Your trusted source for Iowa business and franchise law insights.
Your trusted source for Iowa business and franchise law insights.
In Iowa, non-compete agreements are enforceable under certain circumstances. The best time to secure a non-compete is when you hire the employee although continued employment may be sufficient consideration to bind even current employees. Iowa courts have developed a three-part test to determine whether a non-compete agreement is enforceable:
1. Is it necessary for the…
When you go to court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty. – Comedian Norm Crosby
The jury in the Iowa consumer class action case against Microsoft has been picked. (Of course, these jurors should be commended for their service…
I reviewed three commercial leases this past week so this quote from Will Rogers sums up my experience:
The minute you read something and you can’t understand it, you can almost be sure that it was drawn up by a lawyer. You see, every time a lawyer writes something, he is not writing for poserity,
…
The Technology and Marketing Blog has an interesting analysis of the Barrett vs. Rosenthal case handed down by the California Supreme Court on November 20, 2006. In its ruling, the court decided whether "distributors" of content have immunity under 47 USC 230 for Internet publications.
A major point in the analysis:
No one is
…
Buying a franchise does not automatically provide you with limited liability. The franchisor may be a corporation or LLC but that does not make your own franchise business a corporation or LLC. You must still form your own corporation or LLC in order to obtain the benefits of limited liability. Otherwise, you will have a…
Most people have heard of "buyer beware" but anyone selling their business would be wise to think "seller beware". When someone decides to sell their business they naturally want to find a buyer as quickly as possible for the highest possible price. But business owners and advisors should take care to avoid litigation traps in…
North Carolina business litigation attorney, Thomas Kerner, has an excellent post about the rise in business to business contract litigation. Kerner says this is happening for two main reasons. First, many businesses do not use lawyers to draft their contracts. Second, many businesses often rely on form contracts that are outdated.
Kerner provides some…
Here is an interesting tidbit presented by the California Estate and Business Law Blog.
According to Turbotax the S Corporation has the lowest risk of audit for the various business entities. Those audit risk percentages are:
S corporations .19%
Partnerships .26%
C Corporations .71%
Sole Proprietorships 2.13%
But if you play…
Last week was a momentous week as Brett Trout and I concluded the first ever full-day CLE devoted to lawyer blogging in the country through LAWpportunities. We were fortunate to have been joined by blogging experts Mike Sansone and Sandy Renshaw. Mike delighted the crowd with his tutorial on RSS feeds. Any lawyer…
As evidenced by a recent study from Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Iowa companies are concerned about the legal climate in Iowa.
Here are five ways to avoid lawsuits against your business:
1. Use written agreements. Unfortunately the day is over when you could rely on a handshake. Make sure that your agreements…