Category Archives: Business Litigation
Where Can Your Business Be Sued? More Places Than You Think
You may be worried about whether your business can be sued and how, and those are legitimate concerns. But have you ever wondered where your business can be sued? Do not assume that because you may have a Florida business, that you can only be sued in Florida. Your potential exposure area can be… Read More »
Your Business Can Get In Trouble For Accidental Infringement
Have you ever noticed that when you refer to many products, you call them by their brand names? For example, a tissue is a “Kleenex,” or jewelry is in a “Tiffany’s” setting or a shirt is a “Polo shirt?” Using those terms may be OK for you to do in everyday life, but using… Read More »
Succession Planning: What Happens To Your Business When You’re Gone?
We often ask ourselves a lot of questions about our business. We ask what the best way to run the business is, what decisions should we make, or what products or services should the business offer. But there’s one question that a lot of people don’t ask: What will happen to my business when… Read More »
Class Actions: The Logic Behind Them, And Defending Against Them
Class action lawsuits get a lot of attention, mostly because of the sizable verdicts or settlements that often come from them. But what is the logic behind class action lawsuits? And if you’re a business how can you avoid them or defend against them? Why Do Class Action Lawsuits Even Exist? The best way… Read More »
Text Message Or SMS Marketing: Staying Safe
You want to drive customers to your business. What better way to do that than to text message them? Send them texts about promotions, announcements, sales, information—text messaging is direct, immediate, and you’re guaranteed to have customers’ attention. Except there’s one problem. Doing text message (or SMS) marketing the wrong way can get your… Read More »
What Is Tortious Interference With Contract?
Business can be cutthroat. A lot of times, being successful means stealing clients or customers from the competition. It may seem counterintuitive then, to find out that you can be sued for stealing customers—after all, that’s the free-market, American way, isn’t it? Isn’t competition and the right of consumers to contract with whoever they… Read More »
What Is False Advertising And Can You Get In Trouble For It?
Most of us don’t set out to mislead anyone, or to make false representations about our business or our product. In most cases, when businesses get in trouble for false advertising, it is the result of an accident, or simply not knowing the line between “puffery,” and making actual false statements. What Constitutes False… Read More »
Counties Need Proof To Support Taxation Valuations
As you likely know, if you or your business own property in Florida, the county will assess a property tax on your property. That tax is based on the county’s valuation of your property. In many cases, the business owner and the county may have differing opinions on what the value of property is…. Read More »
Whistleblowers In Florida Are Protected
You are at work, and you see someone that you work for do something illegal. Or maybe you just observe something illegal. Maybe not anything that you consider serious—perhaps immigration fraud, cooking financial books, trying to avoid OSHA regulations, or violating a government regulation. You know you should say something, but you’re afraid. What… Read More »
The Risks Of A BYOD Policy
When you were in college, you may remember those “BYOB” parties. Bringing your own beer was a sign of a party. Today, businesses have their own version of this phrase – BYOD, meaning Bring Your Own Device. Letting employees use their own devices—phones or tablets—to do company work has a lot of benefits. But… Read More »
How To Handle The Deposition Of A Corporate Representative
When a company is sued, the suing party is entitled to depose the person with the most knowledge of the facts of the case. It is up to the company (or the company’s lawyer) to determine who that person is, and to designate the person who does, in fact, have the most knowledge of… Read More »
Who Is Signing Your Arbitration Agreements?
An arbitration clause can have real benefits for a business. They are included in many different kinds of contracts, and many businesses find these clauses helpful in limiting potential liability. Arbitration clauses can do a number of things such as: Lowering the time and expense of litigation Discouraging lawsuits and litigation Taking complex or… Read More »
Words Have Meaning: You Could Be Creating An Express Warranty
When your business sells a product, you may make a lot of representations about the product. You may talk about how long the product will last, how well it will perform, or tout its qualities and attributes. But what you may not realize is that what you are also doing is creating an express… Read More »
What Is A Fraud In The Inducement Claim?
As a general rule, when there is a promise or representation made before a contract is entered into and that representation doesn’t make it into the written contract the representation is not enforceable. It is assumed that the parties knew about the representation, and opted to omit it from the subsequent written contract. But… Read More »
Federal Law-Not Just State Law- Protects Your Trade Secrets
Florida has strong laws that allow businesses to protect their trade secrets. Trade secrets are specifically defined in Florida law, and the law is often used by businesses in litigation to avoid having valuable and private information put into the wrong hands, or put into the public record. The Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act… Read More »
Can Missing Terms Void A Contract?
Let’s say that you are selling goods or your product to another company. You agree in writing, but there are some important terms missing. Do you still have an enforceable agreement? How are those missing terms “filled in?” Missing Terms Can Void a Contract – Sometimes As a general rule, in contracts, if material… Read More »
Don’t Get Sued For These Common Debt Collection Mistakes
In the course of running your business, it often happens that someone owes you money. A client or customer doesn’t pay, or you extend a product or service to someone on the promise that you will be paid later. When you aren’t paid, it’s time to collect. The Law Applies to You You know… Read More »
What Is Frustration Of Purpose? A Valid Contractual Defense!
In most cases, you enter into a business contract for a reason. Each party stands to gain or derive some benefit from the contract being performed fully, and in compliance with the contractual terms. But what happens when that purpose is gone? Or when the entire reason for entering into the contract suddenly disappears?… Read More »
Physician Noncompete Agreements Are Enforceable…Usually…
Noncompete agreements are enforceable, and can avoid employees leaving to work for your competitors. If you are an employee, non-competes can very much restrict your ability to make a living elsewhere, should you choose to leave your current employment. But for physicians, recent law changes to how noncompete agreements work with physicians have changed… Read More »
Can You Shorten The Time Limit To File A Lawsuit?
The statute of limitations is the ultimate time limit that you have to file a lawsuit. The time limits vary, depending on what kind of case it is. Some limitations can be quite short—a year in some instances—but in other cases, the time to sue can be 5 or 6 years. Whether a shorter… Read More »
