws, but I would be surprised if denigrating your business was not cause for termination. However, there are issues with paying someone as an independent contractor (1099) when they should have been classified as an employee (W2), because employers are required to withhold various taxes from employee's paychecks.  If you did not withhold  taxes because this person was classified as an independent contractor, it cculd lead to serious issues with taxing authorities.  I would advise you to consult a California attorney about this.... Read More

That depends.  What are the terms of the lc?  Does the business owe money to other creditors and if so what are the terms of the contracts with those creditors?  Are there other owners of the business and if so what are the terms of the agreements between the owners?  The bottom line is that if the terms of the lc allow drawing on it for personal reasons, it doesn't violate any of the agreements with other creditors and doesn't prevent any of them beins paid, and it doesn't violate any agreements with any other owners, I see no reason why it wouldn't be legal, but it may still be problematic because the commingling of personal and business finances may allow a creditor of the business to "pierce the corporate veil" (assuming that the business is a corporation or other separate legal entity)  and hold the owner personally responsible for debts of the business.... Read More