Application and purpose of PPP. The goal of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) is to allow businesses and their employees to weather this storm.  The forgiveness provisions all relate to continuing employee payroll, and allowing businesses to pay rent/mortgages/utilities.  This forgiveness program is not designed to help businesses buy new equipment or pay off existing debt.  At the time of application, the applicant must certify that the business intends to use to funds to cover…

COVID-19 or the “Coronavirus” has forced all of us to act individually for the collective good but to think globally. It has forced law firms, large and small, and clients, large and small, to adapt and to plan. We are all in this fight together, and new issues will arise everyday as the repercussions continue. Our transaction team has already come across several issues including one we will discuss in depth below, force majeure clauses.…

Two common ways of pricing for construction contracts are fixed rate and costs plus. Fixed rate is a single price which incorporates all the costs (materials, labor, overhead) and profit. Costs plus has two prices: the estimate base cost (material, labor, overhead) and has the profit as a separate price and additional fee.…

Much of my litigation practice relates to business partners who get in a fight and want to split up.  The urge to split isn’t what typically causes an expensive dispute and litigation – instead, the dispute arises in relation to HOW the split is going to take place (who should walk away, who gets paid, how much does he or she get paid?). …

Imagine — you’ve just tied the knot with your life partner, and you couldn’t be happier. As you and your spouse step on an airplane to the Bahamas, the word “prenup” is far from your mind. You are in the honey-moon phase, and the last thing you want to do is plan for the divorce you believe will never happen.  When you start a business with a trusted partner, you may be in a similar…

It is important that clients considering selling their business consider all options available.  One option is to sell the company to employees.  This can be accomplished through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).  An ESOP is an ownership interest in a company held by the company’s workforce. The ownership interest may be facilitated by the company as part of employees’ remuneration or incentive compensation for work performed, or the company itself may be employee owned.  If you are interested…

Joint Ventures can be a great way for a business to enter a new market or line of business.  There are quite a few items to consider.  Often the best partner for a Joint Venture is a competitor.  It will be important to define what will be shared, who will run the operations, who will own any intellectual property created, and the process to sell interests in the Joint Venture entity, among several factors. What…