Imagine you receive an email from a customer stating that one of your employees engaged in serious misconduct. However, it's not clear from the email whether the customer is merely disgruntled at your company's service, or if your employee indeed engaged in...
PLDO Law Blog
Firm News
The Challenges of Using Rollovers to Start a Business
Versions of qualified plans, sometimes referred to as "Rollovers as Business Startups" or simply "ROBS," are marketed with increasing frequency to would-be business owners as a way to access tax-deferred retirement funds without paying distribution taxes, in order to...
Protect Your Customers’ Safety – It’s the Law
In a recent decision by the Rhode Island Superior Court, a judge determined that a wrongful death action brought on behalf of a bank customer, who was robbed and murdered in the bank's parking lot, could proceed to trial. The family of the murdered victim argued the...
New RI Non-Compete Law for Physicians Aims to Serve the Public
Non-competition and non-solicitation agreements are often legitimate tools to protect employers from spending time, money and effort training their employees, only to have those employees leave and open up a competing business across the street. Typically, such...
Comparing Start-Up Valuation Methods
In our Business Law practice, we routinely deal with entrepreneurs and investors who are trying to structure an investment opportunity on the basis of the company’s value before the outside investment is closed. This challenge exists whether the investment will be...
Due Diligence Considerations for Entrepreneurs and Investors
Representing clients seeking to invest in a venture or finance a new business opportunity is a challenging experience for the lawyer as it routinely involves outlining the steps and various issues that are involved in the process of either type of transaction. The...
Investment Structures in a Business Transaction
The process of negotiating an investment opportunity is oftentimes intimidating for first time investors or entrepreneurs. The business jargon is confusing, while the terms and conditions vary for each investment. The non-equity investment terms will vary from lender...
Courts Start To Weigh In On COVID-19 Lawsuits
PLDO recently issued an advisory about the forthcoming explosion of lawsuits arising out of the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, the article addressed the legal concept of “force majeure” and predicted that many businesses will claim that the pandemic prevented...
Employee’s “Odd” Behavior Justified Mandatory Drug Test
Most employers know that they cannot insist that an employee take a drug test unless the employer has “reasonable grounds” to believe that an employee’s job performance is impaired by drug use. Also, the employer must observe contemporaneous evidence of impairment...