DOL Overtime Rule: Good Intentions?
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” On Wednesday, May 18, 2016, with good intentions to “raise middle class wages and help working families get ahead”, the federal Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its final rule updating overtime protections. This is the first major change to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) since […]
Establishing Global Software Product Distribution Networks
Your company (Company) has established a successful U.S. software product licensing and distribution network, and you are now considering expanding that network internationally. What steps need to be taken? Will the licensing and product support efforts be direct efforts (directly between the Company and the end user) or via third party resellers located in the […]
API Use Legal Considerations
As more and more websites interact with one another, with the express permission of one another or otherwise, the methods of that interaction and the legal consequences continue to come under more and more scrutiny. One avenue for interaction between websites is through Application Programming Interfaces (API’s).
Commercial Property Lease Renewals: Getting A Head Start
Landlords negotiate leases every day, but most tenants do not. They’re usually too busy running their own businesses and probably less familiar with the leasing process as well. Thus, tenants tend to forget about their lease renewals and leave themselves insufficient time to evaluate and implement preferred leasing options. Starting a lease renewal process early […]
Dissolving a Business Entity
Here’s an unglamorous, often dealt with but seldom discussed, topic that affects every corporation, LLC or other registered business entity. That is, voluntarily dissolving an entity no longer to be used. There may be valid reasons not to dissolve an entity, or to delay its dissolution. However, in my experience responsible owners or business administrators […]
A Primer on Mediation and Arbitration
Most business people, and many lawyers who don’t try lawsuits for a living, don’t know much about mediation or arbitration, the two most common forms of alternative dispute resolution. Nearly everyone’s heard of these procedures, but most people don’t learn much about them until they’re called on to participate in some way. Here are some […]
Robert Kiggins Moderates International Tax Panel
On March 8, 2016 Robert Kiggins moderated a panel discussion in New York City sponsored by The International Business Structuring Association based in London, England. The panel discussion focused on “How the Global Tax Environment is Changing the Way Companies Do Business.” The program included: Recent developments in the OECD BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting) implementation, […]
Defining Occurence In Insurance Policies
A basic risk management tool for just about any kind of organization is its liability insurance coverage. Despite its ubiquity, however, some fairly basic provisions of a liability insurance policy, such as its definition of an occurrence, can still yield unpleasant surprises,
Ransomware: An Increased Cybersecurity Threat For Businesses
In its recently released Ransomware: An Increased Cybersecurity Threat For Businesses, the Online Trust Alliance reported that cybercriminals are increasingly targeting businesses with ransomware realizing the value of the data they hold hostage. Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts files and demands a ransom payment, usually in Bitcoin (a form of digital currency that is created and […]
Good Guy Guaranty For Start-Up Tenant
Don’t Let the Good Guy Finish Last! You’re a good guy, right? Everyone says so. You work hard, play fair and try to do right by others. Now, you’ve quit your job to start your own business – which will inevitably sky-rocket you, your family and perhaps your college buddy or sibling who is taking […]
BEPS -Double Irish/ Dutch Sandwich Hybrid Entity Mismatches – Part II of II
THE CLASSIC DOUBLE IRISH WITH A DUTCH SANDWICH (“DIDS”) In Part I of this article, I discussed the mechanism by which some very prominent U.S. multinational companies have been able to reduce global income tax on mobile income, such as royalties on sales of software to, at times, almost nil by routing such income through […]
Kim Verska presents on Legal Issues of a Data Breach to Internal Audit Professionals
On January 8, 2016, Culhane Meadows partner and CIO Kim Verska participated on a panel called “Perspectives on Managing Securities Breaches” before 150 executives from the internal audit industry.