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Uber is almost an institution in many of our daily lives, much like Google, Amazon, or Apple. But even though many of us may simply think of Uber as the name that fulfills many of our transportation needs, it is still a company – it has offices, hires people, fights for its rights, and makes corporate policies and decisions. To this end, over the last several years Uber has been making headlines, and one reason for this is that the way in which Uber classifies its drivers has come under heavy scrutiny. In the past, Uber has been involved in heavy litigation in order to classify its drivers as “independent contractors” as opposed to employees (discussed further below), and a recently settled case involving this very issue will have a lasting effect on this classification.

Independent Contractors vs. Employees

The IRS treats independent contractors and employees very differently for tax purposes. According to the IRS, an independent contractor is a person who has a high degree of control over their work . Independent contractors are also typically not offered benefits.

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Palo Alto business owners are faced with heavy competition in the Silicon Valley, all of which are looking for the best practices, methods, and trade secrets. Some of a company’s most valuable assets can be found in your intellectual property. Each year intellectual property theft costs businesses billions of dollars. If you think your intellectual property might be at risk of being stolen or you can confirm it has been stolen, you need to act fast.

Different Types of Intellectual Property

In order to protect yourself from Intellectual Property theft, a business owner must first define what they need to protect. For example, if the business owners want to secure a method of a certain process, a formula specific to their company, or even lock down a logo and name to fight off competition, there will be different applicable forms of legal protection to consider and utilize. There are several forms of protection, some of them being:

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A lis pendens, or Notice of Pendency of Action, is a legal notice which is filed with the recorder’s office that provides notice that there is legal action pending against the parcel of real property at issue. This area of law can be complicated, but at a minimum, it is important to understand that a lis pendens action can prevent sales and other legal transactions with respect to your real property, as the property will be found to not have “clear title” upon a basic title search.  A California real estate attorney can help you and your business resolve all matters related to lis pendens notices.

The Basics of Lis Pendens in California

In much the same way that a recorded property deed gives notice of an ownership interest, a Notice of Pendency of Action gives notice of a legal interest in real property. Both types of notice are considered to be “constructive”. This means that even if a third party does not actually find the recorded notice, he or she could have with a simple search and is legally deemed to have received notice of the action. The third party is therefore bound to the notice whether or not it was actually discovered.

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Many companies conduct business in California without having incorporated under the laws of this state. While this is entirely lawful, it does expose such businesses to civil liability. This risk can be mitigated by filing a Certificate of Qualification. This process enables a foreign corporation to operate in California with the protection of California corporate laws. An experienced California corporate attorney can help your business determine whether filing a Certificate of Qualification is appropriate for your business. An experienced California Corporate  attorney can also help entrepreneurs determine which state they should incorporate their business in.

What is the Difference Between a Foreign and Domestic Corporation?

In California, a domestic corporation is one that has incorporated under the laws of California. A foreign corporation is one which has incorporated under the laws of another state.  As is common in business, many foreign corporations do business in California. This can expose the business to liability under California law. Any business which “reaches into” California for the purpose of doing business is subject to the jurisdiction of California courts over that transaction. Thus, a foreign company which does business in California may find itself subject to the jurisdiction of the California courts, but without the protection of California corporate laws.

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Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have recently become a popular new source of funding for Silicon Valley businesses. They are new and exciting, but they can also be risky. It is important for business owners considering an ICO to understand both blockchain processes and the securities laws which apply to digital currencies. The experienced corporate attorneys at Structure Law Group can help your business enter this emerging market cautiously in order to explore the many exciting possibilities it holds.

An ICO is a method of funding a new (or even established) company by selling its own form of cryptocurrency. The company may accept traditional payments or even other forms of cryptocurrency. This financing is then used to fund the company’s operations. Its new cryptocurrency gains value, and this allows many of the initial investments to appreciate.

While the goals of an ICO are the same as those of an initial public offering, the process has some critical differences. IPOs are heavily regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are left with stock and voting rights which are clearly defined, and the entire process is underwritten by an investment bank. By contrast: an ICO has no underwriter, no equity or voting rights, and little regulation by the SEC. (The SEC is quickly adapting to this emerging market, and the regulatory landscape is likely to change drastically in the near future.) Interestingly, many ICOs involve new companies with little or no proven track record of financial success. Many do not even have products. All of these factors can make ICOs highly risky for investors.

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In the tech-rich culture of San Jose, protection of intellectual property and consumer data is a constant concern for business owners. How can owners invoke legal protection for these assets in order to protect their legal interests and reassure customers that their data is secure? The answer depends upon the different types of liability a business can face when consumer data is compromised.

Contractual Liability

Contractual liability arises when one (or more) parties in a contract fail to fulfill their responsibilities agreed upon in the contract. Many technology companies have contracts with consumers. These are often contained in the Terms of Service issued to users of mobile apps or software. Some can be more detailed – especially when the company is hired to perform a specific service to the customer. For example, when a company provides customers with secure data storage based on a private server or the cloud, the Terms of Service are typically very inclusive. If such consumer data is compromised, a technology company can face contractual liability for failing to provide the secure data storage offered by the terms of the contract.

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Fotolia_183822998_Subscription_Monthly_M-300x176Many San Jose business owners find themselves embroiled in legal disputes with vendors, clients, employees, contractors, and other business relationships. It is highly likely that a legal dispute will arise at some point during your business operations. It can be difficult to know how to resolve such a dispute. Litigation can subject a business to unnecessary time, effort, and costs which will not always be reimbursed after a trial. Yet in some cases, litigation remains the only method of effectively preserving important legal rights.

Mediation and arbitration provides clients with the ability to settle their claims quicker and for less expense. However, one of the biggest cons of mediation and arbitration is the fact that neither party will be totally satisfied as the result of settlements is a compromise.

The experienced San Jose corporate attorneys at Structure Law Group have extensive experience in litigation, mediation, and arbitration.They can help you determine how best to protect your financial and legal interests in a business.

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A lawsuit can be an overwhelming experience for any business owner – particularly if you have not previously had any dealings with the court system. But it’s not cause for panic. The skilled employment law attorneys at Structure Law Group can help San Jose employers resolve such disputes through litigation, arbitration, the Labor Commissioner, mediation, or simple settlement negotiations. The experience of a knowledgeable attorney can allow for fast and effective resolution of employment claims with the least expense possible.

The Many Strategies for Dispute Resolution

Sometimes, a motion to the court can be used to end the litigation before it begins. This is what Yahoo’s legal team did to effectively end a gender discrimination lawsuit that had been filed against the company. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the tech giant had been sued by a former manager who alleged that the company’s performance evaluation system could be manipulated to produce a gender bias. In an interesting twist, the bias was alleged to favor women, and the lawsuit was filed by a male manager who claimed to have been treated unfairly by it. Yahoo maintained that the manager had been fired as a result of his poor performance. A federal judge dismissed the case before Yahoo incurred the expense of discovery, mediation, arbitration, or settlement negotiations.

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Fotolia_92329578_Subscription_Monthly_M-300x213Despite the fact that everyone is entitled to their day in the court, the reality is that most cases do not make it to trial.  Many clients will approach their lawyers with the hope that they will be able to quickly get in front of a judge and explain their story—a vision of American justice that is reinforced in popular media and Court TV.  However, the reality is that it takes a long time to get to the point when a party can tell its story directly to a Judge.  In most situations, the cases take earlier exit ramps, such as informal out-of-court settlement, non-binding mediation, binding arbitration, or a ruling by the Court before trial.  If a case does make it to trial, the parties often settle on its eve.  Often, the cheapest and most efficient way for a dispute to get resolved is for attorneys to work on an out-of-court settlement.  This can occur at any point either before or after a lawsuit has been filed.  Under this track, attorneys informally negotiate a resolution.  If the parties agree to it, the attorneys will memorialize the resolution in a settlement agreement.  This is often the quickest way to resolve a case, as it does not require any third-party intervention—it only requires parties who are willing to work together to settle their differences and capable counsel to guide the parties through the process.

In addition to out-of-court settlements, cases often get resolved with the help of a third-party neutral.  The decision of this third-party may be binding depending on the posture of each case.  For instance, cases often go to non-binding mediation before they move on to trial.  Indeed, more and more courts are requiring this step before allowing the case to move to trial.  With a non-binding mediation, the parties all present their cases to a neutral, who tries to facilitate a settlement agreement.  In short, non-binding mediation is like the informal out-of-court settlement discussed in the previous paragraph, with the addition of a third-party neutral who helps ease things along. Sometimes, cases may end up in front of a third-party neutral who has the authority to make a binding decision.  For instance, if the parties previously signed an agreement for binding arbitration, the case may end up in front of a private judge whose decision is final.  In other instances, the parties decide to submit their case to binding arbitration at the time of the lawsuit for a variety of reasons, such as cost and efficiency. If the case does actually end up in court, it is still unlikely to reach trial.  The purpose of trial is to get to the truth of what actually happened in a conflict, so if there is no dispute about what actually happened, a judge might rule on the case early based on a dispositive motion like a summary judgment motion.  With a summary judgment motion, the moving party argues that there is no dispute of fact in the case, so the judge has no finding of fact to make in a trial and can proceed to a ruling earlier. If a party brings a summary judgment motion, it has the burden of providing evidence that there is not any dispute of fact in the case.  This evidence may come in a variety of forms, including affidavits, declarations, and discovery responses.  If a judge is persuaded, it may decide to rule on the case right there. As you can see, getting to trial is an involved and lengthy process with the potential for a lot of different early exit ramps.  If a case does make it all the way through the end of trial, it may take a long while to do so.  For instance, a timeline of one year would be a relatively quick timeline in most cases, and it is not uncommon for cases to take several years to make it from beginning to end.

Contact the Experienced California Business Litigation Attorneys at Structure Law Group

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Due-Diligence-300x200There are many reasons why thorough due diligence is indispensable to a successful corporate acquisition. Perhaps most importantly, it is a critical step in ensuring that they buyer has a comprehensive picture of what is being acquired. Both legal and financial interests are placed at risk in any business transaction. If thorough due diligence is not performed, a corporation can incur legal liability to its shareholders for losses sustained in the negligent acquisition. It can also lose significant assets, or waste valuable time and money on litigating the failed transaction. An experienced mergers and acquisitions attorney can protect your business by ensuring that all aspects of your due diligence investigation are conducted accurately, thoroughly, and with a broad-reaching projection for all potential contingencies. While it is not a legal requirement for the due diligence process, hiring an experienced Mountain View mergers and acquisitions attorney it is the best way to ensure that your investigations are thoroughly completed and can also protect a corporation from shareholder claims that its due diligence was incomplete or inadequate.

Due Diligence: The Basics

In general, due diligence is the process by which a buyer or seller performs a comprehensive appraisal of a business asset before executing a sales transaction. On the buyer’s end, this thorough investigation will examine the assets and liabilities of the assets to be purchased, as well as forming a picture of their commercial potential. For the seller, a due diligence investigation will focus on the buyer itself. It is vital for the seller to know whether the buyer has the financial means to consummate the deal. If the transaction will give the buyer any rights to management or control of the seller’s business, it is also important for the seller to learn about those processes, and how the seller’s business operations might be affected by the buyer’s exercise of those rights.

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