What really happens in a business lawsuit in Florida – Part 1: Who’s the best lawyer I ever saw?11/26/2018 Lawsuits are our society’s mechanism for resolving disputes between businesses that they are unable to resolve on their own. But, the reality is that they take a good deal of time and money. Fortunately, David Steinfeld, owner of the Law Office of David Steinfeld in Palm Beach Gardens is a Board Certified expert in business lawsuits with more than twenty years of experience.
Mr. Steinfeld is one of just about 250 of the more than 100,000 lawyers licensed in Florida that has been qualified by the Florida Bar as a Board Certified expert in business litigation. He has even chaired that Committee for the Florida Bar at the behest of its President and written large parts of the certification exam. He has also been recognized for several consecutive years as one of the Best Lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report, a Florida Super Lawyer, and one of Florida’s Legal Elite among other well-regarded awards and recognitions that are identified on the Firm’s website at www.ThePalmBeachBusinessLawyer.com. But, because lawsuits are only one mechanism to resolve business disputes, the benefit of consulting with Mr. Steinfeld is to discuss and identify the objectives and resources of the business or people involved and to assess all alternatives that may achieve those goals with the resources available to them. Critical to the prosecution or defense of any business lawsuit is the structuring and framing of the action. Almost akin to constructing a house or building, a lawsuit, counterclaims, and defenses must be carefully considered and planned before their implementation. This is where experience matters. As a former U.S. Army Officer in both the intelligence community and practicing law in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, attorney David Steinfeld has a unique tactical approach to business lawsuits that optimize the opportunity for success in that venue for any business. So as astronaut Gordo Cooper was famous for saying, who’s the best lawyer (he really said pilot) I ever saw? . . . well, you’re lookin’ at em’.
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Because the concept of buyer beware applies to commercial real estate transactions in Florida, due diligence is crucial and rests on the shoulders of the buyer. The Law Office of David Steinfeld guides both buyers and sellers in structuring certain aspects of commercial real estate transactions. Depending on the property, due diligence may include reviews of rent rolls and the operation of a business or businesses on the property or it may focus more on the condition of the property itself.
Helping the purchaser bring together a qualified team of professionals, such as accountants and property inspectors, is a value that the Law Office of David Steinfeld can bring to the proverbial team in addition to reviewing purchase and sale agreements. Florida law requires that real estate sales occur under written contracts, but unlike residential transactions that largely now use form documents approved by the Florida Board of Realtors known as FarBar contracts, such standard contracts are rare in commercial transactions. Thus, having an expert business litigator like David Steinfeld who has experience litigating breaches of commercial real estate contracts is of great benefit to parties that intend to buy or sell commercial real estate in Florida. Because the concept of buyer beware applies to commercial real estate transactions in Florida, due diligence is crucial and rests on the shoulders of the buyer. The Law Office of David Steinfeld guides both buyers and sellers in structuring certain aspects of commercial real estate transactions. Depending on the property, due diligence may include reviews of rent rolls and the operation of a business or businesses on the property or it may focus more on the condition of the property itself.
Helping the purchaser bring together a qualified team of professionals, such as accountants and property inspectors, is a value that the Law Office of David Steinfeld can bring to the proverbial team in addition to reviewing purchase and sale agreements. Florida law requires that real estate sales occur under written contracts, but unlike residential transactions that largely now use form documents approved by the Florida Board of Realtors known as FarBar contracts, such standard contracts are rare in commercial transactions. Thus, having an expert business litigator like David Steinfeld who has experience litigating breaches of commercial real estate contracts is of great benefit to parties that intend to buy or sell commercial real estate in Florida. Common real estate disputes in Florida – Part 2: How do you handle a seller’s failure to disclose10/31/2018 In Florida, there is a distinct difference in the manner in which residential and commercial real estate transactions are handled. In 1985, the Florida Supreme Court decreed that buyer beware does not apply to residential transactions and sellers must disclose known material facts that are unobservable to a buyer. This mandate is now included in all standard FarBar real estate contracts and most brokerage firms also require buyers to complete a separate seller’s disclosure form.
When a buyer believes that a seller has failed to disclose a material defect usually the discovery of the situation occurs shortly after closing. Therefore, it is important to consult with an experienced and expert litigation attorney like David Steinfeld, who has tried these types of cases to verdict before juries and judges to determine the next and best course of action for your unique situation. While a lawsuit may be one option to resolve the situation, it is not the only option available. Lawsuits in general are expensive and time-consuming, but these types of lawsuits in particular often require a significant number of depositions and, therefore, can become very expensive and very time-consuming. Therefore, it is prudent to carefully examine all of the options available together with David Steinfeld in order to make informed decisions in response to the unfortunate situation. Although the seller of a home in Florida is obligated to disclose material defects that they actually know of, sometimes sellers do not make such disclosures either as a result of a lack of knowledge or intentionally. As the saying goes, sometimes the best defense is a good offense, which when translated into residential real estate transactions mitigates in favor of retaining qualified inspectors to thoroughly assess the property. The Law Office of David Steinfeld has utilized a number of such inspectors as expert witnesses in lawsuits concerning disclosures and can guide and recommend clients to these professionals as part of guiding and assisting either a buyer or seller in such real estate transactions. For almost one hundred years in Florida, real estate has been considered a business and lawsuits over real estate have even been addressed on the business litigation board certification exam. While many people purchase a home in which to live, many others buy for investment either in their name or through a business entity, which may also involve several investors. Properly structuring a business for such investment is as important a step just as with a business that intends to sell a service or product and is a service that the Law Office of David Steinfeld regularly offers.
Disputes over the purchase and sale of real estate, real estate contracts, and rentals concerning landlords and tenants are matters that the Law Office of David Steinfeld regularly addresses, but closings and title work are not within the expertise of the Firm and referrals are commonly provided to local attorneys who do that type of work. Chapter 83 of Florida’s Statutes is the Landlord-Tenant Act and provides the obligations applicable to landlords in residential tenancies. However, the obligations of landlords and tenants in commercial rentals is largely governed by the terms of their written lease. The Law Office of David Steinfeld reviews commercial leases to assist and guide businesses in renting space for their operations. At some point in the lifecycle of a business the option to sell the business or its assets may arise for a variety of reasons. On the other side of that opportunity lies a prospective and motivated buyer interested in obtaining the assets or business itself of the established and going concern. There are a number of factors that impact the decisions on both sides of the potential transaction, but they ordinarily start with some investigation of the opportunity by the buyer, which may or may not need to be guarded by the seller through documents such as non-disclosure agreements.
Once the parties assess the opportunity and are in a position to frame out the terms of the purchase and sale, then they are ready to document those terms so that everyone involved knows exactly how things will turn out and knows the obligations and responsibilities of all the parties. Structuring purchase and sales of businesses in this manner is naturally done to avoid disputes later that can divert attention from running and growing the business or can drain the monies obtained from the purchase. For several years, David Steinfeld has edited the Chapter on purchase and sale of businesses in Florida for the Florida Bar in its Small Business Handbook. This is a volume that is used by lawyers throughout the State in understanding how to structure such transactions and even provides sample documents for them to use. Thus, in a manner of speaking, you can say that Board Certified expert business lawyer David Steinfeld literally wrote the book in Florida on how to structure contracts for the purchase and sale of businesses. While trademarks and service marks are one method by which a business can add value to and protect its brand, non-compete agreements, non-solicitation agreements, and non-disclosures are also mechanisms by which a business can place itself in a position to more easily enforce its rights and protect itself. However, there are certain legal restrictions that apply to some of those documents leading one to the recommendation of “don’t try this at home”. Business owners that elect to create their own contracts or download these documents from an unknown source and opt not to invest in expert business law advice, such as that from Florida Bar Board Certified business litigation lawyer David Steinfeld of the Law Office of David Steinfeld, usually create a bigger and more expensive problem for the business later.
A business that relies on its self-created documents can, for years, believe that it is protected by such defective documents only to find out when it tries to enforce them that the business is unprotected, has exposed its proprietary and confidential business information, and created its own competition that can damage or destroy the business. After spending years and significant sums to grow a business, one of the worst imaginable issues that the owner or owners can face is learning that they are helpless to fight off an attack from a former employee or new competitor who has absconded with what the business owner thought was protected proprietary business information. Thus, sophisticated business owners invest the time and money to consult with Florida law business experts like David Steinfeld to understand the options available to them and to be able to make informed decisions on those points, which avoids more costly future disputes ever time. How do you set up a business in Florida – Part 8: An introduction to protecting your business8/23/2018 When a business opens in Florida, it will generally either provide a service or sell merchandise. In either case, the intent is usually to operate the business to earn a profit for its owners and to that end they strive to market and promote the business to increase sales and generate that profit. But, what many business owners overlook in their quest for growth is the need to protect and insulate the business from attacks. Such battles can develop internally, which is why governance documents, like operating agreements for LLCs or bylaws and shareholder agreements for corporations, are beneficial. These fights can also come from employees or independent contractors from adjacent to or outside the corporate entity or from competitors or vendors outside the business.
Protecting the brand of a business promotes the growth and development of the business and enhances the possibility for profit that the owners seek. Protecting a business in this regard is not limited to the filing of a trademark application on Sunbiz, for example, but is an operational program as to how the proprietary information of and developed by the business can best be protected. Designing such a program for the business is a service provided by David Steinfeld and the Law Office of David Steinfeld. How do you set up a business in Florida – Part 7: Non-Florida business doing business in Florida7/13/2018 How do you set up a business in Florida – Part 7: Non-Florida business doing business in Florida
Florida encourages and provides an easy means for non-Florida businesses, that is a business either registered in another State or Country, to register to conduct business legally in the State. The method is similar to creating a business here and is done online on the State’s website, Sunbiz. If a foreign business as it is called, either a corporation or LLC, has a credit card, internet access and a registered agent to accept service of process of lawsuits, it can register to do business here. There are even businesses in Florida that cater to such foreign businesses and offer their services as a registered agent for the foreign business in Florida. Although a foreign business need not always or absolutely register to do business in Florida, the benefit of so doing affords the business benefits that it would not otherwise enjoy. How such benefits will apply to a particular foreign business and whether it is helpful for a particular business to do so is a topic better addressed in a discussion with David Steinfeld. The Law Office of David Steinfeld employs a great deal of technology to move at the speed of its business clients. Therefore, a foreign business wishing to discuss these topics will find it easy to do so from anywhere in the country or the world. |
AuthorDavid Steinfeld - The Palm Beach Business Lawyer Archives
November 2018
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