NEWS & RESOURCES
Top 10 Negotiation Tactics for Businesses
Litigation is time-consuming, expensive, and risky. In the United States of America, over 97% of all civil and criminal disputes are resolved before the first day of trial. When people allude to the crowded court system, it is over-crowded with less than 3% of the legal actions that are commenced. As a result, negotiation becomes the important component to resolve disputes. In order to position yourself to achieve the best solution, take a preventative approach rather than curative. Confirming letters. Following preliminary talks or lengthy negotiations, write down the terms and send it to the other person or side. Simple language such as “please allow this letter to confirm our discussions this morning…” This confirms both parties have mutually reached an agreement and increases the likelihood that the agreement will stick. Stay on task. All too often negotiations fail because one or both of the parties get sidetracked by personal issues unrelated to the deal at hand. Successful negotiators focus…
The Tech Boom and Pitfalls that Even the Savviest Start-Ups Fall Into
What do Mark Zukerberg, the Beatles, and John D. Rockerfeller all have in common? All of them have been embroiled in disputes that drained resources, time, and control over their business. Business partners and businesses fall apart 80% of the time, almost double the divorce rate for families in the U.S. In the newly found Silicon Beach community, built around start-up Tech companies, there are a number of pitfalls new companies can fall into that can lead them to failure. The following are measures to consider in order to prevent issues from occurring. 1. Creating a Founders Agreement Before you put any time into creating your business, hammer out the terms and make sure that they are on paper. While all founders may be excited about the prospect of working together, issues arise when the day-to-day stress of the business hits or one founder believes they put in more effort than other founders. When creating this document, it is important to…
The Art of a 360 Deal: Understanding an Entertainment Contract
360 Deal Defined A 360 contract, also known as a multiple rights agreement, is an approach from the record companies that encompasses more of an artist’s output than the recorded music. Using this approach, record companies are able to participate in “non-recorded rights” such as the artist’s tours and merchandising. These non-recorded rights are also referred to commonly as ancillary rights. Under traditional record agreements, music labels were not entitled to profits from artist ventures not arising out of an artist’s recordings, such as ownership of a restaurant or business. The amount of money an artist receives from a 360 contract depends on whether it is a “passive interest” deal or an “active interest” deal. Under a passive interest deal, the record label and artist agree to split only the income generated from the recording rights. The record label has no ownership in additional rights, such as merchandising. Therefore, under this type of deal, the artist is free to contract with third parties…
Homeowners Options When Facing Foreclosure- Save Your Home
In challenging economic times, money can be tight. So tight, in fact, that many homeowners are unable to make their monthly mortgage payments. As payments mount, this may lead to default under the loan obligation, enabling the lender to decide to foreclose upon the home. A foreclosure is a legal process that allows a lender to recover the amounts owed by selling or taking ownership of a property that was used as security, or collateral, for a loan. Typically, a homeowner/borrower misses one or more monthly payments, and the loan is then considered in default. As a loan enters default, there are five general options available to cure the default under the loan (there are additional options, yet the main ones are as follows). 1. The Homeowner/Borrower Reinstates the Loan. This simply means that the homeowner/borrower pays the delinquent amount, including any late fees or charges associated with the default. Some letters, or a formal Notice of Default, from the lender…
Employment Alert: EEOC To Require Companies To Disclose Pay By Gender
As of 2016, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the Obama administration announced a proposed revision to the Employer Information Report (“EEO-1”) that the agency says will assist in identifying possible instances of pay discrimination and help employers promote equal pay in the workplace. The EEOC collects workforce profiles annually, which include data on employees’ race, gender, and ethnicity. The proposed revision to the EEO-1 form would require employers with more than 100 employees to also provide the date on pay ranges and hours worked beginning with the September 2017 report. The proposal calls for summary wage data to be reported across job categories and pay ranges, but does not require the reporting of specific employee salaries. EEOC Chair Jenny Yang said access to aggregated pay data would assist employers in their own analysis and ultimately facilitate voluntary compliance. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez echoed these comments, as the new policies are likely to prevent discrimination and enable the…