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We’re guessing you didn’t go into business to get buried in paperwork. You may be thinking that a bunch of legalese will only bog your startup down, but the right set of contracts will serve to clarify things down the road. And putting the work in early will only mean a clearer path to success ahead. Clear and concise contracts can be the difference between smooth sailing and a storm of litigation, so here are five tips regarding startup contracts, from our archives:...

The surplus of students looking for summer work can be a boon for your small business. But if not hired and handled properly, summer employees can be more trouble than they’re worth. The summer months can also offer new challenges for your year-round staff. So how do you get summer hires right, and take care of your employees during the summer? Here are some tips for hiring, supervising, and paying summer employees, from our archives:...

You don’t have to be a complete control freak for the idea of self-driving cars to terrify you. And even if the technology would actually make our roads safer in the long run, a new tragedy out of Tempe, Arizona involving a pedestrian is sure to ignite another round of debates over the wisdom of allowing these test vehicles on our roads just yet. An Uber test vehicle, driving in autonomous mode, hit and killed a pedestrian in Tempe on Sunday....

Hot on the heels of a report showing a correlation (not causation, guys, don’t worry) between using Viagra and developing melanoma, comes a growing number of lawsuits against Pfizer, the maker of the erectile dysfunction medication. So many, in fact, that the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is holding a hearing to consider whether to coordinate all of the national litigation against the Viagra manufacturer. So what are the risks, and what do you need to know about the expanding litigation?...

There can be a million reasons why someone who witnessed a crime doesn’t testify at a suspect’s criminal trial. Fear of reprisal is an obvious one, or maybe the person legitimately doesn’t want to see the defendant prosecuted or possibly jailed. Perhaps the witness has moral objections to the criminal justice system generally or the way the particular case was handled, and doesn’t want to cooperate. Or it could be something as simple as not being properly advised – via subpoena or other means – about the details of the trial or case....

It’s pretty well settled by now that employers can’t discriminate based on race. But that doesn’t mean that racial discrimination in the workplace doesn’t happen. The hard part can be identifying discrimination when it happens and then proving it in a complaint or a lawsuit. So what are your legal options if a current or prospective employer discriminated against you based on your race, and when can you exercise them?...

You’re just sitting at a stoplight and BAM, you’re rear-ended. Not just that, but you get pushed into the car in front of you. Does that mean you’re liable for the other car’s damages? How do you figure out who is at fault for a multi-car pileup? There are a few options, depending on the law in your state: Traditional Negligence Liability In any traffic accident, liability is determined by negligence....

If you want in a divorce in Wyoming, you may have to wait a year to get one if a new bill is passed. If passed, the bill would require that divorcing couples complete 3 hours of premarital counseling at their own expense. If couples choose to forgo the counseling requirement, they will be required to wait one year before they can obtain a divorce. In a state that has one of the highest rates of divorce since 2004, the proposed legislation is intended to allow couples in Wyoming a chance to understand the consequences of marriage and divorce....

With Mother’s Day approaching, sons and daughters nationwide are thinking of the best way to show their appreciation. Finding new ideas to impress your mom can be tough. But perhaps the best way to care for your aging Mom is to take care of her legal issues. And no, that doesn’t mean pay off any pending lawsuits against her. Though that’d be nice (other than your Mom being sued, of course)....

Abercrombie & Fitch is back in the spotlight in an employment discrimination matter. This time, a case has been brought by a Muslim teenager who wears a head scarf known as a hijab. She claims that she was denied a job at the Abercrombie & Fitch retail location in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June 2008 for practicing her religious belief by wearing the scarf. Samantha Elauf filed the case with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in U....

Throughout its existence, Airbnb has been plagued with reports of racial discrimination and profiling by hosts. While the company has taken action to ban some discriminatory hosts (as recently as last month), an agreement signed with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing might be the online rental platform’s biggest move yet to combat racial profiling. Under the agreement, Airbnb will submit to fair housing testing and allow the DFEH to audit hosts for racial bias in part by creating fake renter profiles....

Suppose you are golfing with a buddy and you hit a bad shot. A really, really bad shot. As in, you hit him in the head and he goes blind in one eye. Is that your fault? Are you legally responsible? The New York Court of Appeals is set to decide just that issue, in a case that will revolve around a concept known as assumption of risk. Under assumption of risk, a plaintiff cannot sue for injuries caused by a risk which is inherent in the activity....

Breastfeeding on an airplane seems no different than any other place. After all, mothers today commonly nurse in public without a problem. Remember when singer Beyonce was praised for nursing her daughter in a New York restaurant? The issue of breastfeeding on airplanes, however, has led to some embarrassing and controversial incidents. A Few Notable Cases Back in 2006, a woman and her family were kicked off a Delta Airlines flight because she was breastfeeding....

When the police let someone off with a warning, and that person ends up causing harm, are the police liable for not doing their jobs? This question is often the center of much heated debate. For example, the parents of Toni Anderson, a deceased 20-year-old college sophomore, are reportedly contemplating a lawsuit over an officer’s failure to arrest their daughter for DUI in early 2017. Toni was pulled over while clearly intoxicated....

It may sound far-fetched, but when you consider that over 2.5 billion people worldwide live within Zika danger zones, wondering if you can get compensated for contracting the virus on the job is a legitimate concern. The Florida Fraternal Order of Police seems to think so, as the police union has requested that Sunshine State workers’ compensation coverage be extended to first responders who come into contact with Zika while working....

A boy missing from Alabama for 13 years turned up in Cleveland this week. Julian Hernandez, 18, discovered himself on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database when applying to colleges, USA Today reported. This information soon led him to his mother. He had not seen her since his father disappeared with him 13 years ago. The Parents Today Over a decade ago, the boy’s mother – her name has not been released – reported that the father was supposed to take him to preschool but disappeared....

It’s easy to name businesses that have escalators. Malls, airports, and hotels all have these fixtures installed for the convenience of their customers. But who’s liable for escalator accidents? Should mall owners liable for escalator injuries? Escalator accidents can occur either because of the passenger or because of a mechanical failure. Sudden or unexpected “jerky” movements can send passengers flying down the escalator. A passenger’s clothes or jewelry can sometimes get caught in an escalator’s moving parts....

Jared Kopeloff of Flushing, Queens was just minding his business while skateboarding when he was slashed in the throat by a stray kite wire that was encrusted with glass shards. The kite wire is used in a sport made popular by the book The Kite Runner. It is a South Asian sport that is particularly popular in the Afghani community in Flushing and is commonly played in Flushing Meadow Park. It uses strings encrusted with shards of glass in order to cut opponents’ kites in what is known as “kite fighting....

One of the cornerstones of our national success is the requirement that all children regularly attend school. Except in Hawaii, not on Fridays. In the state with the shortest school year of any in the country (just 163 days of instruction a year), due to severe school budget cuts, Aloha Friday is now furlough Friday. Parents are furious, and the result has been two suits brought against the Department of Education for the State of Hawaii....

With a new slight jobless claims rise, you can expect that more Americans need to know how to file an unemployment benefits claim. BusinessWeek recently reported that jobless claims in the U.S. jumped to 11,000 in early January. This is a slight jump in claims after weeks of claims dropping. ABC News reports that 434,000 people filed first-time claims, up by only 1,000 from the week before. The data also suggests that employers are not hiring....