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Should Massachusetts non-competes be voided?

July 3, 2011

Non-compete agreements are getting more attention, this time from Scott Kirsner in The Boston Globe today who urges for more common sense: On a weekend when we celebrate American independence – and all of the blood and sweat that gave us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – I think it’s [...]

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Big Changes to Patent Law Coming. Is Innovation at Risk?

June 24, 2011

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have each passed similar versions of a bill that will make big changes to the patent system, with only conference committee changes standing in the way of it becoming law. The America Invents Act makes several changes to the way patents are filed and protected, but the biggest [...]

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M&A Series: What do I need in a term sheet?

June 23, 2011

A term sheet (after an NDA) is generally one of the first documents produced if you are buying or selling a business, and sets the tone for the negotiation. It is not required, but can make the process much smoother because it raises disputes on the key terms much earlier in the process and determines [...]

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Attempts by States to Control the Internet Are Just Beginning

May 17, 2011

Last year, new privacy regulations became effective in Massachusetts, which required businesses to take a series of actions whenever they held personal financial information of Massachusetts residents. The law had far-reaching implications because it could effectively cover businesses that had no other ties to the Commonwealth. Now California is making its own privacy grab by [...]

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M&A Series: How is the purchase of a company structured?

April 12, 2011

When a client asked if I would help him sell his business, he told me that he was ready to go and already had a buyer. I followed that up with “is it a stock deal or an asset deal”, and his face went blank. Most acquisitions are done with one of two structures: either [...]

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Launching ACQ&A – a New Series of Posts on Acquisitions and the Art of Selling a Business

April 8, 2011

After spending the last couple of months involved in a few acquisitions, and seeing what might be coming as the economy continues to improve slowly, I thought it might be helpful to talk about what goes into the sale of a company. It is a mysterious process for many business owners who are doing it [...]

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Welcome to 2011 – Startups Hitting a New Stride

March 8, 2011

Boy, how time flies. After being tied up with a flurry of work to start the year, I realized that is has been a while since my last post. The good news, though, is that that work will turn into a series of new posts, including some posts on buying and selling of companies and [...]

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Corporations scam arriving in your mailbox

December 28, 2010

The year-end is approaching and companies should start to think about annual meetings. The Massachusetts corporate law is similar to many other state laws requiring corporations to hold an annual meeting for the purpose of electing board members and other corporate governance. For many smaller corporations, this is a typically an easy process, but that [...]

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Can You Finance and Grow a Small Business Through Crowdfunding?

December 9, 2010

I have received more inquiries recently about the possibility of using crowdfunding to fund a business. Crowdfunding is a method of using small donations from the public as a way to raise money without losing control over a project. It has been used successfully to fund many different types of projects over the past few [...]

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Precocious First Grader Knows How to Get Down to Business

December 1, 2010

One of the benefits of a having a child in elementary school is being invited to come in for “interview day” and having a pack of a dozen first graders ask questions about my job and how I help the community. I told them that being a business lawyer is great because I get to [...]