LJN Newsletters

  • Clarification

    In our Dec. 2004 issue, in a News Brief about Santa Fe, NM's, new living wage law and its effect on franchisors, we wrote that Cold Stone Creamery was among the companies that had been identified as possibly paying sub-minimum wages. Douglas A. Ducey, chairman and CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, contacted FBLA to clarify that Cold Stone Creamery was not sued for violating the minimum wage law. Ducey added that the company's franchisee in Santa Fe raised the minimum wage to $8.50/hour "weeks" before our story was published "in spite of doubts whether the law applied." Ducey also pointed out "the potential for employees to earn even more than the minimum wage with customer tips."

    January 28, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Indian Country: Franchising's Latest Frontier

    Is your franchise looking to penetrate new or emerging domestic markets? If so, your company should consider franchising in Indian Country. The $18-billion Indian gaming industry is rapidly transforming the face of tribal lands and drawing millions of people to the reservation for business, employment, or recreation. It is that enormous influx of people onto tribal land ' a "captive audience" of reservation consumers ' and a relaxed regulatory environment that make Indian Country ripe for franchising.

    January 28, 2005Gabriel S. Galanda

  • New China Franchise Regulation

    The world's most populous country, China, is opening its door to foreign franchisors, in accordance with its WTO commitments. To accommodate this new reality, the Chinese government has published a new franchise regulation. On Dec. 31, 2004, the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") published Measures for the Regulation of Commercial Franchise Operations (the "Measures").

    January 28, 2005Steven B. Feirman and Tao Xu

  • Court Watch

    Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

    January 28, 2005Leonard Vines

  • News Briefs

    Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.

    January 28, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • In The Marketplace

    Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.

    January 28, 2005ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Valuing Like Kind Exchanges: Is It Too Good to Be True?

    How would you as a lessor like to increase your after tax income by millions of dollars? How would you as lessor like to increase spreads by 30 basis points? Would you like to do this without having to cut costs or take the risk of creating a new product, entering a new market and hiring lots of staff? The answer to these questions of course is "yes," and it sounds too good to be true as the way to get there is to use a gift from the IRS ' implement a Like Kind Exchange ("LKE") program in your leasing business.

    January 28, 2005Bill Bosco

  • Substance, Not Form, Dictates Characterization of Assignment of Lease

    In a recent decision, the Tenth Circuit held that an assignment of lease and certain lease-related equipment was a secured transaction, and not a true sale, despite the execution of a bill of sale from the assignor to the assignee. Stillwater Nat'l Bank and Trust Co. v. CIT Group/ Equipment Financing, Inc., 383 F.3d 1148 (10th Cir. 2004).

    January 28, 2005Jeffrey N. Rich

  • Malpractice in the Line of Duty: Who Catches the Bullet?

    A traditional requirement in many sophisticated equipment leasing and financing transactions is the closing opinion, in which an attorney or law firm is requested to opine on a variety of relevant topics, ranging from proper corporate or partnership approval of the transaction in question, to the legality, validity and enforceability of one or more material agreements. Oftentimes, there may be multiple closing opinions issued in respect of the closing, with certain opinions being rendered by internal counsel for one or more of the transaction participants, and another set rendered by external counsel.

    January 28, 2005Robert L. Vitale and Sami Asad Mir

  • 'Insourcing' HR Gives Law Firms Extra Services

    Employee health benefits were the number one reason Louis Reisman, managing director of Los Angeles-based Weinstock, Manion, Reisman, Shore & Neumann, began investigating the concept of Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs). That was back in 1987. Now almost 20 years later, the decision to utilize a PEO continues to be among the best he has made for his firm.

    January 28, 2005Alan Dodd