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A. DEPENDING ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES, A LANDLORD MUST TAKE SEVERAL STEPS UNDER ITS LEASE IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY RESERVE ITS RIGHTS. Very recently, I was approached by a small landlord who has rental units in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts. My client had received a notice of termination fro...

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A. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CREDIT APPLICATION OR IF YOU HAVE A CREDIT APPLICATION THAT IS MORE THAN TWO YEARS OLD YOU MUST READ THIS ARTICLE. According to the 2016 Small Business Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 37% of the businesses in the survey fell into the "at risk" or...

A. ITS ONE THING TO HAVE A PERSONAL GUARANTEE AND ANOTHER THING TO HAVE AN ENFORCEABLE PERSONAL GUARANTEE. I was recently involved in a civil case in Middlesex Superior Court wherein a creditor equipment leasing company had sued both my client and his company and was later attempting to attach my client's residen...

A. BY NOT HAVING A REASONABLE ATTORNEY'S PROVISION IN YOUR CONTRACT OPENS YOUR COMPANY UP TO LITIGATION AND MORE FEES. Suppliers and vendors who do not have reasonable attorney's fees either in their credit applications, contracts and/or personal guarantees are asking for trouble. If your compan...

fficationA. IF YOUR COMPANY HAS A CONTRACT, YOU MAY BE WELL SERVED BY INCLUDING CERTAIN KEY PROVISIONS IN ORDER TO FULLY PROTECT YOUR COMPANY'S LEGAL INTERESTS. In last week's blog, I discussed how to make your company's contract bulletproof by discussing the areas of attorney's fees, assignment...

A. IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS CONTRACTS AS "BULLETPROOF" AS POSSIBLE YOU NEED TO INCLUDE CERTAIN TERMS AND PROVISIONS IN ORDER TO FULLY PROTECT YOUR COMPANY'S LEGAL INTERESTS. From having tried many, many contract cases and having put together numerous contracts for various clients I can tel...

A. IN MASSACHUSETTS A LANDLORD CANNOT CHARGE A PET DEPOSIT FEE BUT CAN REQUIRE RENTER'S INSURANCE FROM A TENANT. During this past week, I was asked by a landlord/client if he could assess certain fees against a tenant. He was looking to have language in both his lease and pet addendum to impose ...

A. WHEN HIRING AN EMPLOYEE FROM A COMPETITOR MAKE SURE YOU DOT YOUR I'S AND CROSS YOUR T'S. As an employment lawyer we know that non competition and non-solcitation agreements typically assist employers in protecting their legitimate business and legal interests. When properly drafted and implem...

A. In today's workplace, it is not uncommon for employees to date other employees. Your company had better have a plan of action in place once this situation occurs or else you will get bitten by more than just Cupid. On June 21, 2018, Intel's CEO resigned after conducting a past consensual rela...

A. HAVING THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AUDIT YOUR PAYROLL AND EMPLOYMENT RECORDS IS NEVER AN EASY TASK. YET, KNOWING HOW TO HANDLE SUCH AN AUDIT CAN MAKE IT BOTH EASIER AND LESS STRESSFUL ON YOUR COMPANY. Recently, I have had the experience of working with a client on handling a Department of Labor a...

A. IF YOU STAY AWAY FROM ASKING THESE QUESTIONS, YOU WILL ALSO STAY AWAY FROM LIABILITY. Many small employers are not in the position of having a designated human resources department. With smaller budgets to work with, many of these companies have no human resources department or have one perso...

A. Under the Massachusetts Personnal Records law, employers must conform to the requirements of the statute or face liability and fines. Under the Massacbhusetts Personnel Records Law, G.L.c.149, section 52 the Massachusetts legislature has placed an affirmative obligation upon Massachusetts emp...

A. THE MASSACHUSETTS HOMESTEAD ACT UNDER G.L.c.188 IS DESIGNED TO GIVE HOMEOWNERS LIMITED PROTECTION AGAINST UNSECURED CREDITORS. The Massachusetts Homestead Act is a law in Massachusetts by which a homeowner is protected by what is called an estate of homestead. This estate of the homestead whi...

A. THE MECHANICS LIEN LAW IS A STATUTE DESIGNED TO PROTECT CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS. TO AVAIL YOURSELF OF ITS ADVANTAGES, HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO. If you are a building contractor or supplier then you need to be familiar with the Massachusetts Mechanics lien law. It could be your...

A. CONGRESS RECENTLY EXPANDED A CONSUMERS RIGHT TO ISSUE COMPLAINTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. IT HAS ALSO HAS CREATED OPEN SEASON ON BUSINESSES WHICH MUST NOW FIND WAYS TO PROTECT THEIR REPUTATION. With the onset of the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 which became prevailing federal law in August...

A. Having the great business idea is but the first step. Your new business must also focus on taking the right steps to make sure your business is protected. One of the last things on an entrepreneurs mind when they start a company is how to protect that company from future legal peril. More of...

A. IN TODAYS ELECTRONIC WORLD, TEXTING HAS BECOME A PRIMARY VEHICLE OF COMMUNICATION. IT ALSO CAN CREATE A CONTRACT. As more business is conducted by text, new legal problems will follow. Just fathom for a moment these statistics: As of 2017, there were 8.5 billion texts per day sent in the Uni...

A. IF YOU WANT TO AVOID HAVING TO SIGN A GUARANTEE, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THESE STEPS. Is your new business looking to get off the ground or expand? The trick for any new business owner is to put as little on the line as possible. In other words, if you want to get business credit either by a loan...

A. BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR SMALL BUSINESS, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CROSSED THE TS AND DOTTED THE IS. With many small businesses as clients, I have had the experience of knowing what it takes to make sure that small businesses take those extra steps along the way to make sure they have protected their ...

A. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER SERVING BOOZE AT YOUR NEXT HOME HOLIDAY PARTY THIS UPCOMING SPRING AND SUMMER.

A. IN SHELL V. BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILWAY, A FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT SUGGESTED THAT LIABILITY COULD ATTACH WHERE AN EMPLOYER REGARDING AN AN OBESE INDIVIDUAL AS DISABLED IN VIOLATION OF THE AMERCIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) We know that the American public is becoming more obese. ...

A. Now that you have decided upon your specific loan its time to understand the SBA loan process. In my last blog, we identified the three kinds of loans currently offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Now that you have decided which loan best suits your companys financial needs, ...

A. THERE ARE CURRENTLY THREE DIFFERENT SBA LOANS OFFERED TO SMALL BUSINESSES.  For many of our small business owner clients, a Small Business Administration Loan (SBA) is a great alternative to funding through the usual lending channel of a bank or credit union. The loans are long-term in nature...

A. The great state of Minnesota has got more than just a lot of lakes. It is currently legal to make contact with someones clothed backside and not suffer any legal penalty. Minnesota, Minnesota. Land of many lakes, home to the Mall of America, and birthplace of Scotch Tape and Betty Crocker. N...