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A commercial landlord is confronted with a number of issues when a tenant files bankruptcy. When a tenant files bankruptcy with an unexpired lease, the debtor tenant is given the option to “assume” or “reject” the lease. If the debtor elects to assume the lease, it agrees to be bound by all terms of the lease and it must cure all defaults and provide the landlord with “adequate assurance of future performance” under the lease. If the debtor rejects the lease, the rejection constitutes a breach of the lease, giving the landlord claims for damages.

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Assumption or Rejection. The first question that a commercial landlord will want to know is whether the debtor will assume or reject the unexpired lease.

If the debtor assumes the lease it means that the debtor intends to remain at the property as a tenant (or possible that it plans to assign the lease to a third party). In order for a debtor to assume a lease, the debtor must either not be in default under the lease or it must cure all pre- and post-petition defaults; it must give the landlord “adequate assurance of future performance under the lease,” and it must obtain bankruptcy court approval to assume the lease.

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Venture capital financing can be an extremely important asset to startups that do not have access to other types of traditional business financing, such as bank loans or the public markets. There can be many benefits to venture capital financing for entrepreneurs, including the following:

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  • Venture capital involves equity capital, so it does not leave a startup with substantial debt from the start;
  • Venture capitalists often take greater risks on young and unestablished companies because they see the potential for extensive growth and, therefore, higher returns;
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Corporate merger and acquisitions are highly technical transactions with a lot at stake for all parties involved. It can take thousands of hours of dedicated work to finalize this type of deal and the last thing you want is to commit time, energy, and money to the process only to have one party back out at the last minute. For this reason, the early stages of any merger and acquisition should involve a carefully drafted and negotiated letter of intent (LOI) that is signed by all parties.

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What is a Letter of Intent?

Before you begin the merger and acquisition process, both parties should be on the same page regarding the basic terms of the transaction. These terms are set out in a letter of intent that the parties can review and negotiate to ensure they are in general agreement regarding the basic terms of the final agreement before they commit resources to the transaction. Though you want the terms of a letter of intent to be attractive to the other party, you should also always be realistic.  Disputes can arise later in the M&A process that can halt the process and you could even be accused of acting in bad faith.

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Previously on this blog, we discussed two important matters relating to the formation of the Terms of Use on your business’s website: avoiding using boilerplate language in favor of terms tailored to your specific business and having a privacy policy regarding the collection of customer information. The following are two more important things to consider during the process of drafting and posting your website’s Terms of Use.

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Have Clear Sale Conditions

Many companies use their website to conduct online sales. No matter what your product is or the size of your operation, failing to have clear conditions of sales on your Terms of Use can result in disputes and even legal claims. The terms of a sale should be in clear language that the customer can read and agree to prior to making a purchase. Some terms to address in this part of your Terms of Use include the following:

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Every time a contract is signed, the potential exists that one party fails to perform the obligations specified under the contract. In such cases, the aggrieved party may elect to file a lawsuit to try to seek performance under the contract or, more typically, for losses incurred as a result of the other party’s non-performance. However, in some cases, there may be a defense to the enforcement of the contract.  One such defense is undue influence.

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Undue influence is the unfair or improper persuasion of one person by another or excessive persuasion that causes another person to act or refrain from acting by overcoming that person’s free will resulting in inequity. A party’s apparent consent to a contract (or transaction) is not free or real when it is obtained through undue influence. In other words, a contract obtained though undue influence is voidable.  Consent is deemed to have been obtained through undue influence when the purported consent would have been refused if the acts constituting undue influence had not existed.

In California, there are four circumstances, prescribed by the civil code, in which undue influence occurs:

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As a business owner, you should take every possible precaution to ensure that the information of your clients, customers, and employees are safe. However, as many corporate owners will tell you, even the most well-prepared companies – large or small – can be the victims of data breaches. One precaution to protect your company from these data security breaches is to seek counsel from an experienced California e-commerce attorney from the start.  The following are only a few steps you may want to consider taking if a data breach happens to your business:

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Take Immediate Action

The minute you learn of any type of breach, you should start working to repair the leak.  You can do a lot of damage control by immediately addressing security flaws and securing the rest of your data. You should identify which servers have been affected and the nature of the data on those servers.

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Many partnerships begin among friends or individuals with similar interests who have a business idea together. However, having a good business idea and being able to cooperate to actually run a successful partnership are two very different things. In many cases, you may realize that your partner is not pulling his or her own weight or is even bringing the business down through his or her actions, or lack thereof. In such situations, you may naturally wonder what you have to do to remove that partner from the partnership and continue running the company without them.

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Unfortunately, simply removing a partner and continuing with business as usual is often much harder than it seems. Your options should be closely evaluated depending on your specific circumstances.  Having the assistance from a San Jose partnership attorney will help your business establish a binding partnership agreement that will allow the business to run smoothly and efficiently even if a situation arises between partners.

Do You have a Partnership Agreement?

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Entrepreneurs are faced with numerous decisions when forming a business. First, they need to contemplate the nature of the corporate entity they wish to operate (i.e., corporation, limited liability company, partnership, etc.). This decision hinges on many factors including the type of business, the desired ownership structure, tax considerations and potential financing opportunities. If the entrepreneur determines that forming a corporation is most advantageous for his or her particular situation, then he or she must next decide whether the corporation will be taxed as an S-corporation or a C-corporation.

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The “S” and “C” designations refer to different subchapters of the federal tax code. They each have their own governing requirements and qualifications, some of which are laid out below.

S-Corporations

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If you are looking into ways to market your business online, you have undoubtedly come across articles extolling the virtues of social media marketing. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow businesses to target certain groups of consumers with pinpoint accuracy, interact with them directly, and build brand recognition. Furthermore, there are often no costs associated with creating social media presence for your business and there are certainly ways to engage in social media marketing without spending money on paid ads. If your business posts a piece of content that goes viral, it could easily result in millions of views from individuals who may become paying customers or clients.

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Unforeseen Liability

Before you rush out to join the social media marketing frenzy that is in progress, you should consider some of the legal issues that may be implicated. The good news is that it is completely possible to engage in social media marketing without incurring legal liability; it is important, however, to determine whether there are any legal problems that could potentially arise. Here are some of the potential issues to consider:

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Types of Crowdfunding for Investors

Like other types of investments, all crowdfunding campaigns are not created equal and one campaign can vary significantly from the next. There are two main types of crowdfunding investments on which we will focus here: reward-based crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding. However, it is important to realize that these are not the only types of crowdfunding available for investors in today’s market.  In addition, there are many guidelines, requirements and regulations differing for each type of crowdfunding.

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Reward-based Crowdfunding

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