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This happens more often than people would like to admit and it’s very unfortunate. One of the best things about hiring a lawyer to work with you on a transaction is tapping into their experience and training and expertise. Quite simply, a good lawyer, particularly a transactional business lawyer, will know how a transaction is supposed to progress. They’ll know what some of the standard terms are, and they’ll know what the key negotiation points are.

Of course, we know lawyers are expensive, at least in nominal dollars.… Read the rest

If your company is growing, you probably are entering into a lot of contracts. You will have contracts with vendors and contracts with your customers. How are you keeping your contracts straight? If you subscribe to the theory of constant evolution, things will change in your contracts. You will improve your forms. You will learn, and get better and better, as your business grows. If a customer is upset because something is unclear in an early contract, you can change the terms of your contract. … Read the rest

The world has changed. Twenty-five, thirty years ago, many company owners said they wanted to leave their businesses to their children. The choice was clear. Parents would die, business would move to the children. Many children generationally were very happy to assume the business. The world has changed. We have a very, very diverse workforce and we have very diverse family structures. A lot of times children don’t want the business or may have built their own wealth, and some people don’t have children or other heirs.… Read the rest

One of the questions we get frequently is, “Should we have an employment manual? Should we have terms of employment that we abide by?” My general recommendation is yes. However, it needs to be a living, breathing document in your organization. It is pointless to have an employment manual that you do not utilize. The employment manual will generally set forth how employment goes and talk about a lot of different issues. Typically, it will give the employer the ability to set the terms of work, how the employees will appear, what activities they will be involved in, how they’ll take vacation time, and how they’ll interact in the workplace.… Read the rest

So you’re thinking about hiring a new employee? Should you be using a job offer letter, or what communication should you have with them? I believe it’s a best practice to indeed use a job offer letter to the employee. In that letter, you should be explaining to them what you’re hiring, what they’re going to be doing, what the terms of compensation are, and then typically, you’re also going to include a statement stating that the employment is at will and it may be terminated.… Read the rest