The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear an important employment discrimination case in which a Coca-Cola bottling company fired a black employee. The case involves allegations that a supervisor was motivated by racial bias and influenced a human resources manager to fire the worker. The human resources person was located elsewhere and did not
Business Law
Think Like a Geek
By Rush Nigut on
On December 31, 2006, I wrote a post on how Blog Monitoring is a Top Trend for 2007. Today’s Des Moines Business Record cover story is Exhibit A. The story recounts how smart companies are listening to bloggers and dealing quite effectively with negative publicity. It seems Central Iowa blogger Tom Vander Well…
Electronic Discovery and Employment Law
By Rush Nigut on
I ran across an excellent article by employment law litigator Jason Storipan of Stark & Stark on issues involving electronic discovery and employment law. Storipan cautions that employers must be aware and plan for the new electronic discovery rules:
". . . [e]mployment law is an area of the law that the increases in
…
Bankruptcy Cafe: New Iowa Law Blog
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Business Law, Events
Jeff Mathias is the author of a new law blog called Bankruptcy Cafe. He already has some nice posts including 8 Tips to Rebuild Your Credit After Bankruptcy and 10 Common Bankruptcy Mistakes. His writing style is very straight-forward and informative.
Jeff is savvy when it comes to providing information to the public…
Microsoft Renews Attacks Against Conlin
By Rush Nigut on
Microsoft has renewed its attacks against Roxanne Conlin in the Iowa consumer class action case. This time Microsoft wants the right to question the named plaintiffs about their connections to Conlin before the lawsuit. Apparently Microsoft believes Conlin recruited these plaintiffs to file the lawsuit. According to the Des Moines Register, Conlin acknowledges she was…
Hiring the Right Accountant for Your Iowa Business
I tell clients they need to establish relationships with at least four professionals when starting a business including:
- Lawyer
- Banker
- Insurance Agent
- Accountant
As tax season kicks into full force many business owners may be considering hiring an accountant to complete their business taxes. I always get worried when a business person tells me he…
Sole Owner: What Type of Business Entity Should I Form?
By Rush Nigut on
In Iowa, the sole owner of a business generally has the following choices for type of business entity:
- Sole Proprietorship
- S Corporation
- C Corporation
- Single-Member Limited Liability Company
Some of the factors you may want to consider include:
- Do you need limited liability protection?
- How will profits be taxed?
- Can you take advantage of certain
…
Case Selection: Trust Your Gut
By Rush Nigut on
Tim Johnson of Carpe Factum recently challenged Iowa patent lawyer Brett Trout and me to show how we "thin-slice" clients and cases. Brett posted first and did a great job with how he thin-slices clients. That leaves thin-slicing cases to me. Thin-slicing is a concept from Malcom Gladwell’s book, Blink, and is about…
Court Rules No Private Right of Action Under HIPAA
By Rush Nigut on
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled there is no private right of action for violations of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). To this point, every federal district court that has decided the issue has also ruled no private right of action exists. No other federal circuit court has decided…
Iowa Microsoft Public Records On Web
By Rush Nigut on
The Plaintiffs have now set up a Web site to post the public records in the Iowa consumer class action against Microsoft. Just go to www.iowaconsumercase.com. The site currently has transcripts available. Exhibits and further information will be available later this week. A permanent Web site is expected to be set up during the…