| April Edition - Inaugural Issue |
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| | | | Welcome to the inaugural issue of “Legal Briefing,” FSG’s periodic firm-wide newsletter. This communication is another tool that we will use to inform our clients and colleagues of recent legal developments and useful concepts to help manage their business and personal affairs. |
| In this issue:
- Article: “Infringement of Intellectual Property,” by Bryan M. Friedman (discover the boundaries to minimize financial exposure)
- Article: “Selling Your Business: How to Bridge the Seller vs. Buyer Price Gap?”, by Martin C. Groh (creative thinking can yield large dividends for sellers)
- Recent Engagements: To help clients understand ways that we can help them besides current matters, we briefly describe engagements of interest. In this issue, we discuss “Wage & Hour Class Action” lawsuits.
- Practice Profile: As a full-service business law firm, FSG represents its clients in a wide variety of business transactions and civil litigation. This month we profile our Corporate & Business Practice Group’s services.
Please let me know of your feedback, as well as any specific topics that you’d like to see addressed. We look forward to hearing from you.
James D. Stroffe, Managing Shareholder
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| | Article: Selling Your Business: How to Bridge the Seller vs. Buyer Price Gap? |
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There comes a time when a business owner wants to take advantage of his/her hard work and is ready to cash out of the business. However, even when a buyer is found there are valuation issues and a number of legal concerns to address in order to protect the owner. What can you do when a purchase price cannot be agreed upon? Written by Martin C. Groh, this story is based on a true-story client dialogue. Read the full article.
Marty chairs the firm’s Tax & Estate Planning Practice Group. Contact Marty with any questions at mgroh@fsglawyers.com or 949.265.1109.
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| | Article: Infringement of Intellectual Property |
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| Shop-eat-surf.com, a leading on-line source of business news and information for action sports executives, recently published an article by FSG shareholder Bryan Friedman. In the article “Infringement of Intellectual Property” Bryan explains:
“It is important for the creative people in the industry to understand the boundaries of fair interpretation, and not infringe on other people’s intellectual property. In recent years the following infringements have given rise to numerous claims and large financial liability …” He then discusses key facts to know about trademarks, copyright and personal likeness. Read the full article.
Bryan M. Friedman is a shareholder of FSG. and chairs the firm’s Corporate and Business Practice Group. he can be contacted at bfriedman@fsglawyers.com or 949.265.1106.
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| | Recent Engagements
Wage & Hour Class Action
Our Employment & Labor Practice Group has spent much of the last two years handling numerous large class action lawsuits in which current and former employees have sued employers based on their failure to comply with California’s very technical legal requirements concerning meal and rest breaks. These requirements are a very common trap for the unwary employer, even when making good faith attempts at compliance. The damages claimed at the outset of these cases are often overwhelming for the employer and it is not unusual for initial damages analysis to reveal potential liability in the millions of dollars. Employers may also be liable for the employees’ attorneys’ fees in these cases. Not uncommonly, the attorneys’ fees are equal to, or sometimes even greater than, the amount of damages claimed by class members.
One of the common issues in these cases is the inadvertent failure of the employer to have the precise technical language now required by California law incorporated into its meal and rest break policies and employee handbook. In light of this current wave of class actions focused on these issues, it makes good business sense for all clients to have their meal and rest break policies, as well as their employee handbook, reviewed by employment law counsel without delay.
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| | Practice Profile: Corporate & Business
At FSG, our Corporate & Business Practice Group provides a complete range of services to assist businesses in their day-to-day operations, from the routine to the complex. We strive to provide practical solutions to the wide variety of legal issues facing our business clients.
FSG’s Corporate & Business Practice Group handles all types of business transactions, including general business advice, contract negotiations, dealing with financial challenges, strategic acquisitions, as well as the restructuring or sale of businesses. Our attorneys have considerable experience and expertise in broad and varied legal and business issues, which proves valuable in counseling and assisting businesses of all sizes and types from start-up to maturity. We pride ourselves on our ability to deal quickly and efficiently, on a cost-effective basis, with all types of business issues. To learn more, click here. |
| | About FSG
Friedman Stroffe & Gerard, P.C. ("FSG") is a full-service business law firm representing domestic and foreign clients in a wide variety of business transactions and litigation since 1996. Our primary objective is to achieve our client's business goals through providing superior personalized service in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
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