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The following information is designed to assist you in determining if you have a claim. We have three categorized sections to assist you as follows:
Just take the time to scroll this information. We hope that you find the information beneficial. As always, you may submit your inquiry online or you may call us at the Spiegel & Utrera General Counsel Club at (800) 734-9900 to discuss your particular situation or call me directly at (800) 603-3900, ext. 219. Larry Spiegel.
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- Breach of contract: Challenging and defending the validity and enforceability of business contracts and employment agreements.
- Business fraud: Challenging and defending companies accused of fraud, including securities fraud and employment fraud.
- Unfair competition: Challenging and defending entities and individuals allegedly involved in unfair, unlawful, or fraudulent business actions, including false advertising and trade name infringement.
- Real estate disputes: These disputes are between buyers, sellers and brokers in connection with buying, selling, and leasing commercial real estate.
- Commercial loans and Secured Transactions: Such disputes are between creditors and debtors for the collection and defense of unpaid commercial loans.
- Intellectual property: Intellectual property disputes relate to the right to license and use property under trademark and copyright laws.
- Homeowner’s Insurance and Property Insurance: Homeowner’s and property insurance claims involve the arbitration of disputes over cost or value of repairs to the premises and/or replacement of damaged or destroyed property, or the litigation of bad faith claims when the insurance carrier allegedly unfairly denies a claim.
- Creditor Rights and Bankruptcy Litigation: Creditor Rights and Bankruptcy litigation involves insolvency and the discharge and payment of debts and creditor disputes regarding such discharge and priority of creditor claims.
- Employment Discrimination and Harassment litigation: These disputes involve employers and employees and discriminatory employment practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation, and harassment.
- Construction contracts and lien litigation: This litigation involves disputes between the owner, developer, general contractor and subcontractor regarding the contractor’s performance and payment according to the contract.
- Foreclosure: This litigation relates to the legal proceeding in which a mortgagee, usually the lender to the purchaser of real estate, obtains a court-ordered termination of the mortgagor’s (usually the purchaser of the real estate) equitable right of redemption (right to purchase the real estate). Usually the lender obtains a security interest from the borrower/mortgagor who mortgages or pledges an asset like a house to secure the loan.
- Landlord-tenant disputes: These disputes involve a lease and usually entail a tenant’s failure to pay rent or the landlord’s failure to repair the premises or provide services. The landlord may initiate eviction proceedings to regain possession of the premises after timely notice is given to the tenant and the tenant fails to comply.
- Shareholder derivative and minority shareholder actions: Shareholder derivative actions are claims in which a shareholder brings a suit in the name of the corporation against corporate fiduciaries, such as officers or directors, where such fiduciaries are allegedly causing harm to the corporation. Such suits may be brought by minority shareholder claiming their rights were not adequately represented or overlooked.
- State and Federal Licensing and Regulatory Matters: These disputes involve compliance or with federal, state or local statutes or ordinances with respect to licensing and the allegations of violations that may terminate such license.
- Forfeitures: Such claims involve the government’s seizure of property that was either the proceeds of a crime or was used to facilitate a crime.
- Eminent Domain: Such claims involve the government’s involuntary seizure of property for public purposes for which the former owner may receive just compensation.
- Enforcement of Court Orders and Judgments: Getting a judgment is only part of the battle. Recovery of the judgment is a process in itself, such as by placing a lien on the judgment-debtor’s property and garnishing the judgment-debtor’s wages.
- Shareholder Claims: A shareholder may institute an action in the name of the corporation alleging harm to the corporation perpetrated by officers or directors by their breach of fiduciary duties owed to the corporation and its shareholders.
- LLC Member Claims: An LLC member may institute an action in the name of the limited liability company alleging harm to the LLC perpetrated by managers by their breach of fiduciary duties owed to the LLC and its members.
- Partnership Claims: A limited partner may institute an action in the name of the limited partnership alleging harm to the limited partnership perpetrated by General Partners by their breach of fiduciary duties owed to the Limited Partnership and its Limited Partners.
- IRS Settlements: IRS settlements may involve is a negotiated agreement with the IRS to make payments over a specified period to pay the taxes owed or to defer collection efforts for a specified period, or a negotiated deal with the taxpayer to settle for less than the full amount owed.
- IRS Offer in Compromise: IRS Offers in Compromise may involve is a negotiated agreement with the IRS to settle for less than the full amount owed.
- IRS Audits: There are four kinds of IRS audits: the Correspondence Audit, which is a letter from the IRS Service Center requesting that you send in copies of your canceled checks and/or receipts in order to verify certain deductions on the return, a Field Audit, where the agent conducts an audit at the place of business rather than the IRS office, an Office Audit, to bring certain documents to the local IRS office for the auditor's examination, and the Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program audit, which is a total audit in which every part of the return must be substantiated by documentation.
- Franchise Claims: Such disputes may occur when the franchisor or franchisee is not fulfilling its obligations, such as in he situation where the franchisor did not provide adequate training, disclose "hidden" fees and expenses or is not doing as much advertising as it said it would, or where the franchisee is not making timely or adequate payment.
- Real Estate and Title Insurance Claims: A little-known aspect of a real estate transaction is the role of title and escrow companies. Title insurance is required for most transactions to ensure that the property owner actually owns the property and that there are no easements, loans or liens against it. Escrow companies handle funds for a real estate transaction and are considered neutral parties responsible for helping make sure the deal gets done. Complications may arise involving these companies which may require litigation.
Escrow companies may be sued for:- Fraud
- Overcharging buyers
- Misuse of escrow funds
- Charging improper fees
- Closing escrow when funds were not available
- Misrepresentation of information
- Bad faith estimates
- Construction Litigation: This litigation involves disputes between the owner, developer, general contractor and subcontractor regarding the contractor’s performance and payment according to the contract.
- Securities Fraud: Such litigation occurs when a publicly traded corporation and certain of its officers and directors disseminate materially false and misleading statements to investors, broker or securities analysts about the company's financial condition and/or products that served to artificially inflate the price of the company's stock. These statements are dispersed to the financial community by company press releases, prospectuses, annual reports and proxy statements, quarterly and annual financial statements and various SEC filings. In certain actions, plaintiffs must allege and prove that the defendants knowingly or recklessly disseminated materially false and misleading information. In others, such as public offerings, once a material misrepresentation is established, the burden is on the defendants to demonstrate they did not act negligently. Typically, when the truth about the company's financial condition or product is publicly revealed, investors who purchased the company's securities at a time when the prices of those securities were artificially inflated experience a significant drop in the value of their stock, causing investors serious economic losses.
- Intellectual Property Litigation: A competitor introduces a new product that is strikingly similar to yours, and you believe it may infringe your patent, copyright and/or trademarks. You receive a letter claiming that you are infringing a trademark and demanding that you change the name of your business within seven days - or else. Your company receives a letter out of the blue stating that your new product infringes another company's patent and demands that your company take a license. Key employees suddenly resign and start their own business, competing directly with your company, and you believe they have taken critical computer files. intellectual property rights are often the most valuable assets a business owns. Protecting and effectively using those assets is critical.
- Bad Debt and Collection Matters: Pre-suit collection begins with a demand for payment in full by letter or made verbally and specific with respect to the amount due and the date when the creditor must receive payment. If the debtor has the ability to pay but not the willingness, the debt should be sent to an attorney for suit. If the debtor is judgment-proof or if the account does not appear to be collectible, the creditor may consider writing the debt off. While litigation is sometimes an option, in other cases a creditor’s best strategy may be to establish payment arrangements with the debtor. Any payment plan should specify with particularity the amounts of the payments and the dates by which they are to be made. If the creditor desires litigation, suit preparation and filing, pre-trial motions, pre-judgment discovery, summary judgment and trial may be required.
After suit, post-judgment collection remedies include:- Asset searches
- Depositions and examinations of debtors under oath
- Fraudulent conveyance discovery
- Alter egos
- Subpoena of books, records & documents for asset location
- Imposing liens on assets in third-party names
- Garnishments, replevins and repossessions
- Government contracts litigation: Government contracts issues have become increasingly intertwined with other legal specialties. Federal investigations into contractors’ charging practices may not only raise contractual issues, but may also present the prospect of qui tam suits, civil and criminal penalties, and suspension and debarment. Expert employment law advice may be necessary to address wage requirements imposed by a federal contract, OFCCP compliance obligations, or whistleblower protections. Federal contractors are increasingly interested in selling their products to foreign governments and corporations.
- Admiralty and Maritime Law: Admiralty law (also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans. It is distinguished from the Law of the Sea, which is a body of public international law dealing with navigational rights, mineral rights, jurisdiction over coastal waters and international law governing relationships between nations.
- Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law: Sherman Antitrust Act and Unfair Competition Law and other state and federal laws make it illegal for companies to agree to fix prices or to squeeze out competitors to create a monopoly or cartel. Directly or indirectly, businesses and consumers are hurt in the form of artificially high prices. Litigation often arises from Department of Justice investigations into antitrust violations. A civil antitrust lawsuit seeks monetary damages — triple the amount of the defendants' illicit gain.
- Customs law: The “nuts and bolts” of any sophisticated customs practice are tariff classification and appraisement. Companies tend to overlook these elements as sources of potential duty savings and compliance for imported merchandise. Companies want to maximize the potential for duty savings and minimize the risk of Customs penalties. It is no secret that Customs imposes strict recordkeeping requirements and that it retains the ability to conduct audits well after the date that goods are imported. These audits may last for many months and result in intrusive government inquiries and, in some cases, demands for back-duties and penalties. One method of achieving cost efficiency in cross-border trade is to take a proactive stance with Customs by filing requests for binding rulings, requests for internal advice and protests of liquidated entries, importers and others often are successful in obtaining significant savings in duties, fees and taxes without resorting to litigation. Customs has potent legal authority to impose severe penalties and forfeitures of property. Customs also enforces many different criminal statutes, including those pertaining to smuggling and export control.
- Business Litigation: Business litigation (sometimes called commercial litigation) is the judicial (court) resolution of disputes encompassing issues relating to contracts, real estate, business entity dissolution, franchising, unfair competition, and other areas of commerce.
- City, County and Local Court matters: The "jurisdiction" of a court is the power of that court to hear and decide a particular type of case. The small claims court has jurisdiction over civil cases in which the plaintiff is seeking a money judgment up to $5,000 or recovery of personal property valued up to $5,000.
In trials before the small claims court, witnesses shall be sworn. The judge shall conduct the trial in an informal manner so as to do substantial justice between the parties. The judge shall have the discretion to admit all evidence which may be of probative value although not in accordance with formal rules of practice, procedure, pleading or evidence, except that privileged communications shall not be admissible. The object of such trials shall be to determine the rights of the litigants on the merits and to dispense expeditious justice between the parties.
The successful plaintiff in a civil case will in most cases be awarded a money judgment as compensation for the defendant's wrongful act. The judgment is judicial recognition that the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff for a particular sum of money. The plaintiff is never assured of actually receiving the money, however, since the judgment can only be enforced out of property belonging to the defendant. Remedies to enforce judgments are available, but a defendant in a civil case is not subject to criminal sanctions for failing to pay a money judgment. - Civil Rights litigation: Generally, civil rights litigation is associated with issues involving governmental interference with federal or state rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Civil rights law is an expansive area that also covers rights guaranteed by state and federal laws, as well as rights guaranteed by the United State Constitution.
- Computer litigation: more businesses and individuals utilize computers and the Internet to perform a variety of functions and tasks. For example, computers today are used to help us communicate with each other, create and draft documents and plans, and balance our books and records, to name a few.
Unfortunately, with this new computer age comes a host of legal issues such as copyright and other intellectual property rights, Internet domain name disputes, warranty liability arising from the sale and distribution of computer software and hardware, and Year 2000 compliance. Also, the Internet has caused the courts to address the application of established legal principles such as personal jurisdiction to those whose sole contact with an out-of-state jurisdiction is through the maintenance of a web site or the purchase or sale of goods. - Consumer Law litigation: These types of lawsuits arise when an individual believes he or she has been cheated in some way or a loss occurs from a fraud perpetrated on the innocent public.
Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, including but not necessarily limited to product liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud, misrepresentation, and other consumer/business interactions.
Sometimes it becomes appropriate to include a large group or class of individuals in the lawsuit. These are called class action lawsuits and I have represented individuals in these types of lawsuits as well.
The following is a list of the statues that may be used to protect individuals against companies in the consumer rights context:- The Consumer Fraud Deceptive Practices Act,
- The Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act,
- The torts of Common law fraud, fraudulent concealment, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional interference with a contractual relationship, and fraudulent misrepresentation, and
- Unreasonable and vexatious refusal to pay claims by insurance companies.
- Corporate and Business Law: Commercial law (sometimes known as business law) is the body of law which governs business and commerce. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. Many countries have adopted civil codes which contain comprehensive statements of their commercial law. In the United States, commercial law is the province of both the United States Congress under its power to regulate interstate commerce and the states under their police power. Efforts have been made to create a unified body of commercial law in the US; the most successful of these attempts has resulted in the general adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Various regulatory schemes control how commerce is conducted. Privacy laws, safety laws (i.e. the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the United States), food and drug laws are some examples. - Disability law: Generally, the ADA applies when a person has either a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as hearing, walking, seeing, or learning; a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. Indeed, a manager has violated the ADA if she wrongly perceives that an employee is suffering from an illness (AIDS, for example) and discriminates because of it. Discrimination lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 are a growing concern for small business, but the threat isn't always from the feds. The ADA bars suits against companies with fewer than 15 workers, but state laws may not. Indiana's threshold is six; New York's, four. State law also can make owners and managers personally liable; federal law does not.
- Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law: Such matters involve claims concerning contract negotiation, licensing, copyright and trademark registration and protection, and rights of publicity and privacy. The clients may be book publishers and authors, musicians, composers, artists, on-air talent, film and theater production companies, managers, and agents.
- Environmental litigation: Cases are brought by the firm on behalf of persons whose properties or other rights have been affected by toxic contamination or pollution. These cases involve complex scientific issues and thousands of exhibits. They require enormous financial and staff resources and sometimes take the form of class actions brought in the interest of numerous similarly-situated persons at a time.
- Health Law: There are a variety of situations in which healthcare practitioners become involved in civil litigation. The most common example is medical malpractice lawsuits. Sometimes healthcare practitioners are sued by insurance companies for recoupment of benefits paid or for fraud resulting from the alleged submission of knowingly false HCFA 1500 claims forms. Some states offer the practitioner some relief from recoupment actions in the form of a relatively short statute of limitations for which claims for recoupment (absent fraud) can be made by an insurance company. This type of statute should substantially reduce the risk of practitioners to recoupment lawsuits, though it will probably have no effect on fraud claims asserted by insurance companies.
Federal and state authorities often investigate health practitioners. While the government has to right to investigate allegations of wrongdoing, it must do so in a reasonable manner and investigators cannot violate an individual’s constitutional rights, or commit criminal acts to further an investigation or obtain settlements for alleged violations of law. I have handled a number of cases for healthcare practitioners against government officials for overzealously or illegally pursuing investigations of healthcare practitioners. The basic claim under federal is a cause of action for deprivation of civil rights. In some situations the federal RICO statute against groups including government agents may be used. - Immigration and Nationality Law: Such matters focus on the acquisition and retention of employment credentials for executives, professionals and other skilled foreign workers. The would-be workers have to go through the application process, administrative hearings and every other stage of securing temporary and permanent work visas. Once the visas are granted, the workers’ need to comply with their employment authorization and finalize the verification process.
- Insurance Law matters: These disputes are related to individuals and businesses whose claims for insurance benefits or coverage have been denied by their insurance company, including disability, health, life, homeowners, auto, property-casualty, liability and commercial insurance claims.
- Labor and Employment Law: These are litigation matters that can arise out of the employer-employee relationship, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Section 1981), the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Executive Order 11246 (the Contract Compliance Program), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN), and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), as well as the full panoply of state and local laws that regulate the workplace.
- Trademark and Copyright: With trademarks, you clearly want that different than your competitor. In today’s really competitive environment, it’s getting harder to differentiate yourself with just products and services. What’s really important is the brand—the consistent experience your customers have every time they deal with you. Your brand is your essence, promise and personality. If there’s any confusion, you don’t want someone to take your equity, plus you don’t want to diminish that experience. The standard in these cases is “likelihood of confusion.” This means if a substantial portion of the public is confused by use of a similar name there can be a trademark infringement. You don’t have the defense that you own your last name. An important point about trademark law is, while it gives the trademark owner the right to protect the name, it’s really aimed at protecting the consumer. A name has almost zero value until you’ve used it. The value comes with people getting to know the business through the name.
New business owners often don’t check the U.S. Government to see if their business name is already registered or take the time to register it, which they should do before starting business. Without it, several months or even years later, a registrant can come along with that name and legally demand an older business to bear the expense of a name change.
A federal copyright is infringed when another person or entity reproduces the work of the owner of the copyrighted material without the owner's permission. There is no set standard regarding how much of a work can be taken without constituting copyright infringement. However, with a registered federal copyright the owner of the registration has a substantial advantage should a legal situation arise surrounding the copyrighted material. - Real Estate disputes: Real estate disputes include, but are not limited to, the following issues:
- The land value, percentage rate of return, and/or economic land rent for a renewal period of a land lease agreement;
- The economic rent for a renewal term for office, retail, industrial, or special-purpose space when the renewal period is to be set at the "going rate";
- The appropriate remedy for lease disputes involving revenue issues, expense escalation reimbursements, and operational, occupancy, and use issues;
- The market value of land, improvements or both as provided in a lease agreement that grants the lessee a purchase option at an unspecified price;
- The market value of a partial interest in real estate including a mortgage or an equity position, leased fee, leasehold estate, sandwich leasehold, sub-leasehold, air rights, transferable development rights, subsurface rights, easement, and life estate and remainderman interests; The market value of a fractional ownership interest in a property in order to arrive at a "buyout" price under the terms of a partnership or other joint-ownership agreement;
- The market value, if any, of a future purchase option, right of refusal, right of last offer, and similar features;
- The appropriate remedy concerning a dispute about the terms and conditions of a real estate contract or partnership agreement;
- A decision in the construction phase of a real estate development concerning timing, scope of work, quality, and/or costs and the apportionment of obligations and benefits among the architect, owner, contractor, and tradesmen;
- A decision on whether or not a real estate commission has been earned and is payable;
- The appropriate remedy in a title dispute;
- The appropriate remedy in a dispute about the terms and conditions of a real estate loan or loan default;
- A decision rendered in a condominium, cooperative, or owners' association dispute;
- A decision in a tax certiorari dispute;
- A decision concerning just compensation in a property condemnation case;
- The equitable allocation of a portfolio of real estate assets among claimants arising from an estate settlement, divorce settlement, the unwinding of a joint-venture, or the dissolution of a business entity;
- Resolution of a dispute involving land use and zoning issues;
- The relative impact on real estate value of adverse environmental conditions;
- A decision concerning a dispute involving hotels, motel, clubs, or casinos;
- A decision in a dispute between real estate investors residing in different countries.
- Sports law disputes: Colleges and universities, businesses, and individuals involved in collegiate and professional sports have encountered a substantial increase in the number of specialized legal issues over the past decade. In today’s world of sports, we are called upon by our clients to advise them on issues involving complex commercial transactions, intellectual property rights, privacy regulations, licensing, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) investigations and compliance, and contract negotiations and dispute resolution that arise continuously and demand rapid responses.
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