Small Business - Monteleone Business Litigation Lawyer in New York

New York City’s Paid Sick Leave Law: What Employers Need to Know

Beginning April 1, 2014, under New York City’s Earned Sick Time Act (Paid Sick Leave Law), virtually every employer of New York City employees will be required to provide its employees up to 40 hours of sick leave every calendar year.

Dissolution Of The Closely-Held New York Corporation

Most small businesses with more than a single owner typically opt to conduct their business as a corporation or as a limited liability company. When these businesses are properly established, the owners will enter into a shareholder’s agreement or a well-drafted operating agreement that provides a mechanism for the sale of a minority owner’s interest…

Finding The Right Lawyer For Your Small Business

One of the challenges facing the small business is finding the right lawyer. Unlike larger businesses, which may have one or more attorneys in their organization, or a general counsel charged with responsibility for all of the company’s legal matters, for the small business, the task of finding and hiring the right attorney can be…

Protecting Your Company’s Trade Secrets

If you are a successful small business, part of your success may be due to your use of proprietary techniques, processes or information your competitors do not have. Protecting this information is vital to maintaining your competitive edge and ensuring your continued success. Yet every day, employees, contractors or consultants attempt to take a business’s…

Starting A Business Without Starting A Lawsuit (Or, The Gentleman’s Guide To Saying Goodbye)

Let’s suppose you have spent the last few years working for your employer. While on the job, you have learned the industry, made a host of relevant industry contacts, and have established strong relationships with your employer’s clients and vendors. You are confident that you now have the skills, knowledge and contacts to start your…

Trademark Basics for Business Owners

For many small businesses, establishing a strong brand identity constitutes a considerable investment. Whether your business offers products or services, you want your customers to be able to easily distinguish your business from your competition. Part of that brand may be a catchy name, phrase, logo or design that you want your customers to identify…

The Basics of Copyright

Mention the word copyright and most business owners will think it has nothing to do with them, and that it is only relevant to the publishing or music industry. While copyright certainly protects the authors of literary, musical, pictorial or graphic works, each of these categories are broader than commonly understood. Thus, an employee manual…

When Is An Independent Contractor Really An Employee? The Perils of Misclassification

Most employers have a basic understanding of the differences between independent contractors and employees. Most fundamentally, you pay wages to employees and must withhold taxes and Social Security, pay unemployment taxes, pay worker’s compensation insurance premiums and provide various benefits.