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Legal tips on how to prevent problems & avoid lawsuits
Provided as a courtesy for friends and clients of Innovative Law Group by Oregon Business Attorney Alan Thayer, who welcomes your questions and comments. Call 541-345-2325 or email Alan at alan@thinkILG.com.
Entries in General Business (40)
Simple, Effective & Illegal
Would you be interested in an effective, proven way to resolve conflicts, restore trust, repair relationships and yes, even reduce your risk of legal liability?
Would you be interested to know that once the University of Michigan Health System began using this method, attorney fees dropped from $3 million to $1 million per year and malpractice lawsuits and notices of intent to sue were cut in half? What works in the high risk medical field could also help resolve your disputes with employees, customers, vendors and the public.
What is this magical dispute resolution method?
Reinventing Business Law
How would you reinvent the way lawyer’s serve business?
Since Henry II first assigned five judges to his King’s Court in 1178, law has been a reactive profession. When you have a problem, any one of a number of great attorneys can help you reach a resolution. What businesses need, however, are strategies and tactics they can use to head off potential problems in the first place.
How could you be better served by Lawyers?
Update Copyright Notices for the New Year
If you have a website, publish printed or electronic newsletters or produce other publications, remember to update your copyright notices for the current year.
If It’s Not in Writing ... It Did Not Happen
The question in any legal proceeding is how do you prove your side of the story? Sure, you can introduce testimony about what you said and what others said, what others did and what others failed to do. But what do you do when others remember something different or they outright lie? How do you protect yourself?
Alan Thayer
in General Business
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Arbitration Clauses Enforceable in Oregon
If you have subscribed to LegalBriefs for a while or attended one of my many seminars, you know that I am a big fan of arbitration. You may have noticed, however, that the 2007 Oregon Legislature passed an anti-arbitration bill last Spring or that the Oregon Court of Appeals had struck down certain arbitration clauses.
You might be wondering whether arbitration clauses in consumer contracts, contracts with consumers, employment agreements and business-to-business documents are enforceable.
Simple Receipts - Complex Lawsuit
Do you print receipts for your clients or customers? Do your receipts include credit card expiration dates? If so, change them immediately!
CYA with Thank You Notes
We all are familiar with CYA letters. The "you said this," "I said this" and "in reliance on what you told me, I did the following . . ." style of correspondence. Recipients almost always know that the purpose of the letter is to protect the writer or gain advantage.
There is a subtler approach, one that does not raise as many concerns for the recipient, but can be just as effective to "CYA," if not more so.
Aggravation Pricing
We all have had to do business with them – customers, clients, vendors, buyers or sellers that we know will be difficult to deal with. Maybe it's their attitude? Maybe it's unreasonable expectations? Whatever it is, you know that if you do business with them, there will be problems. What do you do?
Kinder & Gentler ... No Less Assertive
You may be interested in a secret. The standard lawyer demand letter, aggressive, threatening and often obnoxious, no longer works. There is an alternative approach, however, that succeeds over 90% of the time.
Check Your Business Registry Information
Businesses must register certain information with the state Corporation Division. It doesn’t make any difference whether the business is organized as a corporation, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), limited liability partnership (LLP) or sole proprietorship.
Business registry problems can range from merely embarrassing to loss of the right to use your business name.
Alan Thayer
in General Business
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Annual Meetings Done Right!
Whether your business entity is a corporation, a limited liability company, a partnership or even a sole proprietorship, you should hold an annual meeting once a year with your accountant and your lawyer. First, there are formalities that need to be observed in order to ensure that you receive the tax treatment and legal protections for your form of organization. There are also certain actions that you must document appropriately in order to prevent problems. An annual meeting can be more than that, by discussing recent changes in the laws, challenges faced by your business and your plans for the future, your accountant and lawyer can help you avoid problems and seize new opportunities.
Alan Thayer
in General Business
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Statewide Boycott of Perrin & Thayer
Last week I learned that we are a subject of a statewide boycott. A marijuana advocacy group has called for a boycott of our firm because we contribute to an association that, among the many positions it asserts on behalf of business, marijuana is not appropriate in the workplace.
You can review the call for a boycott at http://ornorml.org/leg/aoi-members.php.
For a LegalBrief article on medical marijuana issues for employers, you may want to review Don’t Let Your Employees Play the Marijuana Card.
Alan Thayer
New Year - New Copyright Notice
If you have a website, publish printed or electronic newsletters or produce other publications, remember to update your copyright notice to 2007.
Beware of Emails - Lesson No. 513
You may recall that emails played a prominent role in the Monica Lewinski matter. The gang at Microsoft learned about the dangers of email when messages were used against the company in the Government's antitrust case against the company. You may even recall how I obtained a $30,000 settlement from a city after one of its employees sent an email defaming a local business.
Despite these widely reported incidents, it has happened again.
Upcoming Seminars
How to Differentiate Your Business from the Competition
59 Employment Law Tips in 59 Minutes
Alan Thayer
in Employment Law, General Business
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Are You Ready to Succeed in the New Year?
You no doubt have heard and read a lot about strategic planning. After a while, the different approaches and definitions can get mind-numbing confusing. On the other hand, to truly succeed, you must have the right people on the right page at the right time doing the right things.
Randy Swangard brings a practical, appropriate, effective, common-sense approach to planning.
You are invited to a 59 Minute Executive Seminar with Randy Swangard as my guest to discuss strategic planning.
Are You Ready for New Laws Going Into Effect January 1, 2006?
You and your business are responsible for following new laws recently adopted by the Oregon Legislature whether you are aware of those laws or not. Most of these new laws will go into effect January 1, 2006.
Fax Away!
Two weeks ago I warned you about a new Federal Communication Commission (FCC) regulation that was to go into effect today. The regulation prohibits commercial faxes to existing customers without prior written consent.
Faxing Customers Could Cost $11,000 Per Fax After June 30th
New Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) regulations that are scheduled to go into effect June 30, 2005 would require businesses and non-profit organizations to obtain written consent before sending faxes to their customers or members. Violations could result in a fine of up to $11,000 per fax.
Don't Let Your Business Get Conned
Small businesses are said to be a favorite target of con artists using schemes such as toner fraud, fax surveys that forward to expensive 900 numbers, sham invoices, phony advertising, charitable-donation cons, etc. . . A recent BusinessWeek article discusses how you can protect yourself and your business from these criminals with constant vigilance and good training for your employees.