There's a big difference between a simple agreement and a legal contract. For one thing, breaking an agreement might not make you any friends, but it probably won't land you in court. Break a contract, however, and you can just about count seeing the inside of a...
What's the difference between a healthy competition between rival companies and an unfair business practice called tortious interference? One promotes innovation and encourages a thriving market -- while the other can land you in an ugly lawsuit. Tortious Interference...
Knowledge is power -- especially in a society that is increasingly being driven by ideas and technological innovations. As a result, employers are increasingly anxious about losing control of their intellectual property. From an employer's perspective, that means it...
Back in the early days of advertising, the proverbial snake oil salesman would roll into town with a secret tonic or magic elixir that could supposedly cure everything from acne and arthritis to toothaches and gout in one convenient swallow. By the time people...
A Florida man working as an unlicensed contractor faked his own death -- just to avoid a lawsuit. The saga started when a pair of Pennsylvania snowbirds decided that they wanted to make Florida their permanent home. They bought a house in a closed community that...
No matter what type of business you run, you need to know something about contract law in order to survive. At its most basic form, a contract is any agreement that's legally enforceable -- unlike a simple agreement between friends, there are certain rules that have...
Are restraints of trade legal? It depends a lot on the circumstances. A restraint of trade is anything that interferes with the right of an individual to do business as he or she sees fit. Sometimes restraint of trade is not only legal but necessary to protect both...
A good quality control plan can be the key to your project's success -- and the key to avoiding lawsuits later over problems and defects that were missed during construction. If you've generally worked on smaller projects, a written quality control plan might be...
What's the difference between false advertising and a little promotional exaggeration? Promotional exaggeration, or "puffery," is legal, even though you're making claims that can't be verified -- the kind that no reasonable person would mistake for the absolute truth....
Did a realtor conspire with a number of businesses across the nation to cheat home buyers out of sizable down payments and the homes they thought they were buying? That's the allegations leveled against a real estate agent living in Florida by at least eight victims....
