Part II: Engaging a Financial Advisor and the Drafting of the Engagement Letter Last month, I began a seven-part series on the legal consideration for buying, selling, or merging businesses, in which I introduced the mergers and acquisitions process, generally and briefly explaining the six most important steps: (1) engaging […]
Part I: Basic Overview of the Merger and Acquisition Process A primary goal for many start-ups and new businesses is to eventually sell the company, even if the founders intend to remain with the company. Selling your company can result in a gigantic payday and provide continued vitality for the […]
This author recently addressed the issue of deposing high level corporate officers, also known as apex employees. That blog post pointed out that, while the federal courts and some state courts have specifically adopted what is known as the “apex doctrine”, Florida’s courts have not specifically done so; our courts mostly follow the tenets of the doctrine, but it has not specifically been adopted, and some courts decline to follow that principle.
You have created your business plan and now you are ready to put your plan into motion and start your own company. The next step is to consider which business structure suits your business. A business can be structured as a sole-proprietorship, partnership, limited partnership, corporation, S-corporation, or a limited liability company. The limited liability company structure boasts many advantages, but also brings with it some disadvantages to consider.
A well thought out and properly drafted LLC operating agreement will deliver deadlock-breaking mechanisms that will aid the members of LLCs in avoiding the need for expensive, prolonged, and disrupting litigation. However, if the operating agreement fails to deliver deadlock-breaking mechanisms or these mechanisms fail, resorting to the judiciary and alternative dispute resolution offers members flexible substitutes to achieve a resolution through adversary proceedings.
Once the creditor obtains a decree from the court that the debtor made a fraudulent transfer, the creditor may collect on its claim under Florida’s Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (“FUFTA”), which provides creditors with various remedies. See a previous blog post on the various remedies under FUFTA, Remedies for Creditors […]
Starting a new business can be both incredibly exciting and substantially stressful, and many entrepreneurs hastily begin business without considering many important legal considerations in starting up. However, with legal guidance and proper planning, starting a new business can be easy, effortless (sort of), and smooth.
Service of process is likely an issue about which many attorneys and parties don’t give much thought; it’s a standard procedure conducted hundreds if not thousands of times a day across the country, and is usually done through a professional process server. However, when attorneys deviate from the standard procedure of sending a lawsuit to a process server and allowing them to effectuate service, whether due to cost or strategic considerations, it is easy to run afoul of the Florida and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Creditors may become frustrated when they discover a debtor has engaged in an unfair transaction that hampers their ability to collect payment. However, creditors are not without remedy in the event that there has been some funny business with the debtor’s finances. Regardless of the debtor’s intentions behind the questionable […]
In a contingency case there are certain circumstances in which an attorney’s fee award can be increased through the use of a multiplier from 1.5 to 2.5.[1] Recent cases have limited the applicability of the use of a multiplier in Florida. However, careful navigation of the current case law gives some guidance of the types of cases in which a multiplier is appropriate and in which a multiplier is not appropriate.