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Business Basics
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A certain degree of motivation and talent are required for starting
and managing a business – any business. But if certain mistakes are
made during the start-up phase, they can be difficult or impossible to
erase.
When considering opening a business, you first need to explore and
evaluate your personal and business goals. Why are you opening a
business? A plan is needed to help obtain your personal and business
goals. While developing a plan you’ll be forced to think through
important issues that otherwise may have gone unconsidered. This plan
will become an invaluable tool as you set out on the adventure of
business start-up.
Entrepreneurs open businesses for many reasons. Perhaps the
opportunity to gain financial independence through the full utilization
of your expertise acquired through an active life intrigues you.
Freedom of creativity is another perk of self-management. Some types of
business can be run quite successfully from your home, which is a plus
for parenting and juggling the omnipresent demands found in at-home
settings.
Once a plan of action has been decided upon, a choice must be made.
What business would be right for you? Begin with the knowledge and
skills acquired from previous work experiences or possibly hobbies or
interests at which you have excelled.
After the initial start-up of your plan, it’s usually prudent to
identify the niche that your business would fill. When deciding what
products or services to offer, keep in mind that competition will exist
no matter what your specialty area happens to be. The goal is to offer
an advantage the competition doesn’t have.
Other considerations are issues such as legal coverage, insurance,
how you will maintain business records, and the equipment necessary for
your business to run. It’s also an excellent idea to follow the famous
maxim used in the real estate industry: location, location, location.
The name that you select for your business is also important. Choose
something that makes sense and doesn’t rhyme with “stooges.”
Once you’ve developed a focused, well-researched plan for your
business, it will serve as a blueprint for future business operations,
management and capitalization. After you have completed your business
plan, be sure to review it with a business attorney or else run it by
someone who is knowledgeable about YOUR daily business operation. This
careful attention to detail will help to ensure success.
Jack Zinda is an Austin business lawyer with Heselmeyer Zinda, PLLC. To learn more about Austin business attorney Jack Zinda visit Texasbusinessattorneys.net.
Rules for Executive Compensation
The federal securities laws require clear, concise disclosure about
compensation paid to CEOs, CFOs, and certain other high-ranking
executive officers of public companies.
Rules for executive compensation are governed by the federal
securities laws. Several types of documents that a company must file
regarding their executive compensation policies and practices should be
organized within a company’s proxy statement, annual report on Form
10-K, within registration statements filed by the company established
to register securities for sale to the public, and also should be
contained within the company’s current report on Form 8-K.
In the annual proxy statement, companies must disclose information
revealing the amount and type of compensation paid to its chief
executive officer and the three other most highly compensated executive
officers. Companies must also disclose the criteria used in reaching
executive compensation decisions and the type of relationship existing
between the firm’s executive compensation practices and company
performance.
The cornerstone of the Security and Exchange Commission’s required
discourse on executive compensation is The Summary Compensation Table
(SCT). In a single location, the SCT provides a comprehensive overview
of a company’s executive compensation practices. In larger
multinational corporations, these can become somewhat complex in their
structure, but will always bear a superficial resemblance to a flow
chart. SCTs must include the total compensation paid the firm’s chief
executive officer, chief financial officer, and three other most highly
compensated officers for at least three previous fiscal years. The SCT
is succeeded in order by other tables and precise disclosures
containing increasingly detailed information about the various facets
of compensation used during the most recently completed fiscal year.
Essential to include are grants of stock options, stock appreciation
rights, long-term incentive plan awards, pension plans, employment
contracts, and related arrangements.
An additional component of a company’s executive compensation
dossier is the Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD & A).
Functioning in the manner of an appendix, this section should explain
all material elements of the relevant executive compensation programs
not yet addressed.
Jack Zinda is an Austin business lawyer with Heselmeyer Zinda, PLLC. To learn more about Austin business attorney Jack Zinda visit Texasbusinessattorneys.net.
Employment Agreements Are Critical
If you run a business, never be without an employment agreement. It
will be the best thing that you ever do to protect the business.
At one time people used to be hired to work somewhere with very
little in the way of formal paperwork. Sometimes it was even just a
handshake hiring where the employer’s word ruled and the employee did
what was requested of them as part of their job.
These days the times have changed drastically, and in addition to it
being essential to have an employment agreement, the workplace has
changed to one where adversity and employment issues often seem to be
the flavors of the month.
If you own and operate a business in the 21st century, one of the
first things you will need to have in place is a binding agreement for
work between your company and any executive you may choose to hire. The
bottom line is that the person is agreeing to perform various services
in trade for a wage. This kind of an agreement is not to be confused
with an executive compensation agreement. The executive employment
agreement, as outlined by an expert business attorney, is binding and
once the agreement has been signed by both parties, they are promising
to live up to the terms of the agreement.
Generally speaking an executive employment agreement has what is
referred to as a recitals section that speaks to the purpose of the
agreement. In most instances, the first recital refers to the company
wanting to hire a certain person in an executive position, and that
person wants to be hired in the position. In other words, although the
language may be legal, the intent is straightforward enough.
Common elements usually found in an executive employment agreement
are compensation and benefits offered, the term of employment, the
duties to be performed by the executive, the duties the employer has to
perform, a section dealing with keeping information confidential, a
non-competition agreement and what happens in the event of termination
clause.
Typically these types of agreements are best drafted with the
assistance of a skilled business attorney who will outline the “must
have” sections in agreements of this nature.
Jack Zinda is an Austin business lawyer with Heselmeyer Zinda, PLLC. To learn more about Austin business attorney Jack Zinda visit Texasbusinessattorneys.net.
Pssst, the Secret Is Out
When a trade secret gets out or is stolen, the ramifications are
enormous; proof positive that trade secrets are valuable assets to be
protected.
If you haven’t seen the news in the last little while, you may be
astounded at the damage awards in two controversial trade secret cases.
One in California came in with a jury verdict of $36.3 million in
damages in a trade secret and breach of contract case. In Georgia,
there was another settlement of $37.3 million. There may be another
chapter written in both of these cases, as they may be appealed.
Having said that, the staggering amount of the awards serves to
point out something very important to the business community – trade
secrets are invaluable to businesses. The fact is that companies with
trade secrets they don’t want to lose to another company need to ensure
they are protected through non-disclosure agreements (NDA). There is
more than one way to protect secrets and it’s for this reason that an
expert Austin business lawyer is the best person to turn to when those
secrets need to be kept.
Non-disclosure agreements are not standard, run of the mill pieces
of paper that an employee signs. They are, in most instances,
tailor-made for a specific situation and in some instances for the
people who need to sign them. No business should consider operating
without a non-disclosure agreement if they have trade secrets that are
critical to their industry. For this reason they need to discuss with
the lawyer the categories of individuals who need to become acquainted
with an NDA as a prerequisite of their employment.
Within and outside of any corporation there are a wide variety of
individuals who may have access to a trade secret, and those include,
but are not limited to employees, consultants, customers, suppliers,
other existing or potential partners and angel investors or merger
and/or acquisition aspirants.
Struggling to keep a lid on that secret is of primary importance to
the company who will need to consider other methods of secrecy such as
encrypted password protection, storing critical material under lock and
key, limiting distribution of the crucial information and reminding
employees frequently that they need to keep what they know to
themselves.
Ironically, many a company that does have secrets to keep finds
themselves in the position of wanting to hire someone who used to work
for their competitors. This potentially awkward scenario is best
addressed by having the new employee sign specific employment
agreements to not divulge what they know. Obviously this would be a
sticky situation that may have the potential to blow up later should
the worker choose to talk about what they know despite having an
agreement in place.
Often when an employee is leaving a company and has had access to
trade secrets, they need to consider how to handle the potential
possibility of being sued for leaking those secrets. Whether or not
they are going to work for the competition or start their own business,
if they’re smart, they need to have a clear understanding in writing
about what they may take when they leave. The trick of course is living
up to that agreement.
Jack Zinda is an Austin business lawyer with Heselmeyer Zinda, PLLC. To learn more about Austin business attorney Jack Zinda visit Texasbusinessattorneys.net.
The Three Types of Product Liability Lawsuits
There isn’t one business that exists today that does not have
product liability insurance. Better to be safe than sorry if your
product turns out to have problems and injures someone.
Generally speaking there are three types of product liability
lawsuits that get filed in courtrooms. Those are information defects,
design defects and manufacturing defects. Any one of these by
themselves or in combination with another defect may form the basis of
a product liability lawsuit.
Manufacturing defects are those that happen when a product,
initially thought (and intended) to be safe, but something happened to
it during the manufacturing process and it ended up being flawed and
causing injuries to people who bought the product, e.g. one of the
sprockets for a new mountain bike is missing.
Design defects are a bit different in origin. This happens when a
product is made the right way by the company, but it turns out it is
unsafe. It may not be a case of the manufacturer realizing the goods
are dangerous because of the way they were designed. Nonetheless, there
would be liability on the part of the manufacturer and designer, e.g. a
stuffed bear with buttons for eyes that are not secured properly to the
toy and can be swallowed by young children.
An information defect refers to a situation where a product is
unavoidably hazardous in some form or other, but there is nothing to
indicate this on or in the product’s package, e.g. a caulking compound
for the bathtub that should not be used in enclosed spaces because it
causes severe respiratory problems.
Each product liability case is unique and thus treated on a case by
case basis. While a great many consumers would just pitch the defective
product out in the garbage, there are more informed customers that are
beginning to realize that they have rights when it comes to being
harmed by a product they bought in good faith.
Keep in mind that every business that handles, supplies, refurbishes
or resells a product must have some kind of liability insurance. It
doesn’t matter if you sell on eBay or happen to be one of the most
well-known retailing names in the US. The facts are that every business
runs the risk of being sued if a product they handle ends up injuring
or killing an innocent customer. If you don’t believe that, just
remember the famous case of the hot coffee that gave a McDonald’s
customer third degree burns when it was spilled on her thighs. She won
her product liability lawsuit.
Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland,
Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law,
custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.
Watch What the Package Label Says
Those labels on the outside of various products are there for a
reason; to warn people about a danger and to keep them safe. Failure to
heed the warning may be dangerous.
It’s pretty much a given than when we go to the store to buy
something that we assume it will be safe and won’t harm us. More often
than not, this is a reasonable assumption. However, have you noticed
the warning labels on the packages? They could say things such as,
“Don’t drive while taking this medication,” or “Small parts could cause
choking,” or much to your amusement they may even say in the case of a
hair dryer, “Don’t use while you are asleep.”
Although some of the warnings you happen to read on labels may seem
ridiculous, they are there because something like that has already
happened to someone. This is how warnings on products come into being
in the first place; someone complained that the manufacturer should
tell people about the product’s hazards.
Generally speaking, there are laws in place to protect consumers in the
event of an injury sustained by a product malfunctioning or to a
manufacturing defect that caused harm or death. If you have had a less
than pleasant experience with a product and were harmed, you should
speak to a products liability attorney to get some answers. If the
package didn’t provide an adequate warning about what happened to you,
then you may have a viable legal case. Only your attorney will be able
to assess this for you.
Speaking of liability, another huge area of the law that centers on
the determination of a person’s liability is premises liability.
Premises liability is a legal responsibility that all
landowners/occupiers have to make sure their premises are safe when
others come to visit. So, if you happen to own a store and don’t tell
customers the floor is wet from mopping and they slip and fall, your
premises liability insurance covers their injuries.
Slip, trip and falls are fairly common liability claims and many
lawyers handle these cases in addition to product liability issues, as
the issues involved in both kinds of cases are similar – the question
of liability. In the instance of product liability the supplier,
manufacturer and even the designer may be held liable for injuries
caused by a defective product sold on the market. The interesting thing
about product liability law is that you’d be astounded to find out
about the long list of product failures that you can actually file a
lawsuit over; for instance, lighters that explode, faulty ladders that
collapse, patio furniture that breaks, baby car seats crumple on
impact, and roofs on cars cave in rather than protect.
Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland,
Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law,
custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.
Nevada Med Mal Suit Within One Year
If you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice (med mal) and live in Nevada, you only have one year to file a lawsuit.
At one time the statute of limitation in Nevada for medical
malpractice suits was two years. That isn’t the case today, and if you
don’t file within the year, your right to file a case expires. The
change from two years to one year took place in 2004. So what happens
now is that the statute runs from the time the med mal is “discovered
or should have been discovered.” If you have any questions about this,
contact a qualified Las Vegas personal injury lawyer.
Having said that, there is an outer limit to the new Nevada law
which mandates that any medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed
within three years from the date it happened without regard to when it
was discovered. Somewhat confusing to say the least, so you should
consult with a skilled Las Vegas personal injury lawyer to find out the precise limitations that apply to your potential case.
It should be noted that for a casualty of med mal to figure out they
have been a victim of a healthcare professional’s negligence and then
immediately consult with a lawyer to file a lawsuit within a year is a
bit of a stretch. The logistics of putting together this kind of a case
are staggering and include, among other things, the necessity of
finding an “expert” witness in the same field as the physician who
committed malpractice. This doesn’t happen overnight as any Las Vegas personal injury lawyer will tell you.
The said expert must also provide a written affidavit for the
complaint stating their opinion that malpractice did happen. This isn’t
just something dashed off on a moment’s notice and involves an
exhaustive search of patient medical records. Most of these records are
not that easy to come by as they usually have to be rounded up from
multiple medical care providers. The services of a medical “expert”
don’t come cheaply either. All this takes time and with the changes in
the statute of limitations, time is even more of the essence to build a
solid medical malpractice lawsuit.
Thankfully more and more medical expert witnesses are starting to
come forward and discuss medical malpractice. At one time it was hidden
behind a wall of silence where doctors did not talk about their own.
Attitudes have changed and many physicians are now of the opinion that
the medical community needs to be self policed and cleaned up.
Doctors who have no business practicing medicine are being weeded
out in order to protect the injured and avoid future victims. If you
have been the victim of medical malpractice, immediately consult a Las
Vegas personal injury lawyer to discuss your potential case. Do not
delay, as time is very critical in cases like this.
Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland,
Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law,
custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.
Nevada Asset Protection Trusts
Do revocable living trusts provide asset protection? In two words: “Not usually.”
There are a great number of people who seem to think that revocable
living trusts provide them some sort of asset protection. This couldn’t
be further from the truth. What is the reason for that state of
affairs? The main reason a revocable living trust doesn’t provide asset
protection is because it is a self-settled trust, meaning you still
control the assets in the trust. If you still have the control over any
assets in the trust and have creditors, they may make claims against
the trust while you are alive or after you have died.
Having said that, there are some exceptions where this type of a
living trust may provide asset protection. That would only be
applicable to trusts formed under the Domestic Asset Protection Trust
which is enacted in three states, Nevada being one of them. In Nevada
they are referred to as Nevada Trusts or self-settled spendthrift
trusts. Basically what the Nevada Trust does is allows you to form a
trust for your own benefit and then protect it from creditors.
Now this sounds good on the surface, but you need to look a little
deeper and consult with an expert attorney about these Nevada Trusts.
One thing you should be aware of if you live in Nevada and choose to
set up such a trust is that these laws are very new and haven’t been
tested. This means that ultimately they have the potential to be very
risky. It’s a given that there would be many questions if a Trust
trustee is sued in another state about a creditor’s ability to attach
assets in Nevada Trusts. If this does happen, the law may be
overturned. This is one of the main reasons you would want to talk this
over with a highly qualified Las Vegas attorney.
Just to clear up some possible confusion over how a Nevada trustee
could be sued in another state; this may happen if they live outside of
Nevada. That would mean they may be sued in whatever state they are in.
It may also be the case that assets are in another state, meaning a
lawsuit could take place in that state. If a suit was filed in another
state, the courts would be hard pressed to apply the Trust laws of the
state in which it was created. For example, if the trust was formed in
Nevada but the assets are in Florida and a suit is filed there, Florida
law may apply and the assets won’t be protected.
This situation has the potential to get even more complicated if a
lawsuit is in Federal court and the creditor is in a different state.
And, there’s more, the Asset Protection Trust is specifically designed
to delay creditors. This brings amendments to the Bankruptcy Code into
the picture which invalidates self-settled trusts created within ten
years of filing for bankruptcy.
There are a variety of permutations and combinations for the
creation of trusts that do work, but you really need to speak to an
attorney to know which ones would work in your case. You may need an
irrevocable living trust, an offshore trust, or put your assets into a
corporation. The only way to know what option to choose is to discuss
this with a lawyer who understands what would work best in your
circumstances.
Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland,
Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law,
custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.
Common Med Mal Lawsuit Areas
In actuality, there is nothing “common” about medical malpractice lawsuits, as they come in a variety of disparate areas.
If you’ve ever picked up a paper and taken a good look at the
headlines, you’ll likely see a case or two relating to medical
malpractice. At least you will if the case is large enough to garner a
fair amount of public exposure. Otherwise, many med mal lawsuits go
unreported and virtually unnoticed except for the plaintiff and
defendant.
The reality of the matter relating to how frequently medical
malpractice lawsuits are filed lies somewhere in the middle. Either
they are far more frequent than we believe and doctors have to pay out
more in liability insurance (malpractice insurance) or the numbers are
not as high as we think because many people don’t realize they have
been the victim of medical malpractice or choose not to report it for
fear of alienating their doctor. The truth at times is stranger than
fiction.
The most up-to-date statistics relating to medication errors are
from 2006, the follow-up survey done by the Institute of Medicine.
Their updated figures show that from 1999’s first report indicating
malpractice caused 98,000 deaths to 2006, the figure shot up to an
estimated 1.5 million. Obviously the problem is not getting better with
time. This particular set of numbers also showed outpatient clinics
were responsible for the largest number of mistakes and deaths than a
hospital. On the other hand when hospitals the made a mistake, they
made ones that resulted in more severe injuries.
You may be wondering what kinds of mistakes doctors and other
medical practitioners make. Generally speaking, the errors fall into
five categories: medication errors, misdiagnosis, surgical errors,
anesthesia malpractice and birth errors.
Doctors have the initial responsibility to correctly diagnose a
patient’s illness. If they don’t get it right there is a high
likelihood the treatment and/or medications will also be wrong. Failure
to diagnose breast cancer is cited in roughly 40 percent of med mal
lawsuits.
Another large percentage of med mal lawsuits are based on medication
errors, which could mean the wrong medicine entirely, an incorrect
dose, a wrong prescription or the wrong combination of drugs. These
kinds of errors will of course make the patient’s condition a great
deal worse, or in the extreme, result in wrongful death.
Birth injuries are usually caused by several things that include the
doctor failing to provide pre-natal care, not performing tests that
would show if there are any fetal abnormalities, not recognizing fetal
distress, rushing to deliver the child too soon causing injuries for
the mother and child, and providing adequate care for preemies.
Negligence in this area may cause clavicle fractures (fractured
collarbone), cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy and shoulder dystocia, etc.
During surgery, just about anything is likely to happen. In most
instances of surgical errors, negligence has played a large part in the
death or injury. Generally speaking most injuries or deaths are the
result of negligent pre-op planning and after surgery care. Other
errors include not giving the right dose of anesthesia, performing the
operation on the wrong part of the patient’s anatomy, puncturing an
internal organ and leaving instruments in the body.
Of course anesthesia is a part of surgery and this calls for
precision and a great deal of expertise in making sure the right dose
is given and there are no pre-existing conditions that may complicate
matters. The wrong dose may be fatal or cause serious long-term
difficulties for the patient.
Medical malpractice may be found in just about any setting from the
hospital to a pharmacy and from a dental office to the clinic of a
gynecologist. If you think you may be a victim of medical malpractice,
do not hesitate to contact a highly qualified medical malpractice
attorney to find out what your rights are and have your potential case
assessed.
Robert Webb is an Atlanta personal injury lawyer with Webb & D’Orazio. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta business law, Atlanta criminal defense visit, Webbdorazio.com.
Medical Malpractice Cases Founded in Medication Errors
Unfortunately there are an increasing number of medication errors
being made in hospitals and other medical settings; errors that result
in medical malpractice cases.
These figures will shock and likely dismay you. There are well over
a million people a year across the U.S. who suffer harm or death due to
medication errors. It’s these kinds of mistakes which may well lead to
a medical malpractice case or a wrongful death action. Don’t guess
which legal route you may be eligible for because these cases are
difficult to prove. Always speak to a highly skilled medical
malpractice attorney for advice and an assessment on whether you have a
solid case.
What constitutes a medication error? In a nutshell, it is any
“preventable act” that may cause or wind up causing improper medication
usage and patient injury while being cared for by a health
professional. Known also as prescription errors, these potentially
deadly slip-ups may come about as the result of poor product labeling,
the wrong orders being given, inappropriate compounding, monitoring,
administration or use and dependency. It only takes one minor mistake
handling drugs and the consequences could mean severe harm or death for
an unsuspecting patient.
Recent statistics indicate that the most common fatal blunder was
giving the wrong dose of medicine. Those figures were a whopping 41%,
with giving the wrong drug and using the wrong method of giving that
drug coming it at 16%. This information would certainly give anyone in
a care setting a great deal of pause for thought.
Unfortunately, many of the people in care are not able to question
what drug they are being given and are in essence a captive audience
being fed medications as the doctor orders. Whether or not the right
orders were given and the person administering the medication does so
in a proper manner are the other questions that may lay the foundation
for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Many medically negligent medication errors happen with people over
the age of 60 years old. The major reason for this is that many seniors
in that age bracket are on multiple medications and the chances for a
potentially fatal interaction/reaction increase exponentially. Make it
a point to check out all medications you have been told to take. Ask
about side effects and compatibility of the new medication with
existing ones. Read everything you can get your hands on about the drug
and double check the dose, when to take it, how to take it and any
other special instructions.
Being involved in your own health care is essential if you want to
minimize the chance of having something go wrong later when you are not
able to be present and alert to monitor what you are being given. If
you suspect you have been the victim of medical malpractice or a family
member died due to a medication error, contact an expert med mal
attorney well in advance of the statute of limitations running out.
Robert Webb is an Atlanta personal injury lawyer with Webb & D’Orazio. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Atlanta personal injury, Atlanta business law, Atlanta criminal defense visit, Webbdorazio.com.
