Can You Work for a Company After Suing? Legal Considerations to Weigh

Finding The Optimal Small Business Attorney In Maryland

Reasons You Need A MD Business Attorney

As a small business owner, your success is just as tied to the legal side of your industry as it is to the financial and market-oriented elements. Even minor legal oversights can have financial ramifications for your company and may even put it at significant risk if litigation occurs. By retaining a dedicated small business lawyer, you can avoid these issues.
There are several legal pitfalls that could await your new company. The legal structure you choose for your business will have a direct effect on how taxes are structured, the liability of the owners and other essential elements of the company. In the event of a dispute, having an understanding of the legalities of the matter and possible avenues for recourse is critical. Here are a few ways that working with a small business attorney can help you avoid potential legal problems:
Legal counsel can guide you on how to best protect your business and its owners as you operate. This can include the best way to form your business, what kind of contracts you should enter into with vendors or clients, and how to deal with taxes. A lawyer will understand the local laws that can affect your rights, and help you ensure you don’t miss any important requirements.
A small business attorney can be an invaluable partner as you form your company and begin to hire employees. Making sure that you comply with various legal requirements , from labor laws to medical benefits, is critical to avoid costly fines and penalties. Having a lawyer on your side to keep you on track with all your obligations is vital.
Depending on the demand for your business, employees can make up the backbone of your organization. As a company owner, it is your role to ensure they’re protected and understand their rights. This includes ensuring that they’re paid fairly, and are protected against discrimination from their colleagues or your company.
Guidance from a lawyer can help with various aspects of patents and trade secrets. For example, if you have information that shouldn’t be shared with others, having the correct non-disclosure agreements in place is essential to prevent leaks. You also need to provide your employees and other individuals with who might have access to certain information the proper legal language that protects you from them sharing your intellectual property.
Every small business has complex operations and unique circumstances. Working with a small business attorney allows you to address your specific risks and operating procedures to avoid falling prey to legal matters that could cause you significant trouble.

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What is Banking Law?

The financial industry is heavily regulated by the federal government and each individual state. However, most of the banking laws are created at the federal level, and then the states may impose additional regulations on top of the federal laws. Banking law generally includes information on how banks are formed , the amount of reserves a bank must hold, who may run a bank (including limits on how many banks a person may run), how bank mergers or acquisitions are handled, whether a customer can seek arbitration to resolve a problem with the bank and how to deposit insurance from the FDIC is paid out if the bank fails.

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A Quick Primer on Kentucky Harassment Laws

Harassment law in Kentucky is codified in two specific provisions of Kentucky’s criminal code: KRS 525.070 and KRS 525.080. Within the criminal context, harassment has different requirements and is a different crime than sexual harassment. Sexual harassment, usually associated with dozens of civil lawsuits in all forms of employment, is not a criminal offense. These two criminal statutes in Kentucky for harassment are designed to protect the public from unwanted contact and physical intimidation. They do not go as far as to prohibit the use of derogatory names or slurs; however, indirectly, they do prohibit this conduct when coupled with other unwanted contact.
The first criminal offense, KRS 525.070, defines harassment, "A person is guilty of harassment when, with the intent to intimidate, harass, annoy, abuse, or alarm another person, he or she: (a) Communicates with another under circumstances that cause alarm to the person and serve no purpose of legitimate communication; or (b) makes a telephone call, whether or not conversation ensues , with no purpose of legitimate communication; or (c) makes an electronically communicated communication that either (I) Is an invitation to engage in sexual activity; or (ii) threatens to inflict injury or physical harm to any person or property; or (iii) Accuses any person of any crime or implies that he or she has committed a crime; or (iv) Subjects the other person to offensive physical contact; or (v) Creates a reasonable belief of handling physical harm."
The second criminal offense, KRS 525.080 makes it a crime for a person, "to communicate to or about another person, in a threatening or intimidating manner, any words, drawings, diagrams, or acts, including graffiti, or by causing the same to be communicated in an obviously threatening and intentionally intimidating manner." Both KRS 525.070 and KRS 525.080 are Class B misdemeanors in Kentucky. In Kentucky, a Class B misdemeanor is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and $250 in fines (KRS 534.030).
In contrast to these criminal laws for harassment, sexual harassment in Kentucky is governed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which is enforced by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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State Laws on Window Tinting in Alaska

Window Tint Darkness in Alaska
The Alaska Factory Window Tint Law states that cars may not be tinted darker than 70% (or 30% visible light transmission). This means that 30% or less of the available light may be blocked by the combined film and factory tint. If your vehicle has a darker factory tint you can have your window tinting applied in a manner that will not make the darkness any darker than is legally permitted.
The front side windows must let in over 70% of the available light, meaning they must have a light transmittance of over 70%. The back side windows must be able to transmit over 70% of available light. The law for the rear window does not stipulate a legal limit , however there may be restrictions imposed by local ordinances making it illegal to have a mirror finish on passenger vehicles.
The ANSI standard specifies that to meet the distribution within the visible light range requires using a combined film and glass VLT of 35 percent. This means that if your window already provides over 70% VLT such as factory tinted windows, the VLT for your film cannot be more than 20%. As manufacturers typically manufacture films to have a minimum of 5% VLT, you are limited to a film that matches your factory tint.
All windshields must allow over 70% of the light into the driver’s side, meaning really no tinting on the windshield is allowed in Alaska. In one test we conducted, we found that the actual amount of tint allowed on factory tinted glass was 80% as opposed to the 70% amount of visible light transmittance.

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Legal Language

Legal documents, often dense and complex, rely heavily on the specific language used to convey meaning, intent, and obligations. One small word like "and" can significantly alter the interpretation of a clause, shifting an intent from an inclusive to an exclusive, or changing the meaning of the document entirely. Like many other prescriptive aspects of legal language, the conjunctive "and," typically intended as a connector between two or more logical arguments, issues, instances or items, can be viewed or interpreted in different ways depending upon the circumstances. In one context, it can be a straightforward conjunctive that is a simple connector. In another context, it can be an integrative element that qualifies or changes the intent of a preceding or subsequent clause. In yet another context, it is an inclusive adjective, meaning "all" or "entirely necessary." While the term is ubiquitous in most contracts, not every state adheres to the same interpretation, and only some sets of model rules prescribe clarity in expression.
In the 1985 case of Schott v. Lovelace (159 CAL. Rptr. 179), decided by the California Court of Appeals, a dispute arose from a divorce where a court had found that an agreement not to sell a certain family business until the youngest child turned 18 required the spouses to sell their interests in the company within four and one-half years, rather than later as argued by the majority. In its conclusion, the court noted that "and" was used in two different meanings in the business agreement: to connect the number of childsupport payments (15) and the date they were to expire (when the youngest child turns 18), and also to limit the distribution of assets among the parties . While the court opined that the first instance was clearly conjunctive and would have been clear in the absence of any other matter (145), it held that the second instance was used to separate or limit each side’s entitlement to the family business and was part of a larger, express agreement. Therefore, "the evidence does not support the contrary conclusion that the parties had used the word ‘and’ in the conjunctive sense, requiring the husband to sell his interest when the eldest child reached age 18 and his ex-wife to sell hers when the youngest child reached age 18." Id.
In the majority of cases where the word "and" has created controversy, however, the party protesting against the use of the word "and" as a conjunctive has prevailed. In Louisiana and judicial interpretations of phrases combining "and" in the conjunctive and the disjunctive ("or") seem widely accepted (Thompson v. Morgan, 35 So. 289 (La. 1903), Russell Land Co. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco, 627 So. 2d 196 (La. App. 1993), Geyman v. Geyman, 387 So. 2d 1336 (La. 1980), and Dore v. Police Jury (1954)). Similarly, Connecticut evolution through multiple cases has set the standard and provided the test for contractual interpretation in that state. On the federal level, in United States v. Kardonsky (30 F. Supp. 453 (W. Dist. Pa., 1939)), a court held that the use of "and" in the conjunctive is to be literally construed as joining two elements unless statute or legislative history requires otherwise, citing similar provisions in Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. (513 U.S. 561 (1995) (providing similarly that the use of "and" in the conjunctive "presumptively means both").

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What Do Business Lawyers Do?

For many business owners, the time to hire a lawyer comes only when faced with a lawsuit or other legal conflict—but if you want to avoid serious future problems, you should seek out an experienced business lawyer much earlier in the process.
Failing to do so means potentially getting into serious trouble later on—incurring liability for business details you didn’t understand or on contractual obligations you were previously unaware of.
Some of the most common responsibilities of business lawyers include:
Business law is a broad practice area, and because of that there are many different types of lawyers available. In Maryland, we have lawyers who specialize in nonprofit law, small business law, intellectual property law, employment law, consumer rights law and many other niche practice areas.
But where does commercial and corporate law fit in? The terms business law, commercial law and corporate law are essentially synonyms. Although there are some aspects of corporate law that are distinct from other forms of business law, both handling LLCs and small/midsize corporations are considered to be prime examples of commercial and corporate law.
When your company has only a handful of employees, it may not be necessary to audit every single one of your standard contracts. However, these contracts need to be prepared correctly , and a business lawyer can help ensure this happens. These contracts are integral to your financial future and your ability to navigate conflicts in business.
Often times, entrepreneurs and other businesses use large-scale contract template providers. This is not to say that the drafts and templates offered by those services are not useful—they are often extremely helpful in saving time—but they are almost always worth at least reviewing by a business attorney. The attorney will be able to offer insight on what provisions of the contract are important to focus on, including potential liability issues.
Your business may be running smoothly now, but at any point you could come across a conflict with a client, a partner or a vendor that demands an escalation to the legal level. Experienced business lawyers can help you navigate these processes successfully, addressing the issue before it becomes a full-blown dispute.
Typically, the first step is mediation, during which the parties involved in the situation can discuss issues and see if they can find a resolution without needing to involve legal action. Your business lawyer can help you determine the best approach for the situation.
Should a dispute end up being completely unavoidable and lead to litigation, your business lawyer will effectively be your legal advocate, working to present your case and get you favorable outcomes.

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Attending Your Second Court Appearance: What To Expect

The Purpose of a Second Court Appearance

A second court appearance is generally one that occurs after the initial appearance, or arraignment. While the two terms are often used interchangeably, the first appearance is just the arraignment for the immediate criminal charges against you, while the second appearance can serve many purposes.
Often, it is used to conclude plea negotiations, some type of pretrial hearings, or possibly the actual trial (if that is how you have opted to have the case proceed). In this second appearance, your attorney can expect to follow that through to conclusion, adding any other hearings or procedures that may be relevant to the case . Once that has come to a conclusion, it could be an acquittal, or you could end up being sentenced, which means that a third appearance in front of the judge would be necessary, depending on how formal the sentence is.
Whether your case is prosecuted by the district attorney’s office or any federal prosecutor, this second step is often the point when there are essentially no more pre-trial hearings necessary, in that the case is either coming to a conclusion one way or another, or the trial is about to begin.

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Legal Terminology for Disposal

The general legal definition of "disposal" within the context of secondary materials is the action of discarding or emplacing the secondary material. In many cases, disposal is implied where the secondary material is discarded in any manner other than recycling, reuse, or reclamation. As such, in the context of EPA’s hazardous substance programs, disposal implicates the term "waste."
Disposal has the following definition in several different legal systems:
United States (RCRA) "Disposal" includes, but is not limited to burning or incineration, landfilling, placing on the land, including but not limited to underground injection or land application, recycling, treatment prior to recycling, and treatment prior to or in lieu of disposal. 40 C.F.R. §261.2; 55 Fed.Reg. 22640, 22655 (June 3 , 1990).
Malaysia (Customs) "Disposal" means to send out of, deliver out of, or to personally deal with any good by way of exercise of the right of ownership or part with possession or intercession thereof outside Malaysia. Act 25/1988: Customs Act 1976, Art. 2.
New Zealand (Hazardous Substances & New Organisms) Disposal means … (a) to deposit anything into or onto land or water; or (b) to allow anything to remain in or on land or waters; or (c) to discharge anything to air; and to dispose of has a corresponding meaning. Hazardous Substances & New Organisms Act 1996 §2.
Korea (Solvent Management Act) "Disposal" means a transfer to a site or furnace for incineration, landfill, recycling, or any other act of discarding or emplacing the waste into the environment or otherwise making it unusable. Law No. 7118 (1995), Article 2, item 9.

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Legal Definition of Rest for Workers

Rest periods between work shifts refer to time when an employee is not scheduled to work for a certain amount of time between the end of one shift and the start of the next. While many employers schedule as many hours as their employees are available to work, there are state and federal laws regarding the minimum rest period a provision and/or a maximum number of hours an employer can schedule an employee to work. However, the amount of rest time a particular employee may be entitled to can vary significantly based on state and federal laws . For example, certain states require a minimum of 8 hours under these circumstances. Others can limit the maximum number of hours required between shifts and/or limit the number of consecutive workdays a person can work.
Labor laws exist to prevent employers from abusing their working hours so that employee fatigue, injuries and exhaustion are never a concern. Not only does this protect worker health and safety, if a worker is injured after being worked for an extended period of time, it can result in costly workers’ compensation claims against the employer.

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Understanding Timeshare Agreements: Things to Know

What is a Timeshare Agreement?

A timeshare agreement is a legally binding contract between a timeshare company or resort and an individual — the timeshare owner. Essentially, the agreement gives the owner the right to occupy a specified unit during a designated interval each year (or at another specified time). Under existing timeshare laws, the right of occupancy must be guaranteed for a minimum of ten years.
The purpose of a timeshare agreement is to establish in writing the contractual requirements and benefits associated with the ownership of a timeshare. Timeshare agreements may also accurately describe the obligations and/or assessments that timeshare owners may incur during a particular interval and the use and maintenance arrangements associated with unit occupancy .
There are several types of timeshare agreements, including: "Right to Use" (RTU) or "Use and Occupancy" agreements allow the timeshare owner to use and occupy a unit for a specified length of time.
Timeshare management agreements may allow a timeshare company to market, manage or maintain the unit in exchange for a fee.
Many timeshare agreements contain a "Right of First Refusal" provision, which requires the timeshare company to offer the unit back to existing timeshare owners before the timeshare owner is free to sell the unit for a certain price to a third party.

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Finding The Optimal Small Business Attorney In Maryland

Reasons You Need A MD Business Attorney

Finding the Right Banking Law Attorney in Your Area

What is Banking Law?

What You Need to Know About Harassment Laws in Kentucky

A Quick Primer on Kentucky Harassment Laws

Understanding Automotive Window Tint in Alaska

State Laws on Window Tinting in Alaska

The Legal Significance of ‘And’: Meaning and Interpretations