Blogs

Business and Financial Services

Should I Franchise My Business?

Franchises have become part of our everyday experience. We eat at franchise restaurants, shop at franchise clothing and home goods stores and sleep at franchise hotels. Franchising as a business concept developed and became popular in fast food and retail sales businesses. But over the last 20 years franchising has expanded to businesses offering all types of goods and services, such as senior care, sports, fitness and education, to name just a few. Professional services businesses, such as…

January 28, 2019

Business and Financial Services

Win for Online Speech Sustained: U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Hassell v. Yelp

Back in July, we provided our five takeaways from the California Supreme Court’s decision in Hassell v. Bird that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (“Section 230”), which confers defamation immunity upon internet sites that “publish” content of another, protected Yelp from a take-down order directing it to remove defamatory content. After…

January 23, 2019

Business and Financial Services

The First Round of Opportunity Zone Fund Regulations Are Out!

Some of the highlights of the first round of proposed regulations released on October 19, 2018 in conjunction with Revenue Ruling 2018-29 are as follows: Capital Gains: The regulations take the position that only capital gains for federal income tax purposes are eligible to be invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF). Thus, gains such…

October 29, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You: Q & A

This is the next post in a series of articles diving into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. In previous posts, we described the general framework for the new Opportunity Fund program, the tax benefits to taxpayers who invest in Opportunity Funds, and how the funds work. Now, we will answer some of the more common…

August 27, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You: How the Funds Work

This is the third post in a series of articles diving into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. In our first post, we described the general framework for the new Opportunity Fund program which you can find here. In the second post, we discussed the tax benefits to taxpayers who invest in Opportunity Funds. Now, let’s…

August 14, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You – What Are the Tax Incentives and What Investors Need to Know

This is the second post in a series of articles wherein we will dive into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. In our first post, we described the general framework for the new Opportunity Fund program which you can find here. There are three tax benefits that investors in an Opportunity Fund can take advantage of,…

August 9, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Opportunity Funds are Knocking: Let them in and Learn How They Can Work for You

This is the first feature in a series of articles wherein we will dive into the new “Opportunity Fund” program. The recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is most widely known for changing corporate tax rates, limiting the mortgage interest and state deduction for individuals, and for providing the qualified business income pass-through…

August 6, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Internet Defamation Guide – 10 Questions to Spot or Avoid Online Defamation

As internet speech grows, so do internet defamation cases. It is easier today to ruin names, brands, and reputations with online negative statements. Yet it is also easier today to raise issues and advocate change before a widespread audience connected by the internet. These 10 questions should help an online company spot or a blogger…

August 2, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Virginia Employers: Are Your Non-Competes Enforceable?

Restrictive covenants continue to be among the most hotly contested employment law issues in Virginia. Non-solicitation and non-competition clauses are fundamentally important to a business like yours. Drafted well, they provide your company with significant legal protections against a key employee usurping the sales opportunities and client relationships developed while in your employ to start a competing business or to provide an unfair advantage to one of your competitors. However, Virginia…

August 1, 2018

Business and Financial Services

Freedom of Speech or Freedom from Defamation? – 5 Takeaways from Yelp’s Recent Court Victory

Earlier this month, California’s highest court ruled that Yelp did not have to remove defamatory posts despite having been ordered to do so. In the plurality opinion, the California Supreme Court held in Hassell v. Bird that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (“CDA”) immunized Yelp from the “take-down” order.1 The Hassell…

July 18, 2018