I saw a great post from divorce attorney Eliana Baer about her answer when a client asked her whether she believes in settlement or litigate, litigate, litigate. Her post is a fun one but the answer is an important one for clients (and often lawyers) to understand.
I am a believer in settlement under
Big news this past week in business/employment law. The FTC is proposing legislation banning noncompete clauses. The agency estimates this could increase workers’ salaries by nearly $300 billion per year.
I’ve never been a fan of noncompete clauses for lower paid workers. But I’ve always believed there is some validity to a business protecting
A business owner approaches you to invest in his business. He comes up with an idea to “sell” a portion of his equity in the business. You listen to the business owner’s pitch and likes the idea. You decides to invest in exchange for “ownership.” The problem? Nothing is in writing, you have invested the
In March of 1995, Michael Jordan had one of the shortest press releases announcing his return to basketball. He simply said,
I’m back
Well, I may not be the caliber of Michael Jordan, but after a long hiatus I am announcing I am back to blogging. I have been blogging (for the most part continuously)
The Brick Gentry Law Firm is here for you during these challenging times. We have temporarily moved to a virtual, technology-driven, remote work day for many of our attorneys and employees. Working with our IT team we have assured the security of our network and information exchange. We have also asked everyone to temporarily stop
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a State of Public Health Disaster Emergency. Lots of people have inquired whether the Governor has the power to close certain businesses and other events. This announcement does a good job of outlining the various code sections under which the Governor is supporting her decisions. Some of the highlights:
The Nyemaster Goode On Brief Appellate Blog has a recent article on the Iowa Supreme Court setting a new standard in employment law cases. The court’s decision should help provide employers with an additional defense in discrimination cases.
Continue Reading New Iowa Supreme Court Decision Helps Employers
There have been a series of changes over the past year in federal regulations that impact your old LLC operating agreement. Since I see on a regular basis operating agreements that do not incorporate the changes in the regulations, I thought I would mention a key change in this post. With the new regulations there is no longer a “tax matters partner” which you will see in most operating agreements. Instead, the LLC (partnership) must designate a Partnership Representative (the “PR”) who does not need to be a partner. The PR is similar to, but is different from, the tax matters partner. Formerly, the LLC/partnership was required to designate a tax matters partner to act as a liaison between the partnership and the IRS. That tax matters partner was required to be a general partner and could be an individual or an entity. The tax matters partner had the authority to bind the partnership, but not to bind other partners in the partnership. Also, a partner that was not the tax matters partner had rights during an examination, including certain notification rights and the right to participate in the proceeding.
Continue Reading Review Your Old LLC Operating Agreement: No More Tax Matters Partner
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 ago where the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that non-religious, civil marriage, is available to everyone. Since Varnum, special interests worked hard to oust Iowa Supreme Court justices. And now, these special interests are setting their sights on changing the process for the Judicial Nominating Commission that ultimately appoints judges in Iowa. Under the current system, Iowa lawyers elect one-half of the commissioners to the Judicial District Nominating Commissions while the governor appoints the other half of the members. Lawmakers want to change this so that lawyers no longer elect one-half of the commissioners but rather lawmakers from the political parties would nominate the other half.
Continue Reading Iowa Lawmakers Looking to Politicize our Courts?
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.
Continue Reading Interesting Developments for Non-Competes and Trade Secrets
