How Many Applications for Receivership Can a Creditor Make? Applications to appoint a receiver are one method collections lawyers have to secure payment of judgments and other relief. So, what happens if an application is successfully defended and the application is denied? The law in Texas does not appear [...]
The Importance of the Business Decision Mindset in Litigation Litigation, in its purest most big-picture form, is nothing more than a dispute. Parties have a disagreement they can't resolve themselves. So, one party seeks out someone, whether that is a court or an arbitrator or some other decision-making body, to decide it. [...]
Construction Lien Basics and Collection Tools The construction industry has been hit very hard by the economy. Construction has slowed as consumers and businesses find ways to save money and delay construction that is not absolutely essential. This environment has also created an aggressive market for collections in the [...]
Receivership - A Collections Tool Gaining Popularity In this economy, many businesses and entrepreneurs find themselves falling behind with creditors and bills. While they fully intend to pay these obligations, and frequently see money coming in the near future to satisfy these obligations and get caught up, aggressive creditors often [...]
Drama Driven Lawyer Advertising. I was at a seminar recently, and one of the presenters was a business lawyer that likened plaintiff lawyers to a hungry lion and businesses to raw steaks. If you turn on the television, you will see ad after ad of lawyers re-enacting car accidents, watch brightly [...]
Powers of Arbitrators When parties agree to arbitrate disputes, the law is not settled as to what powers an arbitrator has. For example, do arbitrators have the power to enforce witness subpoenas, compel parties to comply with the arbitrator's orders, issue injunctions, or hand down sanctions? Additionally, if discovery is needed [...]
Business Mediation Why should businesses look at mediation to resolve disputes? When a dispute arises, business leaders first turn to counsel to evaluate the risk, time, and resources a dispute may require to resolve. Litigation or arbitration may cost legal fees, expert fees, require hundreds or thousands of hours [...]
Basics of the Noncompete Agreement Employers invest a lot in their employees, and this investment includes trust with the employer's business interests, goodwill, trade secrets, customer or vendor lists, and other confidential information. Employers have two avenues to protect this investment. Written Employment Contracts The first is a written [...]
How Do I Choose A Lawyer? Choosing a lawyer can be difficult. Each lawyer has different and unique experience, perspective, and approach. There are multitudes of ways to handle cases, and each lawyer will have differing opinions and approaches to individual cases. Lawyers, like doctors, have different "bedside manners." [...]
Bailment: Liability for Property being Repaired or Stored If property is repaired or stored, a basic understanding of bailment law is essential. As always, bailment law is complex and involves analysis of facts and issues specific to your case. I strongly recommend you seek advice of a competent attorney [...]
Why is this lawsuit filed there? Many of my clients ask me how lawyers decide where to file a lawsuit. If often seems that lawsuits are filed in inconvenient places far away from where the actual dispute occurs. Or it seems like a lawsuit is filed in a place [...]
Mediation as a Dispute Resolution Tool Many clients, especially business clients, come to me when faced with a crisis. A contract breach has cost time, money, and work and the situation will only worsen if the breach is not resolved. One effective method of resolving such a dispute early [...]
E-Discovery Issues Critical for Corporate Parties in Litigation More and more companies are discovering that litigation not only involves preserving copies of contracts, invoices, and records. It also involves extensive search, retrieval, preservation, and review of email, text messages, website data (new and archived), intermal memoranda, and independent forensic [...]
Leases Are Not "Forms" I occasionally have clients request a simple "form" lease, for various purposes ranging from commercial leases to simple residence tenants. Sometimes, a standard lease that can be purchased at any office supply or book store will suffice for simple, short-term, informal situations. However, parties to [...]