Jim Collins

As per my Sunday ritual of reading the New York Times, with a mug of coffee in hand, I came across this great profile of Jim Collins in today’s business section.  Jim Collins, along with Seth Godin, are the two business writers that have most influenced my thinking.  Mr. Collins has published a new book, titled “How the Mighty Fall:  And Why Some Companies Never Get In.”

Part of Jim Collins method is borrow from other hypersuccessful people.  Here’s what you can learn from how Mr. Collin’s approaches life:

1.  Mr. Collins keeps a stopwatch with three separate timers in his pocket at all times, stopping and starting them as he switches activities.  He analyzes every moment so that he uses every moment to its maximum effectiveness.

2.  He has an overarching goal for himself:  to produce a lasting and distinctive body of work.  We all need to have overarching goals and we should relentlessly pursue them.

3.  He approaches every aspect of his life with purpose and intensity.

4.  He is relentless about self-improvement.  Whether he is trying to sleep more or climb more effectively,  Mr. Collins is always working towards improving himself.

5.  He has a willingness to say no and focus on what not to do as much as what to do. He is quite practiced at saying no.  He turns down speaking lucrative speaking engagements because he wants to build ideas first and foremost.

6.  He believes small is beautiful.  Mr. Collins has only five employees.  He believes a lean company intensely focused on its goals is better than a large scattered company.

7.  He is picky about whom he hires.  He prefers to learn as much as possible before he meets them.  He looks for four intangibles:  smart, curious, willing to debate and some spark of irreverence. We should all do the same.

Legal Steps:

1. Prove existence of Agreement;

2. Prove breach of Agreement (failure on one side to perform or pay);

3. Prove damages due to breach (loss of profit, damage to business).

Legal Process:

1. File Complaint with the Court;

2. Defendant answers the Complaint, and could start a counterclaim;

3. Period of Discovery which are oral and written questions from each side. Interrogatories and Bills of Particulars are written discovery. Depositions are discovery interviews.

4. Discovery conferences. For example, in New York County, you will have a preliminary conference and a series of compliance, status and settlement conferences.

5. Motions requesting certain relief. For example, a party may make a summary judgment motion if they believe that there are no issues of fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

6. Trial

Expenses:

1. Timeframe: Between 1 and 5 years.

2. Retainer: A common breach of contract retainer is between $5 and $20 thousand dollars.

3. Court costs: Between $500 and $10,0000.00.

4. If a case proceeds to trial, $20-$100,000 is not uncommon.

Twitter has only been around for a few years.  As a business owner, you are probably wondering how to use the service to grow your local business. Here are a few ideas:

1.  Follow as many people in your target market as possible.  If you are searching for Internet marketers, twitter is a gold mind. However, if you are looking for business owners in the construction industry, your task will be more difficult.  I would suggest using  Twellow, a twitter yellow pages which categorizes tweeters by industry and location.  Another option is using  Google advanced search.

2.  Create a Twitter tribe.  Seth Godin has been spending the last year pushing his idea of the importance of Tribes. If you can create  a Tribe of 1000 local Twitters who eagerly anticipate your every Tweet, I guarantee that you will obtain new customers.

3.  Follow mavens on Twitter. If you don’t know what a maven is, read the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.  On that note, read anything that Malcolm Gladwell publishes.

4.  Never eat lunch alone.  Invite one Twitter follower a day to lunch.

5.  Invite your favorite Twitter followers to join you on other social networks, such as Facebook and Linkedin.

6. Tweet information in your field that demonstrates that you are a leader in your industry.  If you own a restaurant, link to articles about Thomas Keller.

7. Create amazing content on your blog. Use Twitter to drive traffic to disseminate your produce and your ideas.

8.  Create a Tweetup.  It is simply not enough to sit around the computer or iPhone all day and tweet. You need to actually meet your followers in the flesh.

9.  If you live in New York, go to a Mashable event.  People who tweet love Mashable.

10.  Invite your Twitter followers to work from your office.

11.  Provide exclusive offers to your followers on Twitter.  Follow Dell.

12.  Be real.

13.  Don’t push your products all day.

14.  Be curious and engage your followers.

15.  Be funny.  Considering the space constraints, this is extremely difficult.

16.  Be memorable.

17.  Have fun!

Please be advised that I am a New York business law attorney and I am not one of those self-proclaimed Twitter gurus.  Feel free to share your riffs on how to use Twitter to build your local business in the comment section of this blog. I would love to hear from you.  If you are in the New York area, lets have lunch!

1.      Know the Other Party

Be sure that the business you are contracting with is registered to do business in the state in which you operate your business.  Should there be a problem later on, it will be much easier to institute a lawsuit as the states maintain addresses for service of process on registered corporations.  In addition, if the business is not properly registered in the state, there could be legal issues with your contract.  The business should also be licensed in the specific type of business it conducts, if this is required.

2.       Pricing Issues

If you are a buyer or a seller, know what you are paying or getting paid, when the money is due, how it is to be paid, where it is being paid to.

3.      What is the Exact Product or Service

While this may seem obvious there are thousands of lawsuits on just this issue.  Be sure you and the other party are on the same page, literally and figuratively.

4.      Delivery of the Goods or Services

Specify exact time frames for delivery of the product or service and when payment is due in relation to this time frame.

5.      Condition of the Product or Service

Are the items new or used?  If used, how much?  If new, in original packaging or repackaged?  If a service contract, specify who will be doing the service and his or her credentials?

6.      Warranties

What are the guaranties on the product or service?  What period of time do they cover?  What is the procedure for repairing or replacing an item or correcting a service mistake?

7.      Getting out of the Contract

While most contracts are made to avoid getting out of them, you can sometimes negotiate an “out” clause for poor performance or lack of proper delivery or other essential things.

8.      Renewal of the Contract

Is there an automatic renewal?  Is there any option to renew?

9.      Default

There are several ways to default on a contract. Two prevalent ways are non-payment and non-performance.  Non-payment can include not getting paid in full, on time or at all.  Non-performance can be not doing the job properly, in full, or not how you expected it to be done.  All of these can be combated with remedies in the contract.

10.  Remedies

Make sure the contract has a section dealing with remedies for defaults.  Remedies are compensation to the injured party for such defaults.  Outside of the contract there are other ways to be compensated for default in contracts, including state statutes, federal statutes like the UCC, fraud actions and illegality of the contract, dealing with minors, duress, undue influences, etc.

Microoft Bizstart

Who’s attending?  VC’s, Entrepreneurs and yours truly for the Startup 2009 conference.

Date:  June 3, 3009

Time:  7-9 pm

Cost: $30

Purchase tickets:    http://bit.ly/15DgW2

2. The legal document is out of date. Laws change constantly. Who knows when the contract was initially drafted?

3. The legal document is not relevant to your state. Every state has different laws governing contracts. Moreover, simply copying a contract from another state may require you to litigate in that state.

4. The contract is not relevant to your business. Remember, every business is different and the terms of each agreement needs to be tailored specifically for your business.

5. The legal document may be copyrighted. You may have to pay damages if you use a form without consent.

6. Poorly worded documents can create liability. For instance, certain governmental agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission, have brought actions against companies due to errors in legal documents. Are you protected legally from forms found on the Internet? Failure could cost you and your business.

• Are Chinese drywall cases the latest product liability gold mine for lawyers? @danharris in his post Chinese Drywall Cases- Show me the Money! argues that it will be difficult to collect any money against any of the defendants because the responsible parties are located in Germany and China.

• As part of the Stimulus package, funds have been allocated to expand and improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure.  Some law firms have set up practice groups advising companies how to prepare a successful grant application.  Will broadband deliver for law firms?

• One legal area that is seeing growth is Trust and Estate’s law. Read this post to find out why.

Twittter Tips

• Building a personal brand is absolutely vital for attorneys because it is so hard to tell the difference between one law firm and another.  Read this tip: Personal Brand, How to Build Yours on Twitter. One great idea from the post is to go out and meet the people that you tweet with.  I certainly need to do this more.

• Twitter has grabbed the world’s attention, but it can do as much harm as good.  Discover magazine lists its Twitter’s Greatest Hits and Misses.  One miss, the Courtney Love slander lawsuit.

Attorney Marketing:

• Professor Richard Susskind is the Seth Godin of lawyer marketing.  His recent keynote speech at the recent ABA Tech Show was probably the most tweeted legal event in Twitter history.  Follow this link to hear for yourself what all the buzz was about.

• With the economy still flat, lawyers are on the lookout for cheap marketing ideas.  Dave Larenzo’s article Five Low Cost Ways to Attract More Clients to Your Small Firm provides some timeless advice.

• Lawyers who fail to promptly return phone calls can be the source of great frustration to the person who left the message — and the professional responsible for attorney marketing. But what can be done to stop this problem? Trey Ryder takles this problem in his article How to Prevent Problems with Returned Phone Calls.

• Lawyerpreneurs – looking to post on JD Supra? Here is an article on what to post.
  

Do you have that entrepreneurial drive? It takes more than a great idea to start a new business and keep it running. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs and business owners are often confused about the legal aspects involved in running a business. Below is a list of 23 legal issue’s for both start-ups and businesses that should be discussed with an attorney.

1. Select Entity type: Sole proprietorship, Partnership, S or LLC?

2. Incorporation of your business;

3. Create Articles of Incorporation;

4. Create Bylaw’s;

5. Create a Shareholder’s or Membership Agreement;

6. Create an Employment Agreement;

7. Check for Trademark issues, protect intellectual capital;

8. Create a Buy-Sell Agreement;

9. Draft an Independent Contractor Agreement;

10. Non-disclosure Agreement;

11. A Sample Convertible Note;

12. Board of Advisor Agreement;

13. Purchase/Service Agreements;

14. Term and Conditions;

15. Draft an Employee Handbook;

16. Draft a Non-Compete Agreement;

17. Check for any legal limitations or restrictions;

18. Create a Stock Option Plan and Equity Based Compensation;

19. Looking for Venture Capital, you may need a Term Sheet.

20. Create a Client Contract or Fee Agreement.

21. Technology Assignment Agreement;

22. Invention Assignment Agreement;

23. Review any Leases

Who?

Read the papers that are given to you to find out the party that is suing you.  Is it a corporation, a partnership, or an individual?  Are they a customer or a supplier of your business? Who is the lawyer representing the party that is suing you?  This information will help your attorney obtain a more favorable result for you by researching the other party and its counsel. (Do they settle often?  Are they a big company?  What are their financial resources?  Do they have a reputation to maintain and therefore may want to settle quickly?).

What?

What exactly are you being sued about?  Is it a non-payment claim, or a non-performance claim?  Those are many reasons why a business may be sued.

When?

Timing is critical in a lawsuit.  Responses must be filed within a set period, which in New York is  usually within 30 days.  While an extension can be granted, don’t wait until the last minute to contact your attorney.  It takes time to prepare an appropriate answer to the papers.  If you do not respond in a timely fashion, you will be considered in default, and a judgment may be taken against you.  This means you may lose the case without the opportunity to provide a defense.

Also, don’t assume you are judgment proof, because judgments can be collected from future earnings as well as assets.  In addition, do not assume that your insurance covers everything, although it may be wise to notify your insurance carrier as well as your attorney.

Where?

What court are you being sued in?   What county?  State or Federal Court? You may be sued in a state far away if, for instance, you have done business in that state.  In that case, your New York attorney will have to obtain local counsel for you in the other state, and this takes time.

Why?

Why did the party resort to a lawsuit?  Is it something you can fix by having your attorney talk to the other side and negotiate a settlement?  Is there a running animosity between your company and the other party, in which case settlement will be difficult?  Do you need to file a counterclaim against the other party?

How?

Immediately notify and supply the lawsuit papers to your attorney.  Make sure you retain a photocopy for yourself.  Inform your attorney of all the facts relevant to the case.  Your attorney will decide what is important and what is not.
Organize your documents pertaining to the case so that you can minimize the time the attorney must spend going through them.  This will save your attorney ‘s time, and therefore save you legal fees.  Do not talk to the other party’s attorney.  He works for the other party, just as your attorney works for you.  Let your attorney do this for you.  In addition, remember that in law, just as in any profession or business, there are rules and procedures  your attorney knows and you may not.  To stay out of trouble, leave the legal work to your attorney.

A trial can take several years in New York, including preparation time.  Therefore, it may be in your best interest in certain cases to settle.  However, be realistic in your settlement expectations.

Conclusion

Having an ongoing attorney-client relationship will help protect you in the event of a lawsuit.  The more your attorney knows about your business, the better the attorney will be able to help you.  In addition, discussing business options and problems with your attorney ahead of time could help prevent a lawsuit from ever starting.  Either way, it will save you money in the long run.

Please be advised that the above is for informational purposes only. If you have a legal problem, please consult our law office at 212-233-0666.

Frederic Abramson

New York Civil Litigaton Attorney

Author of Frederic R Abramson’s New York Law Blog

Today, we’re tweeting with business lawyer @FredAbramson, a trial attorney based in New York City and author of a business law blog

1. @FredAbramson, thank you for joining us today on Twitter. Tell us: who is the person behind @fredabramson?
   I am a dad, a foodie, a huge reader, music fan that is passionate about business.
2. Tell us about your law practice.
   I am a New York business law attorney. My practice entails litigating cases and drafting legal documents.
3. What type of clients do you represent?
   I represent entrepreneurs, business owners, consultants and individuals. Many of my clients are in tech.
4. What’s the most important legal issue affecting those clients?
   Every business has its own issues. Some don’t have proper contracts. Others have problems getting paid. Its varied.
5. What do you tell every new client before you start working for them?
   I will give them a detailed plan of how their case will proceed. All correspondences will be answered w/in 2 hours.
6. How is the economic crisis affecting your clients?
   Entrepreneurs and small biz owners are having a difficult time raising funds. Credit has dried up for many.
7. What’s the most significant client representation you’ve had?
   Representing a hedge fund that invested in a complicated startup venture.
8. Why was it significant?
   There were many parties involved, the product was unique, complex ip issues, and significant sums of $ were on the line.
9. Significant sums have a way of raising the stakes…. Why do your clients hire you?
   Reputation. I am experienced, tech savvy, innovative, accessible and diplomatic. I could also be a bulldog if need be.
10. That’s a pretty good calling card. How do you sell your practice?
    Referrals, social and in person networking, e-newsletter, community involvement, Google adwords and friends
11. How much time do you spend each day developing / enhancing your brand?
    newsletter: 2hrs/wk, networking events 1 eventwk, blog: 2hrs/wk and tweet all the time for fun.
12. You publish the “New York Business Law Blog” How would you describe it? Why do you write it?
    I write about legal issues facing businesses, highlight what is newsworthy for biz owners and provide Twitter tips for esq.
13. What benefits have you realized in blogging?
    as per @kevinokeefe blogs work together with Twitter. Tweet a link to your blog + write a detailed post. Long form tweet
14. What value have you seen as a result of being on Twitter then?
    I have been able to connect with some fascinating people, share information, help others and have learned quite a bit
15. Beyond Twitter and your blog, what other social networking tools do you regularly use?
    I use facebook and linkedin. FB has been more usefull bc 95% of my connections are friends, family and reconnections
    only 5 of my facebook friends are on Twitter and none use it extensively. Totally different audience.
16. That’s interesting re FB. What do you see as the most significant issue currently facing the legal profession?
    Law firms, both big and small are downsizing due to the economy. Lawyers need to be creative to thrive and survive.
17. What will the legal landscape look like in 10 years?
    Law firms may shed the overhead of the office due to tech advances. Lawyers using social media to create virtual law firms
18. What would you do if you weren’t a lawyer?
    I would be an entrepreneur/chef/musician/artist.
19. A fairly unique job title, I’d have to say…. How do you want to be remembered?
    as someone who helped others, made people laugh, made them smarter and made a difference.
20. I have an inkling of what your answer will be, but I’ll ask anyway. What do you do when you’re not working?
    I tweet! Family time with wife and 2kids, cook, read, explore NYC, run, watch sports, spend time with friends
21. Sounds like you maintain a full schedule. What languages do you speak?
    I speak English and Twitter. 6 yrs of spanish classes didn’t help. I can read the 4 questions in Hebrew and culinary terms.
22. Our last question for you: what advice do you have for people going to law school today?
    Lawyers don’t just practice law. Your value increases if u can bring in cases. Rainmaking is not taught in law school.

Sound advice. Thank you so much for tweeting with 22 Tweets and answering our questions today

thank you for tweeting with me! Great idea Lance.