Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Contract-War-Stories-from-the-Trenches.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Contract-War-Stories-from-the-Trenches.html Yes, indeed, oral business contracts are enforceable… but written contracts are preferable. If I offer to sell you my product for a specific dollar amount, you pay the amount asked, and I deliver to you my product... voila, we have completed our contract! Would that they were all so smooth (hint: they aren't). http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Handle-With-Care-Employee-Personnel-Records.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Handle-With-Care-Employee-Personnel-Records.html When a client begins a conversation with the words, "So I got a letter from the Attorney General's office," it is rarely cause for celebration. Knowing, however, that clients prefer calm responses and reassuring attitudes and, in all fairness, that even this unhappy circumstance may very well be addressed without litigation and penalties, I do my best to remain unruffled. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Protect-Your-Business-with-a-Written-Contract.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Protect-Your-Business-with-a-Written-Contract.html The majority of clients for whom I act as general counsel have ploughed their way through a variety of contracts in their 20 or 30 years of running a business. They know full well the value provided and protection afforded by a written document in which responsibilities on both sides are detailed and agreed upon. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Protect-Yourself-by-Knowing-Your-Customers-Credit.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Protect-Yourself-by-Knowing-Your-Customers-Credit.html Sad to say, I spend a fair amount of time these days trying to help clients get paid. (Of course, my strongest tool is a solid relationship with a smart collection lawyer!) There is nothing more frustrating to a small business owner who provides superior services than having to pursue the deadbeat customer who refuses to pay when the bill comes due. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Plan-Early-for-a-Successful-Partnership.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Plan-Early-for-a-Successful-Partnership.html Forming a company with a few colleagues these days may make all the sense in the world. And combining skills, assets and business development efforts may very well be a smart move. But, what happens when the bank asks for a personal guarantee of the company owners and one of them declines? Where do you go from there? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/On-Your-Six-Boss.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/On-Your-Six-Boss.html The relationship between employer and employee in small businesses is often a very personal one. There is more camaraderie, more trust and more interaction than one typically finds in a large company. Small business employers know the stories behind their employees and see them as people with families, mortgages, college tuitions, etc. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Complying-with-the-New-Data-Security-Law.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Complying-with-the-New-Data-Security-Law.html A new law has been bestowed upon the business community by the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that is so important, I feel compelled to share the details. As the year goes on, you will no doubt hear more about this requirement, so please consider this an introduction and a gentle nudge in the direction of beginning the process. Without further ado, I share with you an outline of the strictest law in the United States on protecting personal information of residents. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Do-Sweat-the-Small-Stuff-Beware-of-the-Hidden-Restrictions-in-NonDisclosure-Agreements.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Do-Sweat-the-Small-Stuff-Beware-of-the-Hidden-Restrictions-in-NonDisclosure-Agreements.html Recession or not, my clients and colleagues are doing business, the smart ones even capturing a little more space in their particular niche as the timid and fearful hang to the rear. As you do so, however, keep in mind that if you sign contracts too quickly (understandably not wanting to lose the opportunity), you run the risk of getting caught up in those little "gotchas" that we fail to recognize until it's too late. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Credit-May-Be-King-but-Cash-Trumps-Kings-Every-Time.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/Credit-May-Be-King-but-Cash-Trumps-Kings-Every-Time.html The news reports these days are bullish on very few segments of our economy and that includes gambling, which lives and breathes on cash. Less cash circulating throughout the economy means fewer folks losing hand after hand in Las Vegas. And that means Donald Trump is breaking bread with his bankers way more often than he would like. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/There-Are-Deals-To-Be-Done-in-2009.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Legal/2147/There-Are-Deals-To-Be-Done-in-2009.html A client called me last week, right in the midst of the doom and gloom with which we ended the year, and asked if I could review a purchase and sale agreement for a commercial building. Wonderful, I thought... not only is there a Santa Claus, there are transactions being done in spite of all odds!