Categories: Small Business Legal

Asking Entrepreneurs for Help Improving the U.S. Visa Process

Posted by: Nick Leiber on October 11

Business schools and venture capital firms have long organized entrepreneur-in-residence programs, tapping seasoned founders for a year or two to mentor students or evaluate potential investments. Now U.S. Citizenship and...

Why the Google-Italy Privacy Case Matters to Your Business

Posted by: Nick Leiber on March 03

What makes this event so troubling, and important not just for multinational corporations like Google but small startups, is that none of the three men had any connection with the...

Advanta Customers' Next Option: Small Claims Court

Posted by: John Tozzi on October 02

Small business owners who feel they have been charged improper interest or fees by Advanta can consider seeking remedy in small claims court. I want to be clear that we're...

More Weed (Shops) Grow in Los Angeles

Posted by: Stacy Perman on September 11

Back in June, I wrote about the explosive growth of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles. What happened is the following: a legal loophole intended to limit the number of...

Demystifying Legalese in Contracts, Part IV: Indemnification

Posted by: Nick Leiber on September 03

This is a post by guest blogger Jonathan I. Ezor. The first blog in this series discussed how while some words do have legal weight, agreements should still be written...

Demystifying Legalese in Contracts, Part III: Non-Disclosure Provisions

Posted by: Stacy Perman on August 28

This is a post by guest blogger Jonathan I. Ezor. The first blog in this series discussed how while some words do have legal weight, agreements should still be written...

Demystifying Legalese in Contracts: Warranties, Part II

Posted by: Nick Leiber on August 19

This is a post by guest blogger Jonathan I. Ezor. The first blog in this series discussed how while some words do have legal weight, agreements should still be written...

Demystifying Legalese in Contracts, Part I

Posted by: Nick Leiber on August 17

This is a post by guest blogger Jonathan I. Ezor. One of the complaints frequently leveled against attorneys is that they speak, and write, a language foreign to all other...

A Lawyer Explains How to Open Lawyer Roadblock

Posted by: Nick Leiber on August 13

This is a post by guest blogger Jonathan I. Ezor. Matt Blumberg, CEO of e-mail marketing firm ReturnPath, recently wrote a blog entitled "Stuck in Legal", where he bemoaned how...

Medical Marijuana in LA: A Growth Industry?

Posted by: Stacy Perman on June 03

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, entrepreneurs have driven a truck straight through a loophole meant to limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles....

Barbie takes Bratz Back to Court

Posted by: Stacy Perman on November 11

Barbie v. Bratz is back for another legal round. Four months after Mattel’s court win in which a jury agreed to award damages (up to about $100 million) for copyright...

Pay Day For Deliverymen

Posted by: Stacy Perman on October 22

Second verse, nearly the same as the first: Yesterday, I wrote about the arrest of two supermarket executives in Brooklyn accused of cheating their immigrant workers out of hundreds of...

Big Greed On Small Street

Posted by: Stacy Perman on October 21

In the tsunami of news regarding the economic crisis and government bailout, the narrative that has formed largely follows the line of a greedy Wall Street swindling the victims of...

Mrs. Fields: After the Cookie Crumbled

Posted by: Stacy Perman on October 07

In August, we reported on this blog that cookie and frozen yogurt franchisor Mrs. Fields planned to file for bankruptcy protection in order to help restructure its business. According...

The Verdict Is In Part II

Posted by: Stacy Perman on August 27

Yesterday, I posted a blog indicating that a federal jury had awarded Mattel $40 million in damages in its federal copyright infringement suit against Bratz maker MGA Entertainment. The figure...

The Verdict Is In

Posted by: Stacy Perman on August 26

Barbie is one happy doll. Today a federal jury in California awarded Mattel $40 million in damages, closing the long chapter in its federal copyright lawsuit against, MGA Entertainment, the...

Barbie and Bratz: Back in Court

Posted by: Stacy Perman on August 21

Jury deliberations are on tap to start today over whether MGA Entertainment, the maker of the pouty-lipped line of Bratz dolls should pay damages to Mattel, the maker of Barbie....

Mrs. Fields: Another Cookie Crumbles

Posted by: Stacy Perman on August 18

Reuters reports that Mrs. Fields, the ubiquitous mall friendly cookie franchiser launched by a Utah housewife, Debbi Fields in 1977, planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in...

Bennigan's franchisees may buy closed corporate locations

Posted by: John Tozzi on August 08

The AP reports that Bennigan's franchisees may buy 40 to 60 closed corporate locations. Bennigan's franchisees may be able to buy the most profitable corporate locations and ride out the...

Bennigan's bankruptcy fallout

Posted by: John Tozzi on August 04

We follow up our brief item on Bennigan's bankruptcy from last week with a closer look at how franchisees will deal with the fallout. We also put together a...

Bennigan's franchisees on their own

Posted by: John Tozzi on July 30

Bennigan's is out of business -- sort of. The restaurant chain, along with the associated Steak and Ale chain, filed Chapter 7 liquidation yesterday, WSJ reports. But while 200 corporate-owned...

Entrepreneurs' Ideas vs Big Companies: Be Careful

Posted by: Stacy Perman on July 28

Following my blog post on the legal ruling between Mattel and MGA Entertainment, I spoke with Lawrence Apolzon, a trademark and copyright lawyer and co-author of the book From...

In The Valley of The Dolls, Mattel Prevails Over Bratz

Posted by: Stacy Perman on July 18

After a seven week trial in U.S. District Court, yesterday a jury ruled in favor of giant toymaker Mattel in its federal copyright infringement case against MGA Entertainment, the...