As the year 2018 comes to an end (and we look forward to tax season), it’s time to complete the annual renewal for your business entity with the Minnesota Secretary of State. Annual renewals are required for corporations, limited liability companies, non-profit corporations, cooperatives, and limited/limited liability partnerships. An annual renewal is also required for assumed names and foreign registrations…
This article is a follow up to her article published in August on restrictive covenants between an employer and employee. Under Minnesota law, restrictive covenants are legal and enforceable, so long as they meet certain requirements. As explained in my previous article, restrictive covenants are generally disfavored under Minnesota law because they are viewed as a restraint on trade. They…
It’s impossible not to have noticed or experienced the tremendous growth in the use of technology to capture our “signature” or, from a legal perspective, the act that symbolizes our affirmative consent or agreement to be bound. With a few simple clicks on our computer or phone, we can agree to purchase a product, at a certain price, and upon…
We often hear of restrictive covenants in an employment setting, and typically these take the form of a non-compete and non-solicitation obligation in an employment agreement. In such agreements an employee may also be subject to confidentiality obligations and restrictions on use of proprietary information. Non-competes are often part of the consideration paid by a buyer to a seller in…
A very stressful time that occurs for many is when they get served with a Summons/Complaint in a lawsuit. For those who don’t know what it Summons is, it’s essentially a notice from another person or entity (most likely from their attorney) that you are being sued. The Complaint that alleges the reasons you are being sued is often attached…
I often field many phone calls regarding collecting on a money judgment someone has received in a court action. In these incidents, the holder of the money judgment is called a creditor. When I field these types of calls, it’s clear the person is frustrated. They have pursued a court action against another person or entity; have prevailed in court,…
It’s not uncommon to see that a business has an assumed name or often states that it is ‘doing business as’ (‘DBA’) a name other than the business owner’s name or the name of the underlying business entity. You may see this on a check or document from the business, a publication in the local newspaper, or registration on the…
the following article about the two types of corporations in the U.S., the c corporation (“C Corp”) and the s corporation (“S Corp”). There are two primary differences between C Corps and S Corps, and these involve tax treatment and ownership. Large, publicly-traded companies are C Corporations because a C Corp can have an unlimited number of shareholders. S Corps,…
This article is about the classification of a ‘worker’. As W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and other tax documents make their way through the mail during this tax season, it’s a good time to think about the status of someone who is working for you or providing services to your business. Is that person an employee or not? And, why does it…
Attorney Laura J. Hansen is our author today, and she has written the following article about buy-sell agreements. In a previous article, Ms. Hansen discussed the importance of succession planning for business owners. For a business to withstand the test of time and become a ‘legacy’ business, the succession of ownership from one owner to the next owner or group…