Business Law

In a case of first impression, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the right of parties to contract for conditions precedent to preclude the unintentional formation of a partnership without an explicit waiver of the conditions. Read more

A District Court vacated and remanded a Bankruptcy Court order authorizing the assumption and assignment of a lease between Sears and Mall of America, because the District Court found that the Bankruptcy Court had improperly allowed a provision in the lease to override the statutory mandate of Bankruptcy Code section 365(b)(3)(A) requiring similar financial condition. Read more

The following is an update regarding two decisions issued February 27, 2020 by the California Supreme Court involving hearsay testimony and expert witnesses. Read more

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, several states that require annual Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) renewals made recent changes to their filing deadlines, fees and/or submission requirements. Read more

A California bankruptcy court has held that a state court judgment previously entered against the Chapter 7 debtor, for secretly selling real property in which creditor had an unrecorded beneficial interest and diverting sales proceeds to her own use, is preclusive in creditor’s adversary proceeding to determine his debt nondischargeable. Read more

In a case of first impression, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the right of parties to contract for conditions precedent to preclude the unintentional formation of a partnership without an explicit waiver of the conditions. Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. v. Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., 2020 WL 622763 (Tex. 1/31/20). Read more

Our speakers will discuss the U.S. privacy and compliance issues of employers and employees during the current COVID-19 global health emergency. Read more

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). As an emergency act, the CARES Act takes immediate effect. Read more

The Supreme Court of Connecticut, addressing a matter of first impression, held that a record of an assignee of a lender regarding payment history was admissible under the business records exception to the hearsay rule despite the fact the assignee’s record began with a starting balance it obtained from the lender rather than a full debit/credit calculation from the inception of the note. In an equally significant matter of first impression, the court also ruled that the lender’s assignment of the promissory note also operated as assignment of a limited guarantee which was secured by residential property, giving the assignee standing to foreclose on the residential mortgage. Jenzack Partners, LLC v. Stoneridge Associates, LLC, 334 Conn. 374, 2020 WL 246428 (Conn. 2020). Read more

A bankruptcy court denied a motion to compel arbitration as to claims for nondischargeability of debt and other claims by a consumer against an online university because arbitrating the claims would pose an inherent conflict with the Bankruptcy Code and there was not “clear and unmistakable” evidence of intent to delegate threshold issues to an arbitrator for determination. Little v. Career Education Corporation aka CEC and Colorado Technical University aka CTU (In re Little), 2020 WL 211467 (Bankr. D. S.C. 2020). Read more