Recent Blog Posts
Michael Pike Featured On WPTV Discussing Boat Safety
Pike & Lustig Managing Partner Michael Pike appeared on WPTV this week to discuss boat safety ahead of Memorial Day weekend in honor of national boater safety week. Pike took a news crew as well as a few special passengers to cover the important topic as 60 people died last year in boating accidents…. Read More »
Be Careful When Drafting And Approving Corporate Minutes
When your company has meetings, you may already know that you need to take minutes of the meetings. Minutes are written recordings of what happens in your meetings, and while there is no official way to do them correctly or incorrectly, there definitely are things to keep in mind when taking corporate minutes. Be… Read More »
Can You Require Your Employees To Get Vaccinated For COVID?
If you are an employer in Florida, you may be thinking of requiring your employees to be vaccinated against COVID. However, there is a lot of confusion about whether this is legal and how it can be implemented. Here are some guidelines on Florida Law, related to the mandatory vaccination of employees. Employees Must… Read More »
What You Can (And Cannot) Recover In An FDUTPA Lawsuit
The FDUTPA—Florida’s Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act—provides powerful legal remedies to consumers and businesses harmed by an unjust business practice. The statute allows individuals, companies, and organizations to pursue financial compensation for their damages. That being said, there are some limits in place for financial recovery under the law. In this blog… Read More »
Is The Burden Of Proof Lower In A Civil RICO Lawsuit In Florida?
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a law that imposed liability for harm caused by illicit racketeering activity. The RICO Act has both criminal and civil statutory elements. A defendant could be arrested and charged with a criminal RICO offense and/or a defendant could face a civil RICO lawsuit from a… Read More »
Netflix Shareholders Sues Company Over Slumping Subscription Numbers
On May 4th, 2022, Reuters reported that a group representing Netflix shareholders has filed a lawsuit against the company arguing that corporate leadership made material misrepresentations about the firm’s ability to keep growing its subscriber base. The shareholder lawsuit was filed in the federal court in the Northern District of California. Here, our West… Read More »
Anticipatory Repudiation: Breaching A Contract Before Its Breached
You probably know that if you don’t live up to the terms of a contract, or you fail to do what a contract requires that you can be sued for breach of contract. But what if you just say that you don’t intend to comply with or that you can’t comply with a contract?… Read More »
What Is A Transformative Work?
Copyright law can be confusing, and one area where there is a lot of confusion is the extent to which you can alter or change an existing copyright and make it yours. In other words, when does a work that you create become a “new” work that is yours, giving you all the rights… Read More »
Pitfalls When Signing Settlement Agreements
Let’s say that you have a legal issue or disagreement. You were thinking of getting an attorney involved, but it turns out that the other side has agreed to settle your case, for terms that you agree with. Luckily, you avoided having to get an attorney—just sign the settlement agreement, and your problems are… Read More »
Lawsuits For Meddling With Someone Else’s Contracts Or Business Relationships
Let’s say that you have a business—for our example, assume that you install and fix sound systems. You get lucky, and you sign a major deal with a used car company; your company will be the company that will install, repair, and refurbish all of the sound systems in the cars that the used… Read More »
Don’t Run Into Problems With Towing Laws
If you own a business, or you own property, it’s going to happen: People you don’t know, or who you didn’t authorize, will park in your parking spaces. When that happens, it may be time to call the towing company. To avoid problems, here’s a short primer on towing laws, and your right as… Read More »
Just What Is Discrimination Or An “Adverse Employment Action?”
When it comes to employment discrimination, many of us give a lot of thought to who can’t be discriminated against. In other words, we concentrate on sex, pregnancy, race, age or disability, to try to ensure that we aren’t discriminating against any of these groups. But we rarely think of what discrimination actually is—that… Read More »
What Is The Uniform Partnership Act (UPA)?
The Uniform Partnership Act (UPA) governs business partnerships in most U.S. states. Model legislation drafted initially drafted more than a century ago, the UPA has been ratified by every state except Louisiana. As the statute was modernized in 1997, you will also hear it referred to as the Revised Uniform Partnership Act (RUPA). In… Read More »
Florida Regulators Provide Consumer Protection Tips During Hurricane Awareness Week
On May 2nd, 2022, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried released consumer protection tips and anti-fraud guidance as part of National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Along with the FDACS, Commissioner Fried is warning consumers to watch out for scams in the coming months. Here, our Miami deceptive & unfair trade practices attorney highlights the consumer safety… Read More »
Who Can Be Named As A Defendant In A Federal Civil RICO Lawsuit?
In 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act was passed into law in an effort to combat organized crime. RICO is a criminal statute that also includes a civil element. An individual, business, or organization defrauded due to racketeering activity can file a civil RICO lawsuit against the responsible party. This raises… Read More »
Doing Background Checks On Employees Can Keep You Out Of Trouble
If one of your employees commits a criminal act, or hurts someone while completely out of the scope, context, and duties of his or her employment, you may feel like you are absolved from liability. After all, you would never condone, allow, suggest or even retain, anybody that you knew could purposefully and perhaps… Read More »
Do You Report Consumer Credit? Don’t Get Into Trouble Doing It
If you are a business and you are making loans to others, or you are relying on payment from clients or customers, you may rely on the power of credit reporting to compel others to pay what they owe you. The ability to report a negative mark to someone’s credit report is a powerful… Read More »
What Does A Home Seller Have To Disclose?
In a hot business market, many people are looking to buy and sell homes, or fix up older homes and flip them for profit. Selling homes can be big business. But it can also lead to big legal problems, as the sale of a home involves a complex set of laws, including questions of… Read More »
Consumer Protection In Florida: What I Was Told Is Not The Same As What Is In Writing
As a consumer in Florida, the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Law (FDUTPA) protects you against material misrepresentations, false advertising, and other unjust commercial practices by businesses. You can hold a business legally liable for damages sustained because of deceptive unfair trade practices. This raises an important question: What if a business is… Read More »
Can I Stop Myself From Being Expelled From A Business Partnership?
Forming a partnership can be an efficient and effective way to run a business in Florida. Though, even when business partners start out on great terms, conflicts can arise. There may even come a point in which one or more business partners takes action to try to expel another partner from the business. This… Read More »
