Business Legal Questions

You say it was a business lease,  Was your daughter the tenant, or was it a business entity she had created (i.e. a corporation or llc).  If the latter, and assuming that your daughter operated the entity properly, your daughter is not personally liable unless she personally guaranteed the obligations under the lease.  Also, depending on the jurisdiction (I don't know what the law is in NC), your daugher may not be liable for the entire unpaid rent, but only for the difference between the rent due under her lease and the amount the landlord is able to rent the space for now.   Assuming that your daughter is personally obligated  for the lease, you may still be able to reach a settlement with the landlord.  Since yur daughter is unable to pay her obligations, she may be eligible to have the debt discharged in bankruptcy.  While this is a last resort, it would also be bad for the landlord, who may accept less than the full amount to avoid it, particularly if that amount is offered by someone who is not legally obligated to pay it, i.e. a friend or family member of your daughter.... Read More

I don't think there's any legal or practical difference between the labels that you put on any of the companies.  Any company can be extended credit by a lender if its deemed credit-worthy.  Most lenders will require a pledge of collateral in return for a loan so if the "holding company" has no assets, you might be required to pledge assets of other companies and/or personally guarantee the loan.  ... Read More

The general rule is that the individual owners are not liable for debts of the LLC.  If you personally signed for any loan or other obligation of the LLC, you will remain liable though.  Its best to tell these folks that you want out and put together an orderly exit.  Don't avoid the conversation . ... Read More

Under certain circmstances you can collect unemployment comp benefits after voluntarily quitting your job.  The circumstances that compelled you to quit have to be fairly serious.  Having a mean co-wokrer alone is probably not enough.  However, depending on the nature of the harassment it might be.  If the co-worker subjects you to racial slurs, insults base on gender and things like that, its probably enough.  These cases are very fact-specific and defy a general rule.  But since you quit anyway, you should certainly file and see what happens.  Be preprepared to give a specific account of the nature and frequency of the harassment, your efforts to have management deal with it and their failure or refusal to do so.  ... Read More

You need a life coach with a question like that.  However if you wish to discuss your life and opportunities that abound around you, I am the right kind of lawyer for you to talk to. Unfortunately, if you wish to speak about this with anyone qualified to give you real direction, you can expect to pay a consult fee.  If this makes sense to you, then I urge you to contact my offices.... Read More

In setting up an entity, there are many issues to consider such as taxes (TN and Federal), filing fees among the various types (LLC, S Corp, C Corp [less likely to be used]), type of ownership structure (even among entities, there are different types (e.g. 3 types of TN LLC's), insurance costs.  Our firm can help with all of these issues as part of entity formation.... Read More

If both businesses are owned by the same llc, each would be responsible for the other's obligations.  Thus, if the restaurant becomes liable in a food poisoning case, the assets of the farm could be used to satisfy that obligation, because the assets of both the farm and restaurant are both the assets of the llc.  Although it is a little more expensive to set up and operate 2 separate llc's, if properly done, it will insulate the assets of each business from the creditors of the other.... Read More

Greetings, I hope you have sorted out your business litigation concerns with your client, if not you can feel free to contact my office and discuss your situation with our case manager. We do have a business attorney licensed for over 30 years and we would be interested in developing a long term business relationship with your business. We would be able to handle all your business research, review, analysis, drafting concerns. If there is ever a need for business litigation, in the state of Geogia, your assigned case manager will be able to take care of that by retaining, supervising and managing all business litigation. Looking forward to hearing from you, and I will also relay my case manager to reach out to your office technoharbor on Monday. Thank You. Toll Free: 877-866-8665... Read More

This is not a legal question.                                                                              ... Read More

Since part of your job is to train people for your employer, I think it could be a conflict of interest, but it really doesn't matter what I think or what you think.  Absent a contract which limits your employuer's right to fire you (for example, one which says you can be fired only for cause), you can be fired for any reason other than those prohibited by statute (e.g. race, religion, gender, etc.)  Assuming that you have no such contract, your employer can certainly fire you for doing something like this, even if you believe, or even if an objective third party would believe, that it is ok.... Read More

Unless the business contacts and referral sources, or other information your former employee is using to compete, are trade secrets and/or other confidential proprietary information, she has every right to use them to compete with you.  Incidentally, except under circumstances which are not apparent from your question (i.e. your ex had sold the business to you), employee non-compete agreements are invalid under California law.... Read More

This question can only be propertly answered after reviewing all the applicable contracts.  It should be possible to acomplish what you are proposing, however, it would need to be well planned and drafted out. If you would like to hire an attorney to handle drafting, reviewing or working with your contracts, please feel free to contact us.... Read More

The answer depends on a few things.  First, an LLC member is not entitled to be employed by the LLC just becasue he or she is a member. So if this person has an employment relationship with the LLC and provided the two remainig members have majority voting rights, the answer is yes you can terminate this member's employment relationship with the LLC.  Can you terminate his or her membership in the LLC?  That depends on what your Operating Agreement says about terminating an LLC member.  Under the law you probably cannot force this person out. ... Read More

 Lindy- you should move quickly to remove your name as resident agent. If you have signing authority stave bank, go immediately any remove your name. Write a letter to the owner outlineing the facts of the wrong he has done in making you own we and resident agent and mail it to his last known address. Show or sent the letter to anyone that contacts you about the business. Go to the consumer protection division of the district attorney and file a complaint. You may need an attorney to send the letter for you. Jeff... Read More

Is your business a corporation or limited liablity company? If so, dissolution is usually a 2-step process.  You file any tax returns and pay any taxes due and obtain a tax clearance certificate from the state.  Once you have that, you can file the dissolution paperwork with the department of state. if you didn't form your business as a corporation or LLC, there's probably no formal dissolution process for you to worry about.... Read More

Is the business a separate entity, such as a corporation or llc?  If so, you can buy the entity.  For example, if it is a corporation, you would buy its stock.  Alternatively, you (or an entity you establish) can buy its assets.  For example, let's say that abc corp. is a taxi business owning two taxis, some equipment (spare tires, fanbelts, etc.), some goodwill associated with its name (which may or may not be a trademark), and has a lease on a garage.  You can either buy the stock of abc corp,, or you can buy all or some of the cars, equipment, name, and lease.  Each of these has different tax and liability consequences to both buyer and seller, each is accomplished slightly differently, and each may be appropriate in different circumstances.  For example, if the existing business has a lot of debt, you probably don't want to buy the stock, because the corporation would continue to be in debt even thougb you now owed it; in that case you would probably want to buy the assets, but you need to know what assets have been pledged to creditors as security for debt, and also the laws on successor liability.  You should probably consult a local accountant and/or an attorney. ... Read More

Mergers are creatures of statute and contract between the merging companies.  The Stockholders of each company must voit to merge, setting out in an agreement the management, finances, and stockholders of the company remaining after the merger.  A filing with the Secretary of State where the coBKD LLPempany resides is required.  the european company would file something equalivant with the government agent to which it reports.  The first step is an agreement of merger to be voted on by the stockholder followed by the government filings.  if either company is publicly traded, the rules change dramaticly, as SEC filings are necessary and Justice department review and approval.  Jeff... Read More