– Legal Insights –
Defamation damages are unusually difficult to prove. A false accusation may circulate through a workplace, professional community, or social circle without producing a receipt for the harm it causes. Prospective customers rarely explain that they chose a competitor because of something they heard. Colleagues may quietly withdraw their trust. Friends...
Filter By:
In the world of collections, obtaining a judgment against a debtor is generally far less than half the battle. Apart from standard collection difficulties (e.g., finding assets to attach and identifying fraudulent transfers), things get exponentially more difficult when a debtor funnels money to an off-shore bank account in a...
Isn’t it fascinating how the same individual who acts like your best friend when seeking a loan suddenly falls off the map once a default has occurred? This can range from the debtor being sluggish in returning phone calls, to literally hiding from the bank for days or weeks on...
For many of our estate planning clients, retirement accounts represent a substantial portion of their estate. And for many years clients have rightfully assumed that their retirement accounts would be safe from attachment by their creditors and that the same held true for those retirement accounts in the hands of...
The lengths some debtors will go to avoid paying what they owe. Having a debtor shift assets to avoid paying a debt is nothing new to bankers. Whether this takes the form of a debtor transferring assets into a trust, “selling” valuable property to a straw man, or simply “gifting”...
Since the enactment of the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act (MCIOA) in 1994, a significant number of associations not subject to MCIOA have made the decision to “opt in” to MCIOA – and thus to be governed by MCIOA. What factors should be considered when making the decision to opt...
In all the years of planning and administering our clients’ estates, I have found that the concept of the probate process seems to puzzle and confuse clients. In planning our clients’ estates we look for ways to reduce the need for probate, both during their life, and at the time...
An issue that sometimes arises in a condominium, townhome, or homeowners’ association is changing the number of members that serve on the board of directors. The board must first determine whether the association is required to have a particular number of directors on the board. The association’s Bylaws or Articles...
Are you certified to work on residential property containing lead paint? Are your subcontractors? If not, any work you perform on such properties built before 1978 could subject you to five-digit fines. Is lead paint really that big of a deal? In 1991, the Secretary of the Department of Health...
After a three-week trial and five years of litigation, the “[m]ost important trial in sports history”[1] — O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association[2] — concluded lastmonth, culminating in what some have said is the most important victory in the history of college sports. As important as the ruling is, however,...
It may be hard to believe, but Labor Day and the end of the summer is just days away. This makes it an ideal time to start your year-end planning. While year-end planning may mean something different to each of us, here are some items to consider. Tax planning Remaining...