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Avoiding Contract Mistakes
Even sophisticated companies expose themselves needlessly to contract disputes. I know this to be the case from representing them in litigation that might have been avoided or shortened if only they had inserted one of my top 10 measures for avoiding contract mistakes.
1) Default Interest Rate. You know that if you don't pay your credit card bill on time, you are charged significant interest and late fees. But it is amazing how often sophisticated businesses make no provision in their contracts for interest due on past due sums. As a practical business matter, it is difficult for a party negotiating a contract to object to an interest rate provision that at least covers the real cost to the other party of delayed payment. If the contract is silent, most states provide for an interest rate on past due sums substantially below what most business people regard as sufficient to cover the real cost (and risk) of delayed payment. Depending on the state and whether the debtor is a corporation or individual, you may be able to charge 18% or more on past due sums, if the contract so provides. (A choice of law clause is important, too, for this and other reasons.) If your company borrows money at the prime rate, the contract ought to at least provide for an interest rate that reasonably approximates the prime rate just to keep you whole.
Law Firms are Reducing Redundant Real Estate by Bringing Support Services Back to the Office
A trend analysis of the benefits and challenges of bringing back administrative, word processing and billing services to law offices.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Bit Parts
Summary Judgment Denied Defendant in Declaratory Action by Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Play Seeking Amateur Theatrical Rights
Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel
'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.