Fort Lauderdale Business and Commercial Law Blog

What is a hostile acquisition?

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Mergers & Acquisitions on Sunday, August 12, 2018.

If you have an ownership interest in a Florida corporation, you want to protect that interest and receive the maximum financial benefits to which you are entitled. But what if another company wants to buy your company? Is that in your best interests despite whatever reservations your corporation’s board of directors may have?

As the Corporate Finance Institute explains, a hostile acquisition, a/k/a hostile takeover, occurs when another company attempts to buy your corporation, but your board of directors rejects the bid offer. If the company still wishes to buy your corporation, it can attempt to do so by coming directly to you and the other shareholders with a tender offer or proxy vote strategy so as to bypass your corporation’s board of directors.

What is an adverse employment action?

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Employment Litigation on Monday, August 6, 2018.

When you work in Florida or anywhere else in the United States, federal law prohibits your employer from firing you or retaliating against you in any way whatsoever if and when you report workplace discrimination to your supervisor and/or to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As the EEOC explains, any act on your employer’s part that would inhibit you or your co-workers from reporting discrimination constitutes a prohibited adverse employment action.

In addition to termination, the following acts likewise represent adverse employment actions:

Reassigning your work duties
Taking away your supervisory responsibilities
Excessively examining your work
Reducing or threatening to reduce your wages or salary
Threatening to report you or a member of your family to immigration officials
Criticizing you to your co-workers or others, especially in the media

Florida pharmaceutical company facing lawsuits

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Business Litigation on Sunday, July 29, 2018.

Residents of Florida and elsewhere depend on drug companies to make safe, reliable and effective medications to treat their illnesses or symptoms. Unfortunately, not all medications are created safely. When a drug is contaminated or manufactured improperly, consumers can suffer greatly.

Recently, the Florida drug manufacturer PharmaTech LLC, has been hit with seven wrongful death lawsuits, after several batches of stool softener products reportedly caused adverse reactions or death in patients who were given the medication. The Sun Sentinel reported that some batches of the drug were found to be either “subpotent” or “superpotent,” resulting in overdose symptoms in at least one patient. Additionally, three infants died and others became seriously ill in separate cases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration blamed the illnesses on water-borne bacteria that contaminated the batches of stool softener.

What is the Family and Medical Leave Act?

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Employment Litigation on Friday, July 20, 2018.

Floridian residents like you work hard every day at your jobs. However, there are some unavoidable situations in which it becomes temporarily impossible for you to continue working. This is where the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, comes into play. But just what is this act?

Findlaw explains everything you need to know about the FMLA. Essentially, this act guarantees employees up to 12 unpaid working weeks of leave per year, with no threat to their position within the company. Additionally, you're still able to maintain your healthcare benefits during this period, even if you won't be paid.

What is reasonable accommodation for disabled workers?

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Employment Litigation on Thursday, July 12, 2018.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law that protects Florida’s disabled workers by requiring employers to make “reasonable” accommodations for them. That word can be subjective to varying degrees, as is the term “disabled.”

Many companies hire specialists or train Human Resources personnel to ensure they comply with ADA standards. Those with disabilities can access these human and legal resources too, should they need a better understanding of their rights.

What challenges do employees face during a company merger?

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Mergers & Acquisitions on Saturday, July 7, 2018.

Mergers and acquisitions are widely considered to be a healthy part of the corporate world, opening doors for competition and innovation. However, as you are aware, few mergers in Florida and elsewhere go perfectly smoothly. Most newly-merged entities experience a few bumps in the road during the first few weeks and months after the change. Indeed, it can take some businesses a couple of years to acclimate to what may feel to employees and customers as a completely new company.

Employees may be among those to take a merge the hardest, according to Forbes. Your staff may have been loyal and comfortable with a smaller, cozier workplace environment. It is not unreasonable to expect some employees to fear the culture they love is about to change and possibly become sterile and impersonal. Your employees may at first be awkward or clash with the employees being brought in from the merging company. Others may fear their jobs are about to be downsized or their positions will change significantly.

Are arbitration clauses good for businesses?

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Contract Disputes on Sunday, July 1, 2018.

Like most Florida businesses, you have contracts for your employees and clients, as well as terms of service for your customers to read and agree to before doing business. You may be aware that many companies include arbitration clauses in their terms of service, and you might be considering adding that to your own policies.

As Consumer Reports explains, arbitration usually works out in the best interest of companies. A clause enforcing mandatory arbitration in a dispute waives a customer’s right to sue. As you can imagine, this might save your company a great deal of money and wasted time. You would usually pick the arbitrator, the results of the dispute would remain private and consumers are restricted in their ability to appeal the arbitrator’s decision. A win for your company, right?

Protecting products with patents

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Business Formation & Planning on Friday, June 22, 2018.

When Florida residents form their own business, they may sometimes realize they need to protect their idea. In this situation, it is important for people to understand what exactly can be patented and what they can do to protect this idea.

While some people may think they can patent any idea which is unique to their company, this is not necessarily the case. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, people usually cannot get a patent for their business idea. Instead, people can patent a machine they have invented or the way their product is manufactured. This means that someone can get a patent on the ingredients they put in a product and the step-by-step process for making the product. Sometimes a company's timeline is an important factor. If a company is already selling their product when they apply for a patent or if they have described the product in a magazine or trade journal, they may not be able to receive a patent.

Judge sides with naughty puppets in movie lawsuit

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Business Litigation on Tuesday, June 12, 2018.

Intellectual property is a complex area of law. Some entrepreneurs may not realize they are committing copyright infringement if they create a logo or catchphrase that closely resembles another company’s protected trademark. Others may use intellectual property in the form of music lyrics, novel excerpts and phrases without the original owner’s permission. Florida business owners should understand that copyright infringement can have a detrimental impact against the copyright owner if it deceives consumers into thinking the infringing company is affiliated with the original company or that its products are the genuine thing.

This can be especially irksome if the alleged infringement shines a bad light on the company holding the trademark or unfairly lures business elsewhere. According to Fortune, the former point was the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Sesame Workshop against the makers of the upcoming Melissa McCarthy movie “The Happytime Murders.” The focus of the suit alleged infringement against the children’s show “Sesame Street” in the movie’s tagline, “No Sesame. All Street.” The plaintiffs were concerned that parents would think Sesame Street creators were affiliated or in support of the R-rated movie.

Helping first time business owners succeed

On behalf of Law Offices of Levi Williams, P.A. posted in Business Formation & Planning on Friday, June 8, 2018.

When Florida residents decide to start their own business, they may focus most on finding the perfect location and identifying their niche in the market. Running a business can be complicated, though, and it is important for first time business owners to consider all of the details.

Some people may think that the location of their business is key to its success. According to Forbes, sometimes it may be best if people do not have an office space initially. This is because keeping the costs down can help a business succeed through the first year. People may want to sit down and make a list of the items their business actually needs so they can spend money on these aspects.

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