Liz Overton of Sullivan & Ward, P.C. has a timely post on how employers should deal with the H1N1 virus. 

While it’s true that employers are currently under no obligation to allow additional time off to employees who do not have available time off or have exhausted their available leave, I could easily see employers facing a tough dilemma about whether to adjust their leave and/or PTO policies if a significant outbreak of H1N1 occurs at work, or perhaps even in our schools. 

Have you considered what you will do as an employer if a significant outbreak occurs?  Will you make changes in your policies? Whatever you decide, consistency and fairness are keys to avoiding legal problems.    

A few weeks ago I posted on how your spouse could get you fired. Well, its not just your spouse you need to worry about. What about your kids?

A recent Family Circle article discussed how a teen’s post got her father fired.  The father apparently could not get time off to attend his daughter’s school musical.  The daughter was upset and vented about it on her MySpace page.  The article says she stated she didn’t want to work for someone like dad’s boss: "He yells all the time, treats my dad like dirt, won’t let my dad spend time with his family even though he gets to take time off constantly, and doesn’t even know how to do his job."  

Unfortunately, the rant went out to several hundred of the girl’s MySpace friends, including kids at school, one of whom was the boss’ son. The boy showed the post to his father and the girl’s father was fired.

All of this underscores the importance of discussing with your kids how "public" information can become. Even if an account is private, that doesn’t mean that one of your kid’s friends won’t share the information with the rest of the world.  

P.S. Sorry I couldn’t find a link to the article online but check out the October 17, 2009 edition of Family Circle magazine for the article, Share Tactics. There are several examples of how today’s teens have no problem revealing every detail of their lives online.

 

Okay, you have decided you can do it on your own. You don’t need a lawyer to review your agreement (at least until the proverbial you know what hits the fan).  But let me give you some MasterCard commercial-like "priceless" advice:

READ YOUR AGREEMENTS. 

I am honestly not trying to be a smart aleck when I say this. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen really smart business people fail to follow this simple plea.  Just reading and actually understanding your agreements will help you avoid a great deal of trouble – with or without a lawyer.

 

 

You’ve probably seen them in your contracts. Miscellaneous provisions such as choice of law, litigation venue, successors and assigns provisions, no waiver, entire understanding, or supersede clauses.  They tend to always appear at the end of the contract and are almost always an afterthought by the parties. After all, those provisions don’t mean anything, right? 

Wrong.

Often when a contract claim proceeds to litigation these miscellaneous provisions are outcome determinative.  Take for example the litigation venue provision.  Let’s say you are a small Iowa company and the contract specifies that your case must be heard in the courts of Los Angeles, California.  This means you must be prepared to fight the case in Los Angeles or you may automatically lose your case. The California venue will almost assuredly drive up the costs of litigation over an Iowa venue. First, your Iowa lawyer, unless he or she is licensed in California, will need to get local counsel in California. Chances are the California local counsel will charge a substantially higher hourly rate than here in the Midwest and you will likely need to travel for court hearings and other proceedings.  WIthout the money to fight, you are doomed from the outset regardless of how good your case may be. Plus, without a history with the judges in that state it is often difficult to predict the outcome of issues which could put you at a real disadvantage.

That’s just one example. The other miscellaneous provisions in your contracts can come back to bite you in other ways. My recommendation is to carefully consider these provisions and don’t treat them as an afterthought. If litigation occurs, you may be very happy you did.

 

A jury recently found a Union County Board of Supervisor, Mike King, not guilty of disorderly conduct after half hour of deliberation.  Brick Gentry’s Matt Brick and Doug Fulton defended King in the case.  

For details on the case please read Matt’s blog post regarding the intersection of employment law and criminal law.

Brett Trout, author of BlawgIT, offers his take on how you should navigate the Internet’s legal minefield in a recent post on IowaBiz.

Trout’s Cyberlaw: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business is a book  I highly recommend if you currently operate (or plan to operate) an online business. It’s a great desk reference rather than one you would read from cover-to-cover. I have referred to mine on several occasions as Internet legal issues come up. But keep in mind that the Internet continues to evolve so quickly, particularly with the explosion of social networking sites, that the book can’t cover all nuances even though it was published just two years ago.

As Trout says, you won’t become a Cyberlawyer by reading the book but you likely will have a better understanding of the legal issues involved with the Internet and also will give you leg up when the need arises to consult a lawyer.

Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of his time. He was such a lock going into the weekend of the PGA Championship that an Irish bookmaker actually paid out the winnings on Tiger before the third round even started — oops! I’ll admit that I never could have imagined Y.E. Yang would actually pull it out for a victory.

But all of this provides a good lesson about trial law. You just never know what will happen when you go in front of a jury or judge. The case you thought was a lock may not be so.  When we are in the role of representing the underdog (which is often the case) I love it when the other side says we can’t win. It motivates us, and frankly, it takes much of the pressure off. If you’re not supposed to win you have nowhere to go but up!

So thanks, Y.E.. You proved why the game must be played, no matter who is in the lead (or who thinks they have the case that can’t be beat).

 

 

 

A recent case reported in the Des Moines Register discusses how a handshake deal on the sale of a home went awry for a man that apparently invested over $100,000 in a home – only to learn the home was not his.

Actually there was a one-line agreement in this instance which read, "I Floyd A. Schake agree to put 1500 E. 9th on contract with Billy Erico Stockbauer on 1 Feb. 1989." Schake argued successfully to the court that the language meant he intended to sell the home on contract in the future but the deal was never made.

While the axiom is to get a contract in writing, it is especially critical in real estate deals where oral contracts are generally not valid. The judge in the case ruled that the language did not set out the terms necessary to convey the property.  It’s fairly easy to criticize Stockbauer for not having an agreement that set out all the terms but this type of thing happens much more than anyone would ever imagine.

That’s why the old adage holds, "get it in writing."

 

 

 

How Business Gets Done, Words of Wisdom from Central Iowa Experts has hit the virtual bookshelves at www.lulu.com. I am honored to be a contributing author with several respected peers in our business community. My chapter is on the Partnership Prenuptial where I discuss the importance of drafting a  buy-sell agreement from the beginning of your business relationship.

The costs of litigating a business dispute can easily run in excess of $100,000 per side while a buy-sell agreement usually costs less than a a couple of thousand dollars. Unquestionably most business owners would rather concentrate on running their business than spending time in court.

 

The case of Scott Janke, the former town manager of Fort Myers Beach, Florida has many people talking. It’s no ordinary employee termination. Janke was terminated because his wife is an adult entertainment star. 

A good article on the subject comes via Jonathan Turley’s res ipsa loquitur blog. Turley’s blog has been included in the Top 100 Legal Blogs in the ABA Journal and the Best Blog in Legal Theory. As you will read in the article, employment terminations of this nature are becoming more and more common.