Articles Posted in Business Law

A cause of action for replevin is a valuable tool to recover property that is wrongfully retained by another. For businesses, replevin can be useful in recovering company property that a former employee or business partner wrongfully possesses and refuses to return. “[R]eplevin is a possessory statutory action at law in which the main issue…

It is common for businesses to enter into vendor-customer relationships with other business. One business might regularly purchase a product or service with another business. In exchange, the vendor will periodically invoice the customer for the product or service. If the customer stops paying the invoices, or otherwise accumulates a large debt in arrears, Florida…

Indemnity is an important tool for businesses to cover their expenses in litigation should the need arise. Indemnity is a duty to cover the losses, damages, or liability of another. A claim for indemnity often arises when a party is forced to litigate a matter due to the actions of another party. You can imagine…

The Federal Trade Commission’s rule banning most non-compete agreements is now before a federal appellate court. On May 7, 2024, the FTC proposed a rule that would have banned most non-compete agreements. This rule would have substantially impacted many businesses because non-compete agreements are used to prohibit employees from using the company’s information to compete…

Many employers attempt to comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and treat all employees equally based on their protected statuses. Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on race, color, sex, religion, and national origin. Notwithstanding, employers sometimes have to contend with unmeritorious Title VII lawsuits…

Purchasing a business can be a complicated matter. Multiple documents such as contracts promissory notes, and financial schedules may can obligate the parties in different ways during the sales process. Sometimes a business sale goes bad. Maybe the buyer or seller wants to back out or a party does not comply with its contractual obligations.…

A lawsuit is generally considered over once a litigant obtains judgment in its favor assuming no appeal is taken and no post-judgment collection issues exist. However, the losing party is often left unsatisfied. Therefore, the loser may try to “re-do” the lawsuit by suing the defendant again using slightly different claims or lodging the lawsuit…

It is important that businesses classifying workers as independent contractors ensure they are properly classified. Whether workers are independent contractors can have important implications for various federal and state statutes. For example, if a worker is an independent contractor, the business does not have to pay them overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Many…

Non-compete agreements have received significant attention this year after the Federal Trade Commission issued a rule on April 23, 2024, banning most employee non-compete agreements. The rule was scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2024. However, on August 20, 2024, a court in the United States District Court for the Northern District of…

Many businesses require employees, independent contractors, and others to sign restrictive covenants. Common restrictive covenants are non-compete covenants prohibiting competition with the business, non-solicitation covenants prohibiting solicitation of the businesses’ customers and employees, and non-disclosure covenants preventing the disclosure of certain company information. However, these covenants have certain restrictions on enforceability. Some of those restrictions…