- Jan 17, 2016
How Greedy Can You Be In a Penalty?
Ever sign a contract where the penalty provisions for being a little bit late seemed somewhat high? Compared to the amount owed, perhaps even excessive? For instance, in a commercial lease where you pay $2,000 a month for rent, can your landlord charge you a $100 for paying a day late? How about a $1,000? What about a million bucks?! Crazy, right? But is it legal? Disclaimer: The following information does NOT constitute legal advice and is only for general educational purpo
- Dec 17, 2015
Nomination to be Chairman of the New York State Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section
I am pleased to announce I have been nominated to be Chairman of the Corporate Counsel Section ("CCS") of the New York State Bar Association ("NYSBA").* The CCS is one of 25 standing "Sections" of the NYSBA, currently attracting about 1,600 of NYSBA's approximately 74,000 members. CCS focuses on items of interest to attorneys that practice in-house (or have spent a considerable time in-house, such as myself), provides networking opportunities for its members, sponsors target
- Dec 17, 2015
Privacy 101: Have You Been Naughty or Nice?
“In the kingdom of glass everything is transparent, and there is no place to hide a dark heart.” - Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration. “No one likes to see their name on a government folder.” - Stephen King, Firestarter. In keeping with the holidays, I thought you might like to know a little bit about how Santa gets the goods on you. More importantly, as a business owner (or maybe someone running a nonprofit) you have certain duties in terms of keeping safe
- Nov 17, 2015
Common Clauses in New York State Contracts and What They Mean, Part III
This is the third installment in the series of articles dedicated to the types of clauses you likely will find with New York State government Requests for Proposals, and from other public institutions in this state. Government issued contracts often include many of the same standard provisions, although Invitations for Bids, Requests for Proposals and other types of specific procurement inquiries may have slight differences. Clauses ##1-10 were addressed in Parts I and II o
- Oct 17, 2015
Blogging Liability II: News Aggregation: (The Art of Stealing er Borrowing Other People's Posts)
This is the second article on the pitfalls blogging operators face. A very popular type of blog is the news aggregation website. you know those websites with headlines that beg, borrow or steal content from other actual stories and may or may not click through. According to Wikipedia, “a feed aggregator, feed reader, news reader, RSS reader or simply aggregator, is client software or a web application which aggregates syndicated web content such as online newspapers, blogs,
- Sep 17, 2015
Common Clauses in New York State Contracts and What They Mean Part II
This is the second installment in the series of articles dedicated to the types of clauses you will likely find with New York State government Requests for Proposals and other similar contracts from public institutions in this state. Although government issued contracts can have varying terms, they often include many of the same standard provisions, although Invitations for Bids, Requests for Proposals and other types of specific procurement inquiries may have slight differe
- Aug 18, 2015
New York State Contracts: Common Clauses and What They Mean Part I
The State is a buying behemoth, purchasing everything from paper clips to computers, brimming with opportunity for merchants and contractors, alike. As of FY’2015, there are over 1,500 New York State centralized “requirements” contracts for commodities, services and technology.[1] In FY’2014, the State purchased $1.6 billion in centralized contracts.[2] And, in FY’2013, the New York State Comptroller reviewed nearly 23,000 transactions, including about 8,500 new contracts.
- Aug 18, 2015
Is a Handshake a Legally Binding Contract?
You’re a software developer. You have an awesome product. But your potential client is having trouble with some of the terms: maybe payment; maybe the form of deliverable; or the timing of production. You go back and forth. Phone calls. Meetings. And, emails. You both really want this deal. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle falls into place. An oral “understanding” is reached, and everyone thinks “huzzah!” Then the problems start … your own upper management rejec
- Aug 17, 2015
Blogging Liability Part I: Defamation
So, you operate a website or a blog on someone else’s website and you really enjoy it or you use it as a main source of revenue. You are not alone. Some estimates put the number of blogs out there at 450 million.[1] One source claims the following statistics: small businesses with blogs generate 128% more leads than those without, that interesting website content is one of the top three reasons people follow brands on social media, that nearly 81% of consumers state they tr
- Aug 14, 2015
Welcome to My New Blog!
I am now unveiling my new blog of (hopefully!) useful subjects of interest to many different types of small businesses, tech companies, construction firms, non-profits and others. Also look for the occasional news snippets about projects in which the firm is engaged. I am starting it off with a few articles and plan to add more on a regular basis, so either check back monthly or visit my Contact Page, and fill in the blue boxes to request my newsletter, and I will be happy t
