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Rush Nigut is a shareholder with the Brick Gentry Law Firm in West Des Moines, Iowa. His practice includes both transactional and litigation matters including franchising and business law. Rush started his legal blog, Rush on Business, in 2006. He has been quoted or referenced by hundreds of other blogs, websites, and publications. He also is the editor of the Brick Gentry Trial Team blog and can help you identify the most qualified lawyer at Brick Gentry to handle your case. Our lawyers have a breadth of trial experience in personal injury, employment discrimination, business litigation, IP law, and class action cases.

In his monthly newsletter, Joe Cooney of Frannet points out the categories and questions you should ask franchisors to provide a starting point in your due diligence process.  Those categories and questions include:

1.  Competitive Advantage of Product or Service

How is your system better than others?  Who are your competitors?  How does your business

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

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

The Iowa consumer class action case against Microsoft begins tomorrow, November 13, 2006.  It is anticipated it may take weeks to pick the jury and the trial itself could take several months.  The jurors will be expected to complete a 31-page survey before the questions even begin.  Surveys are often used by Plaintiffs’ attorney, Roxanne

I recently enjoyed the book Mavericks at Work, Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win.  The authors are William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre.

According to the book the first question to ask yourself is:  Do you have a distinctive and disruptive sense of purpose that sets you apart from your rivals?

New York Small Business lawyer Imke Ratschko presents a helpful e-book on her blog "Small Business Guide to Risk Management – A complete guide for business decision-makers" published by the Association of Small Business Development Centers.

This easy to read guide discusses the many risks that businesses face and provides checklists to assess those risks