As business attorney in Minnesota, I advise Minnesota businesses and investors seeking to comply with securities laws or defend their rights against someone who has violated securities laws. (more…)

The stress, anxiety, and pain may also affect your performance at work, relationships at home, and other lifestyle activities. Sadly, insurance companies don’t always compensate those who are injured in the amount they deserve.

As a Minnesota accident and injury attorney, I help people understand their legal rights, coach them through their options, and represent them in claims against those who are responsible for the accident. If you have been injured and are not sure if you need a lawyer, call me and I will listen to your situation and explain your legal options.

Car, Truck, Motorcycle, or Motor Vehicle Accident

Traffic accidents involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles are common. Automobile accidents may result in serious injury or minor injury. Either way, the result may be temporary or long-term physical injury.

The law may require that you be compensated for your injury, medical expenses, automobile damage, or other losses. As an accident and injury attorney, I can help those injured on Minnesota roads by explaining the legal options and pursuing a legal claim against those who are responsible.

Boat, Jetski, or Watercraft Accident

An injury on the water may involve a boat, jetski, or other watercraft. Sometimes, the accidents involve someone drinking alcohol. Although a Minnesota county sheriff’s department may bring criminal charges, those who were injured in a boating accident often need a lawyer to bring a civil lawsuit so the injured party is compensated for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other losses.

If you have questions about an accident on the water, contact me to discuss whether you have a claim and learn your legal options.

Accident Resulting in Death: Negligence & Wrongful Death

Serious accidents may result in death. When this happends, the victim’s loved ones may bring a wrongful death claim against whoever negligently caused the accident.

Wrongful death lawsuits are often complex, and they also may result in high financial compensation for family members.

If someone you know died, and it is possible that someone’s negligence caused the death, contact me to discuss your legal options. Since evidence may be discarded, you should speak with an attorney as soon as possible after the death. I would be glad to offer a free consultation so you can determine your legal options.

Experienced Minnesota Accident Injury Lawyers

The lawyers in our firm are experienced in accidents and injuries, including accidents involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, jetskis, and more. Minnesota negligence law provides compensation for minor injuries, major injuries, and wrongful death. If you or someone you know has been injuried, contact the attorneys in our firm to learn your legal rights and consider having us represent you to get the financial compensation you deserve.

As an employment law attorney, I help employees whose rights have been violated and advise employees regarding how to protect their rights in the workplace. If your rights as a Minnesota employee have been violated, please contact me to discuss your situation and learn your legal options.

What are your rights as a Minnesota employee?

1. Minimum Wage. You must receive at least the minimum wage each hour for all hours your employer requires you to work, including preparation time, opening and closing times, and required meetings.

2. Full Pay. Your employer may not deduct from your wages for breakages, cash shortages, tools and uniforms. Some exceptions to this rule are allowed. Any deductions from your paycheck must be authorized in writing by you.

3. Disclosed Deductions. Each time you are paid, you must receive a statement listing all deductions, such as taxes, from your earnings.

4. Payment for Time Worked. Keep accurate records of hours worked. If there is a difference between your record and the employer’s, review your records together.

5. Rest Breaks. Rest breaks are not required. However, you must be allowed time to use the nearest restroom within each four consecutive hours of work.

6. Meals. If you work eight or more consecutive hours, you must be allowed sufficient time to eat a meal.

7. Overtime. Your employer must pay one and one-half times your regular rate of pay for overtime hours worked. State law requires overtime after 48 hours in a workweek. Employers with more than $500,000 in annual sales or revenue are covered by federal law and require overtime after 40 hours in a workweek.

8. Minors. Minors (younger than 18 years of age) are prohibited from working certain jobs. High school students younger than 18 may not work after 11 p.m. on evenings before school days or before 5 a.m. on school days. Minors younger than 16 years of age have limited work hours. Contact the Labor Standards unit for jobs not allowed and hour limitations.

9. Safety. You have a right to a safe workplace! If safety or health hazards exist, contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

10. Workplace Injuries. If you are injured on the job, immediately inform the employer! The employer has an obligation to provide you with workers’ compensation insurance.

11. Harassment. Your employer must provide a work environment free from racial, sexual and religious harassment. Report violations to the human resources office.

12. Unemployment. If your employment ends, contact the nearest Minnesota WorkForce Center to file a claim for re-employment insurance.

Author: Aaron Hall is an employment law attorney licensed in Minnesota, and admitted to practice in state and federal court. As a employment lawyer, he provides legal counsel and advice to employees and small business employers throughout the year. His service area includes Minneapolis, St. Paul, the MN Twin Cities area, and greater Minnesota.

Credits: Much of this information was obtained from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

Tax Preparation the Easy Way

Save in One Spot. All year long, before you do your taxes, have one place in your home where you can put stuff that you might need when you prepare your taxes. It could be a (more…)

Business Formation & Startup Stage

A new business may start out as a home-based business. The main employee is often the owner. For a new business, the concerns are (1) planning and (2) establishing the best structure from a tax and liability perspective, and (3) simplicity. (more…)

Blog Copyright

You have a copyright in whatever you write on your blog and whatever images you create for your blog. Generally, if someone uses your content without your permission, they have infringed your copyright.

Exception. There is an exception for fair use. Fair use would be, for example, if you wanted to quote one sentence from someone’s blog in order to respond to it on your blog. However, if you copy someone’s entire post (e.g. blog scrapers) without their permission, that is not fair use—that is copyright infringement.

Blog Photos. Photos are the same way. You can’t post someone’s photos to your blog without their permission.

YouTube Videos. You can copy a video, blog post, or image if you have permission. Since YouTube allows you to post their videos on your blog (see YouTube’s terms of service), you are not infringing their copyright.

Blog Trademark

A trademark is a non-generic name, slogan, or logo that is used in business to refer to a product or service.

Logo. A logo is trademarked and copyrighted. You can’t use a logo without permission.

Your Blog’s Name. Your blog name is probably trademarked, as long as it’s unique and not generic. For example, the term Mashable is protected by trademark. But the term Web 2.0 Blog is generic and not protected by trademark.

Writing about Trademarks. On your blog, you can mention a trademarked term when referring to the trademark owner’s product. For example, you can write about Nike shoes, and use an affiliate link so your blog visitors can buy shoes made by Nike.

You can’t use the trademark to associate with another’s product. For example, you can’t advertise your own line of skateboards as “Nike skateboards” because Nike” is already trademarked in a similar product category.

Diluting the Value of a Trademark. You can’t dilute the value of the trademark by associating it with something that would hurt the trademark’s reputation in the minds of consumers. For example, you can’t advertise your pornographic magazine as “Mercedes-Benz Porn,” because you are taking advantage of the Mercedes-Benz trademark to promote your product while diluting the reputation of Mercedes-Benz. The Mercedes-Benz trademark is diluted because some people could think the porn is produced or associated with Mercedes-Benz.

Trademark Examples. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what is trademarked. For example

• Rollerblade is a trademark. In-line skates is a generic term.
• Klennex is a trademark. Tissue is a generic term.
• Xerox is a trademark. Copy machine is a generic term.
• Apple is a trademark for product categories sold by Apple Computers. Apple is generic when referring to fruit.

When to See a Lawyer

Copyright & Trademark Registration. An intellectual property attorney can help you register a trademark or copyright. Registration gives you additional rights.

Copyright & Trademark Infringement. An intellectual property attorney can send a “cease and desist” letter to someone who is infringing on your copyright or trademark. The attorney can also file a lawsuit against them, forcing them to stop use of your intellectual property and seeking damages.

Grey Areas of the Law. There are many difficult legal areas related to copyright and trademark law. For example, sometimes it is okay to use a trademarked term in a domain name, but sometimes it is not. An intellectual property attorney can help you through these situations if you encounter them.

Legal Questions. Although copyright and trademark law is largely the same throughout the United States, each jurisdiction (geographic area) has slight variations. If you have a copyright or trademark question, contact an intellectual property attorney in your area.

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Attorney Aaron Hall provides legal counsel, drafts documents, and litigates cases for many small business owners. He served as an adjunct business law professor teaching business law at the university level. His writings on small business law have been published, and he is actively engaged in providing counsel, representation, and litigation services to small businesses. For a free phone consultation regarding your business, contact Aaron Hall at 612-644-0015.

Business Entity Types

Minnesota small businesses have a number of options when selecting a business entity type. For example, they may consider a sole proprietorship (default for single owner), partnership (default for more than one owner), limited liability company (LLC), subchapter S corporation (S-Corp), subchapter C corporation (C-Corp), limited liability partnership (LLP), or one of many other special entity types. Sometimes partnerships are called joint enterprises. Sometimes privately owned companies are called closely held businesses.

These entities may be formed in Minnesota, Delaware, or some other state, depending on the objectives of the owners.

Formation Documents

Starting a business generally involves preparing the organization’s formation documents. These include the Articles of Incorporation (for a corporation) and Articles of Organization (for an LLC). The business will also need bylaws and ownership agreements.

Ownership agreements explain the rules between the owners. This includes percentages of profit payments, division of business responsibilities, various rights of partners, and how the partners can end the business. A business attorney can structure and draft the owner’s agreement, helping owners consider the provisions and language to represent their intentions. Ownership agreements include

• Limited Liability Company (LLC) agreements
• Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) agreements
• Partnership & joint venture agreements
• Family limited partnership agreements
• Shareholder agreements

Agents of Your Business

Every business has at least one agent: the owner. Every partner is an agent of the business. Other agents may include employees, independent contractors, or volunteers assisting the business. Agency law explains when the business is liable for acts of the agents and agent’s duties to the business (principal). a business attorney can explain the agency issues related to your business. These may include

• Liability of the agent to third persons
• Agency notice and notification (imputed knowledge)
• Contractual power of agents
• Duties of agent to principal
• Duties of principal to agent
• Fiduciary duties of agents
• Termination of the agency relationship
• The agency relationship
• The undisclosed principal
• The doctrine of ratification

Your Business Partners

Partnership law was the prevailing business law for small businesses for centuries. Partnership law is the foundation for unincorporated business associations. Partnership law allows for various kinds of partnership arrangements, including various roles and responsibilities of limited partners and general partners. As a result, partnership law is relevant to owners of an LLC or S Corp. The following statutes may be relevant to a partnership business:

• Minnesota’s Uniform Limited Partnership Act 2001 (Minnesota Statutes chapter 321)
• Minnesota’s 1919 Uniform Limited Partnership Act (Minnesota Statutes chapter 322)
• Minnesota’s 1976 Uniform Limited Partnership Act (Minnesota Statutes chapter 322A)
• Minnesota’s Limited Liability Companies (Minnesota Statutes chapter 322B)
• Minnesota’s Uniform Partnership Act (Minnesota Statutes chapter 323)
• Minnesota’s Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 (Minnesota Statutes chapter 323A)
• Minnesota Business Corporation Act (Minnesota Statutes chapter 302A)

Similarly, these acts may be relevant to a partnership business, but they are not primary authorities in Minnesota:

• Uniform Partnership Act of 1914 (UPA)
• Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act of 1976 with its 1985 amendments (RULPA)
• Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of 1995 (ULLCA)
• Uniform Partnership Act of 1997 (RUPA)
• Delaware Limited Liability Company Act (DLLCA)
• Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (DRULPA)

Small Business Legal Issues

Whatever business type you choose, various legal issues may arise. A business attorney can help prevent legal problems by proper planning and contract drafting. A business attorney can also help resolve problems. Small business legal issues may include

• The creation, transfer, & dissolution of a business
• Addition of an owner or dissociation of an owner
• Resolving owner disagreements
• Federal taxation of partnerships and partners (pass-through taxation)
• Fiduciary duties of partners: good faith, fairness, disclosure, and loyalty
• Fiduciary duty waiver and enforceability
• Partnership profit division
• Right of first refusal, right of first offer, Dutch auction, etc.
• Transferring partnership interests
• Vicarious tort liability
• Tax planning and strategy

Minnesota Family Limited Partnerships

Family limited liability companies and family limited partnerships can be used as an estate planning tool to reduce taxes. A tax attorney can advise you effective tax strategies, transfer taxation of family limited partnerships, and IRS attacks on family limited partnerships.

Contact a Minnesota Business Lawyer

Attorney Aaron Hall understands the financial and legal challenges of small business owners. He is experienced in business planning, resolving legal issues, and litigating when necessary to protect the rights of business owners. For a free phone consultation regarding your business, contact Aaron Hall at 612-644-0015.