Category: Best Practices
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THE MODERN ROLE OF THE PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS APPRAISER
Today, the public views the role of the business appraiser differently. We are being scrutinized more by the legal system and public and private entities. The accumulated histories of all types of financial transactions clearly show that some evaluators of marketable securities and other business assets have lacked knowledge of more sophisticated and informed methodologies…
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No, Practice Management Software Is Not A Requirement
We all want to become more organized. It would be great if there were some sort of magic software that would allow us to organize our work and thoughts simply. Practice management software claims to be that magic. There must be hundreds of software solutions on the market for law firms. Developers see that we…
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Be Original in Choosing a Trademark
“Why can’t I use this name as a trademark? The words in the name are practically generic and there are dozens of trademarks that use them!” I frequently hear those words from clients who want to use words or terms in their trademarks and the words are already in use for similar goods and are…
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Workplace Bullying
Is It Really That Bad? First, let’s look at the data. The Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) tells us that 27% of workers have experienced bullying across industries. There are, of course distinctions to be made when talking about unkindness at work. We all have grumpy days, but if we are generally treating people well, we…
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WHEN TRUSTEES ARE SURPRISED AND TOO BUSY
This trust property sale had a few unexpected elements. First, the appointed co-trustees didn’t know each other well. And while one of them was especially surprised to be named, oddly, neither was close to the deceased. Without the trustees’ built-in perspective on the property, it required some investigation to find out about this top-floor Cow…
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The Top Four Decision-Making Frameworks For An Equally Owned Company
This article first appeared on Forbes. My law firm helps launch more than fifty legal entities a year. A question I often hear from clients is how a company should make decisions when it is equally owned by the founders. Here are the four most common approaches founders can take: 1. Require unanimous consent. The…
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The Business Appraisal Helps Build Value While Protecting Your Equity and Invested Capital
The business appraisal is one of the most misunderstood documents used in business today. What it is, how it is written, and the many ways it can be used to settle one of the ever-present realities of the marketplace. That reality is that there can be more than one value of the same clearly defined…
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The Top 7 Ways The New Tax Law Could Affect Your Startup
This article first appeared on Forbes. On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into law. The Act was the biggest change in tax laws in more than 30 years and brought about many changes for individuals and companies. Overall, we believe that the changes will benefit new…
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Don’t Unintentionally Disinherit Your Child
Leaving Your Assets to a Trusted Adult to Care for Your Child is a Mistake I recently met with a potential client who had created his estate plan just after his son was born. He had every intention of taking care of his son. But this trust cut his son out of the picture: 70…
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How to provide for loved ones who cannot or should not inherit from you
Loving people can mean taking good care of them, taking responsibility for them. In some estate-planning situations, the responsible thing to do is to make provisions, but not necessarily leave an inheritance. Many of us have family members who struggle with addiction. Assets or cash can often cause harm and in some cases may even…