Jason Shinn of the Michigan Employment Law Advisor had a great post entitled "Is your company making this mistake when it comes to employees and intellectual property?" The post centers on a lawsuit filed by an employee of Marvel Entertainment who claimed he created the Ghost Rider character back in the 1970s. With the recent success
Agreements
What will the Franchisor Do for You?
While discussing a franchise case recently an attorney working with me observed that the franchisor really didn’t agree to do anything for the franchisee in its franchise agreement.
Unfortunately most franchisees are under the mistaken belief that franchisors will provide all kinds of support. When it doesn’t happen and the business relationship has fallen apart, the…
Prospective Franchisees: Help us, Help You
When searching my feed reader last night I ran into this distressful thread on BlueMauMau.org, a pro-franchisee Web site. In the comments below the initial post, franchise lawyer Richard Solomon says he is giving up on trying to help franchisees. Richard says,
I’m about ready to climb down off the due diligence cross and
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For Better or Worse? Romantically Involved Business Partners
This post from the New York Business Divorce Blog will make you think twice before becoming involved in a business with your romantic partner.
I recently wrote on the firm’s Iowa Law Blog that one way to avoid a volatile business divorce is to draft and enter into an effective buy-sell agreement with your partner(s)…
Buy-Sell Agreements Resource
Is your business in need of a buy-sell agreement? Don’t know how to get started?
An excellent resource worth considering is a book from Z. Christopher Mercer called Buy-Sell Agreements: Ticking Time Bombs or Reasonable Solutions? A blog post from Mercer worth reading also raises an excellent point regarding buy-sell agreements:
If you are in the process of
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How to Avoid the Business Divorce
Over on the Iowa Law Blog . . . a helpful pointer on how to avoid the business divorce.
Tips to Protect Yourself When Signing Contracts
I love this post from New York business lawyer Imke Ratschko regarding the best practices in executing a contract.
Her tips (and my comments):
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Don’t let technology or anyone else fool you. This is a great lesson. Once I negotiated a employment contract with another lawyer for several hours. The last version of
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