Interviewing an Attorney

Once you have identified a handful of lawyers who might suit your needs (perhaps they are in your neighborhood, or specialize in a certain type of case), you may be able to set up an initial consultation on the telephone so that you can ask some preliminary questions before you commit yourself to a formal, in-person interview. Ideally, the answers you get will help you screen candidates until you have only a few lawyers to interview. To help you choose a lawyer, it might also be a good idea to write down any answers you get. You can compare the answers to help you choose the lawyer(s) you would like to interview.

Some initial questions you might ask include:

• Does the lawyer provide a free consultation? If the lawyer charges for an initial interview, how much does it cost? How long is the initial interview or consultation?
  
• What type of fee arrangement does the lawyer require? Can you negotiate the fees? Additional information about legal fees and costs may help you ask additional questions on this topic.
  
• Has the lawyer handled similar cases? What percentage of the lawyer's cases are similar to yours? When was the last time the lawyer handled a similar case?
  
• How long has the lawyer been in practice? Where is the lawyer licensed to practice? Has the lawyer been investigated or disciplined before by state licensing authorities? If so, for what?
  
• Can the lawyer provide references from other clients?
  
• If the lawyer cannot handle your case, can the lawyer provide references to other lawyers?
  
• What type of information should you bring to a meeting with the lawyer?
  
• What is the range of possible outcomes for your case, including rough estimates of time and cost? Based on your brief description of the problem, your lawyer may be able to provide some general estimates.
  
• Will the lawyer handle the case or will others work on it also?
  
• What type of caseload does the lawyer currently have? What is the scope of the lawyer's existing commitments? Will the lawyer have sufficient time to devote to your case?

If you are able to narrow down your choices, you should be able to make an appointment with a lawyer to discuss the case in detail. During the initial interview you will likely be asked about the specifics of your case. In order to prepare for the meeting, you should gather all the information (documents, contact information) pertinent too your situation. You will want to bring those materials, along with a set of questions about the legal relationship you may have to the meeting.

See Century City Law Firm

What the Healthcare Bill Means for Small Businesses.

The House of Representatives last night passed the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), as well as the Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4872).

While the final details are being ironed out, now the big question is: what does that mean for small businesses?

The biggest change is that employers with more than 50 full-time equivalents (FTE’s) will be considered large employers. Therefore, the most essential compliance step is for you to identify how many full time employees (about 40 hours) or FTE’s you have working for you. Employers near the magic number of 50 FTE’s will have to make sure you accurately count your employees. Keep records for each non-exempt worker, and certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned.

Once you understand your employee count, you can determine your options or penalty calculations. You may want to analyze your employee count on a quarterly or monthly schedule based on how close you are to the federal goal post of 50 FTE’s.

Employer coverage mandate (”pay or play”)

Large employers will have to make available to all employees a minimum level of coverage or pay a per-employee penalty (fee). Employers will not be required to provide coverage for part-time employees, but these employees may be counted as partial employees for purposes of determining whether an employer has 50 employees. The bill is still unclear as to how employees will be counted and what formula will be used, but it looks like the real “number” to be counted will be a baseline of total hours worked by all employees. For that reason, keep accurate time records as described above. If the employer offers coverage but employees are forced to purchase insurance through the state-based exchanges because the employer’s coverage is not affordable, the employer must pay separate fees. This “Pay or Play” provision goes live in 2014 upon the creation of the state-based exchanges. Once the exchange is established, it can:

- Assess employers with more than 50 FTE’s that do not offer coverage and have at least one full-time employee who receives a premium tax credit a fee of $2,000 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees from the assessment. For example, an employer with 50 employees will pay a penalty of $40,000 (20 times $2,000) for not offering coverage.

- Employers with more than 50 FTE’s that offer coverage but have at least one full-time employee receiving a premium tax credit, will pay the lesser of $3,000 for each employee receiving a premium credit or $750 for each full-time employee. (Effective January 1, 2014)

- Exempt employers with 50 or fewer FTE’s from any of the above penalties.

- Require employers that offer coverage to their employees to provide a free choice voucher to employees with incomes less than 400 percent federal poverty level whose share of the premium exceeds 8 percent but is less than 9.8 percent of their income and who choose to enroll in a plan in the Exchange. The voucher amount is equal to what the employer would have paid to provide coverage to the employee under the employer’s plan, and will be used to offset the premium costs for the plan in which the employee is enrolled. Employers providing free choice vouchers will not be subject to penalties for employees that receive premium credits in the Exchange. (Effective January 1, 2014)

Creation of state healthcare exchanges

Small businesses and individuals would have the choice of buying health insurance through state-based exchanges. The exchanges are expected to offer easy-to-understand competitive benefits at affordable prices. Some small businesses and individuals may be eligible to receive credits toward the purchase of insurance through the exchanges. The exchanges will begin in 2014.

Limitation on employee contributions to healthcare flexible spending account

Employees would be limited to an annual contribution of $2,500 to health care flexible spending accounts. One downside is that employers would no longer be permitted to reimburse employees for over-the-counter medication under flexible spending arrangements. For example, over-the-counter cough and allergy medicine that can now be paid under flexible spending arrangements will now be paid out of pocket by employees with post-tax dollars. This provision is effective at the beginning of 2011 in the Senate bill, but the House bill would delay the effective date to 2013.

Elimination of preexisting condition exclusions and lifetime limits

Group health plans and insurers will no longer be permitted to exclude coverage for preexisting conditions or place lifetime limits on coverage. Lifetime limits are prohibited effective six months after enactment of the legislation. Preexisting conditions exclusions must be eliminated for dependent children within six months of enactment and must be completely eliminated by 2014.

See Reuters and Employment for more details.  

Juris Law Group Continues it's Green Initiative - Alliance with Green World Campaign (www.greenworld.org)

Juris Law Group through an alliance with the Green World Campaign (www.greenworld.org) is spearheading a goal for the firm, its attorneys and clients to collectively pledge to plant as many trees as we cut down each year for paper. The firm has already implemented green strategies, such as having paperless offices and absolute digital files. As a green organization, we firmly stand by the mission of the Green World Campaign to plant trees in environmentally damaged areas, creating sustainable villages, restoring indigenous ecologies, and mitigating our climate crisis. 

The Green World Campaign poses a challenging question: "What can we accomplish as global citizens if we really put our minds to it?" The answer for this next-generation law firm is, "Just about anything."

Juris Law Group's adaptability and progressive approach equates to more business opportunities for everyone – our firm, our colleagues and most importantly, our clients.

Our commitment to having a flexible, cost-conscious infrastructure with highly competitive rates and customized billing arrangements is a natural fit for addressing today’s economic circumstances. We are able to provide exceptional, professional service at reasonable rates as a result of the experience and efficiency of our attorneys, their specialized focus, and because we do not engage in excessive staffing, associate turnover, or needless duplication of work.

In consideration of the synergy between our clients’ requirements and our personalized approach to meeting the need for the highest caliber of innovative, collaborative representation, we propose customized alternate fee arrangements as is appropriate for your circumstances.

Samplings of the inventive approaches to billing that can be put to work for your organization include:

• A versatile, collaborative approach to navigating solutions.

We are not only willing to partner with other firms as needed, but we guarantee access to the full extent of experience and knowledge each attorney in our firm has to offer, without limitation.

• "Flat" and "Not to exceed" rate structures.

The breadth of our experience and scope of resources we avail allow us to effectively predict the often "unforeseeable" costs of vendor, consultant and expert opinion services. Through this, we are able to submit cost proposals with a pre-determined maximum expenditure.

• Annual discounts and rebates on premium billable hours.

On an annual basis, we propose entering into contracts in which certain billing thresholds would trigger increased discounts.

A Strong Partnership Agreement Can Save You the Hassles of an Expensive Legal Battle.

Even in the best of circumstances, businesspartnerships can be fraught with conflict. To handle the twists and turns, smart co-owners put a well-drafted partnership agreement in place to act as a road map. Without one, lack of guidance in the event of a dispute can result in a free-for-all for partners, says Jonathan Levitt, a principal with Outside GC LLC, a team of former senior in-house lawyers who act as "on-demand" in-house counsel for clients.

For partners who don't have an agreement, or even those who do, there are a few things they should consider in order to best protect themselves when conflict arises.

First, business partners need to evaluate whether they can mend fences and settle their differences. Difficult issues surface in all partnerships, and they can create stress in the relationship, "but if you work through these issues, you usually have a stronger partnership," says Steven Thayer, an attorneywith Handler Thayer LLP in Chicago.

It's important to figure out what's at the root of the friction. Ask, "What is occurring within the partnership that is causing you to make a decision to [want to] sell or liquidate?" says Terry Mackin, managing director at Generational Equity, merger and acquisition advisor for small businesses. It can come down to rifts, family dynamics or other issues. "How are those things affecting the business?" says Mackin.

Business issues such as not making enough money, having too much debt or realizing your business model doesn't work are situations that may require you to adapt and change your business plan to make it work, says Thayer. Of course, fundamental issues that are hard to move past--lying, cheating, stealing or other illegal activity, for example--can be deal breakers and a legitimate basis to terminate the relationship.

Whether conflicts are resolved to make the partnership work is a business decision based in part on each partner's risk/reward tolerance level. "Each partner should regularly assess the risks and rewards associated with their business […] to make sure they are in check," says Thayer.

To that end, ongoing communication and a periodic review of your partnership (especially the agreement, if you have one) is essential. Just as in any relationship, partnerships grow old and co-owners need to reassess how decisions are made, who makes what decisions, etc., says Kurt D. Olender, a corporate attorney in Manhattan.

What do you do if you're unable to resolve your conflicts? At this point, business partners need to determine whether or not one partner buys out the other or both sell out to a third party. In the case of a partner buyout, the two important questions to ask are "Who has the most passion for the business, and who has an immediate cash need that requires them to cash out of the business?" says Steve Nielsen, CEO of PartnerUp, an online small-business networking community. As one would expect, both partners need to agree on the next course of action. In some cases, reaching an agreement may require a good business attorney to act as a sort of "corporate therapist."

Whatever the decision, make sure you hire a good business attorney to help with the dissolution of the partnership. There is too much at stake to use your friend's uncle or some other attorney who is not an expert in business law. Finally, "It is extremely critical that both parties either have their own independent valuations or that they agree on an independent business-valuation expert to determine the value of the business, " says Nielsen.

Most issues, serious or not, can be resolved at the onset through good communication and effective negotiation skills. "Before you resort to the worst case, try working things out by talking," says Nielsen.

Seehttp://jurislawgroup.com/jurislaw/partnership-and-shareholder-disputes.html and  http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/legalcenter/article205492.html for more information. 

Accessibility Compliance Web Site Launched

CalBizCentral, a division of CalChamber, has dedicated a section of its Web site to help California businesses comply with state disability access laws.

The organization launched this online resource to educate businesses on the state's accessibility standards and to help mitigate the risk of disability access lawsuits, as more than 42 percent of ADA/accessibility lawsuits in the U.S. are filed in California, CalBizCentral said.




The online tool includes an overall accessibility overview, the top 10 causes of ADA lawsuits, compliance recommendations and tools to cope with lawsuits after inspections.




The organization is offering a 15-day trial to the ADA compliance page for nonmembers at www.calbizcentral.com/pages/freetrial.aspx.


See http://jurislawgroup.com/jurislaw/real-estate.html for more information.  

Analysis - February Decline Offsets January's Economic Gain

A decline in February's commerce activity offset the modest gains posted in January, according to a new index that suggests economic activity could contract toward the end of the first quarter. But geographic breakdowns indicate the downturn could have been caused by extreme winter weather.

The Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index by UCLA Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles fell by 0.7 percent in February after a 0.6 percent increase in January. This decline follows a 2.8 percent gain in December.

"February was disappointing, but the geographic pattern underlying the index suggests this was due in large part to extreme snowfalls during the month," said Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast and chief economist for the index.

For example, the Pacific region, which was not affected by heavy snowfall, recorded an increase of 2.1 percent in the Pulse of Commerce Index.
"Goods have to be transported for the economy to grow, so when snowstorms bog down that flow it is reflected in our index and in the overall U.S. economy," said Craig Manson, senior vice president and index analyst for Ceridian.
Industrial production is forecast to grow at a 0.6 percent rate, falling from the 1 percent anticipated in February.

The Ceridian-UCLA index is based on real-time diesel fuel consumption from road trucking tracked by Ceridian Corp.

 

© 2010 Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved

http://jurislawgroup.com/jurislaw/commercial-transactions.html

Is the Real Estate Stabilization an Illusion?

The real estate market is far from reaching bottom because lenders only have realized $1.5 trillion compared with losses of up to $3.8 trillion, according to Bruce Norris, principal of The Norris Group.

The rate of delinquency in the residential market has slowed down because lenders are taking longer to begin foreclosure proceedings, rather than an improvement in the market, according to Norris. Homeowners are being allowed to stay in their homes for months and even years longer than the traditional foreclosure timeline because if lender-owned properties are listed at a slower pace, the fall of prices will slow down as well.

"People are being allowed to be delinquent because lenders aren't sure what they would do with these properties," Norris said.




The analyst said the federal government's push for loan modification programs is ineffective because statistics show that more than half of borrowers who negotiate a modification re-default within a year. Still, modifications are favored because they are delaying the growth of foreclosure inventory.




Norris expects major waves of residential mortgage defaults as many Alt-A and Option-ARM loans are yet to reset. Job losses, negative equity, declining income and a lack of available replacement loans and buyers is adding to the number of defaults.


http://jurislawgroup.com/jurislaw/real-estate.html
http://www.carealestatejournal.com/index.cfm?eid=908398&evid=1&source=email