Choosing a new business name is the quickest route to a do-over if there are problems with the original or you just need a corporate pick-me-up. Maybe your original idea was already owned by someone else or a PR scandal makes customers cringe. Or maybe the name you chose is hard to pronounce, gets mixed-up often, or it’s just time for a change. Whatever the reason, a new name is one of the easiest ways to rebrand a company....
There’s an app for everything these days. And the worries of artificial intelligence replacing attorneys have been around for years. But are we finally seeing an end to the human divorce lawyer? The makers of DoNotPay, a bot famous for fixing parking tickets for free, recently released 1,000 new bots into the wild, assisting people with transactional legal forms. And their next target? Your divorce. Let Me Give You Some Free Advice To be fair, our headline is a little misleading....
President Obama addressed the nation’s concerns over the sluggish economy, healthcare, and small business government help last night. As reported by U.S. News & World Report, President Obama promised a new tax credit for small businesses, more money for small business lending, and rallied against big banks for not stepping up their lending to small businesses. In the speech itself, we can see how many times President Obama actually addresses small business owners....
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has reached an agreement with a New York prosecutor’s office, under which the company will pay about $2 million and implement new post-Thanksgiving crowd-control measures at all of its New York stores, in an effort to avoid “shopper stampede” incidents like the one that killed an employee at a Wal-Mart store in New York last year. Under the deal announced today between the retail giant and New York’s Nassau County District Attorney, Wal-Mart will also avoid prosecution in connection with the death of Jdimytai Damour, a 34-year-old employee at a Wal-Mart store in Valley Stream, N....
Considering a terror threat as a joke on Twitter? You may want to think of a less legally fraught way to entertain yourself. Twitter user @queendemetriax_ probably wishes she did after American Airlines, the butt of her “joke” terror tweet, informed her that her IP address and details would be forwarded to the FBI, reports the New York Daily News. And that’s not all that’s happened to the 14-year-old Twitter user since her tweet went viral....
It may seem antiquated, but alimony – also known as spousal support – is still a major factor in divorce proceedings. Even when both spouse’s work, and even though it’s not always the male ex sending the female money, courts and divorcing parties still need to sort out alimony payments in cases where one spouse earned much more than the other, or one spouse sacrificed specific earnings or earning potential to care for children or the household....
An ex-employee lawsuit can be an expensive hassle, even if you eventually win. What are the best ways to avoid being sued by former employees? A small business owner’s strategy to prevent legal problems should begin well before you hire the employee. Setting rules early, and making sure everyone knows them, can pay off in the long run. With that in mind, here are five tips to avoid legal quarrels with workers after they leave your company:...
If there’s a silver lining in the wake of your car accident, it’s that at least you had insurance. But as the saying goes, every silver lining has a touch of grey. Filing a car insurance claim can be complicated and the process can seem never-ending. It feels like your insurance company always wants more paperwork or documentation, and you begin to wonder whose side they’re on. But if you know beforehand what your insurance company will probably want during the claims process, it could take make the system more streamlined and less stressful....
“No photography” policies sound like the province of museums, live theater, or Dr. Frankenstein revealing his monster to the public. But many retail businesses enforce no-photo policies as well. Are these policies legal? Generally speaking, yes. Your business can use a no-photo policy to protect the privacy of your customers, or even to protect your trade secrets. One justification for a “no photography” policy is that it exists to protect the privacy of other customers who don’t wish to be captured digitally or on film while shopping....
Just a few days after Florida banned imitation cocaine, there has been a bath salt death in the Sunshine State. These “bath salts” are different than the kind you put in your tub - essentially, it is imitation cocaine, and overdosing on the drug can cause death. Jairious McGhee, 23, is the first case of a bath salt overdose death nationwide, according to the St. Petersburg Times. While McGhee’s death is the first reported death, bath salts have been attributed to 2,500 calls to poison control centers across the country, according to ABC News....
External hiring decisions are important for any small business, but it may make more business sense to promote from within, a new study finds. External hires are usually more costly for a business in more ways than one, according to the study by Matthew Bidwell of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. External hires also take about two years to “get up to speed” in their new position, the study found....
When you come across a person in distress – y’know, the person drowning, choking, bleeding or burning (in the literal and not Alicia Keyes kind of way) – can you be sued for not stopping to help? In some situations, when you turn a blind eye to a person in danger, you may need to cope with pangs of guilt – and lawsuits, too. Here’s what everyone, especially Good Samaritans, need to know:...
A mysterious Chicago train crash that left dozens of people injured is also raising legal questions. An empty commuter train was parked in a service yard and somehow ended up on a rail line, then collided into an oncoming train early Monday, CNN reports. At least 48 people were injured. Luckily, they are all believed to have only minor injuries. Investigators are in the process of determining what exactly happened by looking at surveillance video and interviewing workers....
During Florida State University’s Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter meetings, members select a “brother of the week” and a “scumbag of the week.” Members would then spin a game-show style wheel to determine the latter’s punishment, ranging from cleaning the frat’s house alone, licking the chapter room floor, a free pass, or being slapped. Unfortunately for Nicholas Mauricio, he spun the last option. Another AEPi member, Oliver Walker, stood in front of Mauricio, shook his hand, and then hit him “as hard as he could,” according to witnesses, possibly with a closed fist....
A group of law enforcement officers and mortgage brokers are accused of operating a mortgage fraud ring Broward County, Florida. The cops and lawyers are accused of falsifying documents to obtain $16.5 million in loans that they used to buy and flip properties during the real estate boom, the Miami Herald reports. According to the indictment, the group submitted false documents to mortgage lenders. In addition, they falsely represented to the mortgage lenders the source of the deposits or down payments needed to close the transactions....
A great way to make a lawyer crazy is to ask the question in this headline. You may indeed have a personal injury case. But a good lawyer will not determine the merits of your case without detailed exploration. If you have been injured, and if that injury seems to stem from someone’s negligence, chances are good that you have a legitimate personal injury case. Each case varies, however, and there are slight variations in the law from state to state, so it is not wise to make broad generalizations....
Following a federal court ruling earlier this year, the FCC is once again proposing newly revised rules on net neutrality. How might the proposed rules affect you? Back in January, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC does not have the authority to prevent Internet service providers (ISPs) from selectively slowing down or blocking Web traffic. The Internet had been “neutral” before this ruling, meaning ISPs could not slow traffic down based on content....
Florida lifeguard Tomas Lopez was fired after he tried to save a man’s life – an example of how a company’s fear of liability can sometimes make waves and backfire. Lopez, 21, was hired by Jeff Ellis Management to monitor a portion of a public beach in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The company allegedly gave Lopez strict instructions to stay inside his patrol zone, ABC News reports. But when Lopez spotted a man in distress outside his patrol zone Monday afternoon, he ignored those instructions and leapt into action....
Good news for veterans-turned-entrepreneurs looking for small business financing. The federal government has launched a new program to get former service members SBA loans at little cost. In a press release, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that beginning in 2014, there will be no borrower upfront fee for loans to veterans under the SBA Express Loan program. How does this fee waiver work, and what other programs are available for veterans looking to start their small business dreams?...
Business owners big and small know the sting of attorney fees. Figuring out how to avoid astronomical legal bills might seem impossible. After all, you need lawyers to keep your company on the up and up. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be gouged along the way. Growing a business can be impossible without good cash flow. And high legal bills can delay your expansion. But fear not, there are things you can do to curb this beast....
