Let’s get down to brass tacks. The main reason Republican lawmakers in Iowa are looking to change the way Iowa judges are selected is because they want protection for social issues like an anti-abortion bill they hope to pass this legislative session and due to the Iowa Supreme Court decision in Varnum from several years … Continue Reading
A major area of our trial and business law practice consists of non-compete and trade secrets law. We hear all the time from people that believe Iowa is a “right to work” state so that means non-competes are not upheld under Iowa law, right? Wrong. Non-competes are upheld in cases where the scope and duration … Continue Reading
If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business. – Ray Kroc I read the above quote today, and wondered, is this true? Do you really need to be a risk taker to be in business? And, if you don’t take risks you should actually get the hell out of … Continue Reading
On our new Brick Gentry Trial Team Blog I write about how the $500,000,000 settlement Michigan State is paying to the young women sexually abused by Larry Nassar sends a strong message to business and organizational leaders. DO THE RIGHT THING! I know it is a really simple message. But organizations consistently minimize, hide or … Continue Reading
I saw an interesting blog post from Brian McGinnis of Fox Rothchild that Minnesota is considering a sweeping change in its sexual harassment laws. The proposed change states, An intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment … does not require the harassing conduct or communication to be severe or pervasive. McGinnis does a nice job of explaining just what … Continue Reading
I recently saw an interesting TED talk on how to be a great leader from Simon Sinek. In the talk he told a story about a business owner who refuses to fire any employees for poor performance. Instead, the company coaches their employees to perform better. Imagine if franchise operations followed the same philosophy and … Continue Reading
A year ago I joked that I didn’t know the governor (Branstad at the time) and the legislature could cut another $7.7 million from our judiciary. While my comment was tongue-in-cheek, my worries were not. Our Iowa judiciary is facing challenges like we have never seen before. And it’s showing. The US Institute for Legal Reform … Continue Reading
2017 was a watershed year for the publicity of sexual harassment claims. Time Magazine even named its “Person of the Year” as the Silence Breakers. Business owners should expect those claims to become even more prominent in 2018 as the masses, not just celebrities, begin to break their silence as well. Just yesterday, I saw … Continue Reading
I often see cases involving the theft of confidential business information by former employees. Attorney Eric Roth has some helpful tips in a recent blog post on how to deal with the problem. The main take away reminder in my opinion is to take action to protect your trade secrets BEFORE it becomes a problem. … Continue Reading
I came across this blog post from the Family Business Advocates Blog and thought it was worth sharing. The post describes the various roles of shareholders, directors and officers in closely held family businesses. It’s good information on a topic that is often misunderstood by small business owners. Read the post here.… Continue Reading
Governor Branstad announced his proposed budget yesterday with $110 million in cuts. This includes $7.7 million in budget cuts for the judiciary. The budget cuts in the judiciary are alarming. Today, Chief Justice Mark Cady will give his state of the judiciary address. It will be interesting to hear his comments based upon the fact … Continue Reading
Several Brick Gentry lawyers were recently recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for 2016-2017. See the full article here. Rush Nigut was named one of the Best Lawyers in America® in three categories including: Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships) (Firm receiving a Tier I rating); Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law Franchise Law … Continue Reading
It was reported that Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly and ISU have been sued by former player Nikki Moody. Fennelly is known as a “passionate” and “demanding” coach. In other words, he isn’t afraid to “get after” players in order to motivate them. Moody obviously took exception to his techniques and has alleged … Continue Reading
I read an article this past weekend indicating that INDIVIDUALS in California may have liability for wage and hour violations of employers. A scary thought for employee managers indeed. “…Enterprising members of the plaintiffs’ bar have recently sought to read the new law as authorizing a private right of action against individual managers. These lawyers … Continue Reading
In a recent case decided against AAMCO, a former franchisee and his spouse defeated a non-compete claim. The Florida franchisee had sold his AAMCO franchise after 21 years and opened a new business more than 90 miles from his former franchise location. The non-compete prohibited the franchisee from opening up a competing business within 10 … Continue Reading
In the Des Moines Register today there is an article about a food truck franchiser that allegedly got cross-wise with investors and franchisees. The article shows just how critical it is to perform due diligence when it relates to franchises (or any other business opportunity). I have a number of posts available I have written … Continue Reading
People often mistakenly believe that non-compete agreements are not enforceable in Iowa. Sometimes people think that because Iowa is a “right to work” state that means non-competes are not valid or other times people may have “heard” non-competes aren’t valid. Neither is correct. Non-competes in Iowa are enforceable in Iowa under appropriate circumstances. But recently I … Continue Reading
This coming year will be the 10th anniversary of Rush on Business. When I first started the blog I wrote articles 5-6 times per week, worried about my search rankings constantly and did everything I could to get my articles linked with other blogs. I have been one of the fortunate ones in the blogging … Continue Reading
If you own a business and a website you need to be aware of a substantial increase in claims by disabled plaintiffs and their attorneys regarding website accessibility. The plaintiffs argue that businesses which offer goods and services to the public through websites are public accommodations that must comply with the general accessibility mandate of … Continue Reading
I had to share an excellent blog post on Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage: Not Unconstitutionally Discriminatory? by Shannon McCarthy of the ZorBlog. My tongue-in-cheek title unfortunately rings some truth. If you read Shannon’s post you will see that the Seattle mayor and city council members are, shall we say, less than welcoming to franchisors and … Continue Reading
If you are fresh off your spring break and looking for a great networking event I recommend attending the BIZ Luncheon this Wednesday, March 25th at the Ruan II Building, 601 Locust, Conference Room 101 in Downtown Des Moines. Casey will share the tale of his leap from the corporate world with Microsoft to the … Continue Reading
The Brick Gentry Law Firm is pleased to announce that three distinguished agricultural attorneys have joined the law firm effective February 2, 2015. Those attorneys include (click for bios): Eldon McAfee Erin Herbold-Swalwell Julia Vyskocil All three bring a breadth of experience particularly in Ag law including trials and business work. We are very excited … Continue Reading
Back in January of 2013 I shared that the Iowa Supreme Court began a new specialty court for business cases. According to a recent article from the Des Moines Business Record it sounds as though the court is off to a good start. (Unfortunately the article is only available in the member’s section of the … Continue Reading
Entrepreneur Magazine columnists Courtney Spritzer and Stephanie Abrams list Hiring a Good Lawyer as one of the four things a start up business owner should do that may not be in the business plan. Another professional they suggest engaging is a knowledgeable accountant. And I could not agree more. In fact, I get worried when a client … Continue Reading
