If you’re looking for a great legal forum, then you should check out Advice Scene – a new place where people can post their legal questions and lawyers (and even law students, paralegals, and judges) can register and respond.  BEST OF ALL: it’s FREE for the user and allows responding parties to showcase their knowledge in a particular legal area.  The information provided on Advice Scene is not legal advice, but rather legal information.  The website is a great resource for other things as well, including a lawyer directory, free legal forms, Canadian legal links, the Thin Skull Blog, and a unique morality meter (which asks questions and allows people to rate their answers).  It’s all great because it promotes access to justice…

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Please keep in mind that this is not legal advice.  The information provided herein is for educational purposes only. If you would like to get in touch with a lawyer to help you draft, interpret, negotiate or resolve a dispute about a joint venture, then you are encouraged to seek a professional (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto and Ottawa lawyers who can assist you in this regard (I would know, I’m one of them!).

So this blog will deal with the basics of a joint venture agreement or contract.  In other blogs, I’ll get down to the nitty gritty.

Definition
Plaint and simple, a joint venture is a contract between two or more parties to share resources, knowledge, skills, etc. towards a common objective.

Parties
As usual in these types of agreements, the parties are identified at the get-go (make sure this is done properly or else your contract won’t be worth the paper it’s written on!).

Recitals
This is the background story you want to tell that leads up to the formation of the joint venture.  It could go something like: Party X does Y and has Z.  Party A does B and has C.  The two would now like to join forces to make even more $$$.  So they’re agreeing to have a joint venture in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the joint venture agreement or contract…

Definitions
It’s a good idea to set out the definitions you’re going to be relying upon near the top of the joint venture agreement (for ease of reference and good organization).  You could include definitions here about “Confidential Information” (assuming there will be confidential information passed between the parties as a result of the joint venture), what constitutes “Force Majeure” (e.g. act of God that relieves a party of liability under the agreement in certain circumstances), etc.

Business Structure
The joint venture agreement or contract will generally state how the joint venture is structured.  Is it simply two separate entities acting in concert through the joint venture agreement or contract?  Will there be a new corporation formed?  Will there be a partnership formed?  Will that partnership be a general or limited liability partnership?  For more discussion about the general forms of business one can structure in Ontario, check out this free information about business structures we’ve been accumulating.

Nature of the Relationship
So will the joint venturers be partners (capable of binding each other), corporate shareholders, or simply joint venturers (i.e. their rights and obligations are limited to the terms of the joint venture agreement or contract).

Term and Termination
How long will the joint venture last for and what events give rise to its premature termination?  Will the parties simply be able to give each other notice?  Will the joint venture dissolve by operation of law, by one party filing for bankruptcy, by one party attempting to illegally assign their interest in the joint venture to a third party, etc.?  Again, you should consult with a lawyer to find out what kinds of things typically go in this section.  Also important is what to do in the even of default.  Does one of the joint venturers become liable to pay the other if they are at fault?  Who determines fault and according to what test (e.g. sole and absolute discretion)?  There’s a lot to think about here…

Joint Venture Assets and Benefits
How will these things be deal with?  Will there be a percentage of ownership?  Will the benefits be based on revenues or profits?  Can these interests be assigned?

Operations
How will the joint venture be operated on a day-to-day basis?  Will the joint venture committee have the power to enter contracts on behalf of the joint venture?  Perhaps the joint venture committee will create a new corporation to take on a certain responsibilities and simply own equally the shares of the new corporation.  That new corporation would operate as a separate business, but its shareholders would be the joint venturers (who would elect the directors, who in turn would appoint the day-to-day officers).  This would be a good place to put reporting and record-keeping requirements too.

Joint Venture Responsibilities
Here, we get to the nitty gritty of who will be responsible for what in the joint venture. Separate paragraphs will be needed for each of the parties.

Joint Venture Management
Will there be a committee?  Will representatives from each of the parties be on the commitee?  Will there be a chairperson?  How will meetings be managed, votes and decision made?  Will there be direction from owners and delegation to the committee?  In my opinion, and as I’ve previously blogged about, businesses should be run as dictatorships with consultants, not as democracies (too many voices means things won’t get done).  

Representations and Warranties
What kinds of true, fair, and complete statements must the parties make to induce the other parties to enter the agreement?  The parties want to know that their joint venturer partners have the authorization and operational wherewithall to do what it is they are about to do.  If these representations and warranties no longer hold true, then what’s the consequence?  Notice?  Termination?  This should be spelled out here…

Liability and Indemnification
Will the joint venturers try to limit their liability from each other in connection with the joint venture?  Will they indemnify each other for their own wrongdoing – whether in contract, tort, negligence, misconduct, breach of statute or otherwise?

General Terms and Conditions
This section of the Joint Venture Agreement will deal with things like (which I’ve previously touched on in teh context of an independent contractor agreement):

• Notices
• Entire Agreement
• Governing Law
• Interpretation
• Assignment
• Waiver
• Cumulative Remedies
• Counterparts
• Enurement
• Entire Agreement
• Time of Essence
• Independent Legal Advice
• Force Majeure
• Severability
• Survival
• Currency

written by admin \\ tags: agreement, assets, bankruptcies, bankruptcy, blog, breach, business, circumstances, confidentiality, contracts, corporation, indemnification, lawyer, lawyers, liabilities, negligence, negotiating, Negotiations, partnership, percentages, relationships, separation, shareholder, shareholders, shareholdings, toronto

So you want to integrate your blog with twitter?  In other words, you want your new blog posts to show up on twitter and your new tweets to show up somewhere on your blog?  Easy stuff.  Here’s what to do.  First, you need both a blog and a twitter account.  Then, you simply need to go here to grab the code to integrate into your blog.  If you’re using Wordpress, you can simply create a new text widget on your blog and insert that code.  You also need to install a plugin (I user Tweetly Updater) on your blog, which automatically updates your twitter and blog whenever you do either.  For example, if you write a blog post, your twitter account will automatically be updated with the first line will appear with a url at the end which takes someone to your blog post.  That tweet will also appear in your twitter box on your blog.  If you decide to tweet (e.g. using twitterberry as I do), then your tweet will also show up on your twitter box on your blog.   To finally integrate everything, you’ll need to go into your Wordpress settings and configure your Twitter account (username, password).  I personally remove the setting that includes text (e.g. I just made a new blog post: [title]) at the beginning of every tweet because it takes up too much room.  That’s it!  Happy blogging and tweeting!

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Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.  If you need legal advice with respect to child support or determining child support payments, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto and Ottawa family law lawyers registered on Dynamic Lawyers who can offer information, advice, and assistance with respect to your child support matters.

As a follow up to my recent child support calculator blog (which dealt with Ontario and federal child support), I thought I’d discuss calculating child support in British Columbia.  Interestingly, the province of British Columbia has adopted the Federal Child Support Guidelines to determine child support obligations in that province.  It says so here: s. 1(2) of the B.C. Child Support Guidelines Regulation made under the Family Relations Act.   So here it is:

• British Columbia – this is a calculator provided by the British Columbia Family Maintenance Enforcement Program.  Please keep in mind that this websites may not be up-to-date and that you are always cautioned to consult with a family law lawyer who is apprised of the present law in British Columbia.

The key thing to keep in mind is trying to figure out what your income would be for the purposes of determining child support.  It’s not as easy or straightforward as one might think.  There are a number of steps that begin with looking at your last income tax return and making adjustments according to the Federal Child Support Guidelines.

The Federal Child Support Guidelines are regulations made under the Canada Divorce Act. The latter applies when parents are married and are now divorcing or formerly married and making a claim for child support.  If the parents are not divorcing or were not married at all, then child support would have to be calculated by the provincial jurisdiction’s relevant family law legislation.

In Ontario, for example, child support is determined according to the Family Law Act and the Ontario Child Support Guidelines.  The latter also has a table (as does the Federal Child Support Guidelines) that allows users to pinpoint what their child support obligations would be based on their income.

Again, it is encouraged to consult with a family law lawyer (e.g. by making a post on Dynamic Lawyers) before simply assuming that you know what your income would be under the applicable child support guidelines (and possibly relying on a free child support calculator to your detriment).

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Please keep in mind that this is not legal advice.  The information provided herein is for educational purposes only.  If you believe you require assistance in deciding which business structure is best for you, then you are encouraged to seek a professional (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

In this blog, I’ll be discussing limited liability partnerships, which can be distinguished from general partnerships (discussed in another blog).

Defined
Ontario’s Partnership Act governs limited liability partnerships. A limited liability partnership is a partnership designated as such (s. 44.1). As of July 1998, amendments to the Partnerships Act permitted professions (such as lawyers) to practice in the form of limited liability partnerships.

Ease of Creation
Ontario’s Business Names Act provides that “[n]o persons associated in partnership shall carry on business or identify themselves to the public unless the firm name of the partnership is registered by all of the partners” (s. 2(3)).

In addition to registering the general partnership’s name in the same manner as a sole proprietorship’s, the partners will generally enter into a partnership agreement to modify the default rules prescribed by the Partnership Act. This partnership agreement will usually outline the relationship of the partners to each other and to third parties.

The partnership agreement will also deal with issues such as “term of the agreement, names of the partners, who owns which of the assets, name of the partnership and who owns the name, capital contributions if any, how profits are to be shared, how the partnership is to be managed, how holidays and illnesses are to be handled, liabilities and disability insurance, admission and withdrawal of partners, how the partnership is to be run and conditions and mechanics for dissolution of the partnership” (source: Wendy E. Oughtred, Going It Alone: A Start Up Guide for the Sole Practitioner, (Aurora, Canada: Canada Law Book Inc., 1995), p. 51).

The partners must also establish standards for fee distribution within the firm, including the means of rewarding lawyers for bringing business to the firm, as well as the lawyers who actually work on cases.

Continuity
Unless the partnership agreement provides otherwise, a limited liability partnership can be dissolved in a number of ways, including:

• At the expiration of the partnership’s term, adventure, or undertaking (if specified) (s. 32(a) and (b) under the Partnership Act);
• By the death or insolvency of any of the partners (s. 33(1) of the Partnership Act);
• By the happening of an event which makes it illegal for the partnership to continue (s. 34 of the Partnership Act); and
• On application by a partner in respect of prescribed circumstances (s. 35 of the Partnership Act).

Liability
Unlike a general partnership – where the partners are liable for debts and liabilities arising from the negligent acts of all partners – the partners in a limited liability partnership are not personally liable for the negligent acts of another partner or an employee who is directly supervised by another partner (s. 10(2) of the Partnership Act). However, the partnership assets continue to be at risk for the negligence of the partners and employees (s. 10(3.1) of the Partnership Act). A limited liability partnership is required to carry insurance coverage for each of its member.

Taxation
Like a general partnership, a limited partnership is a flow-through entity, which means that income earned by the partnership is passed on to the partners without being taxed at the partnership level. “If a partnership earns dividend income, taxable capital gains, or realizes a business loss, these sources would be received as dividend income, taxable capital gains, or business losses in the hands of the partners” (source: Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen, Byrd & Chen’s Canadian Tax Principles, 2006-2007 ed. (Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007), p. 863.). The income, losses, and tax credits of the firm is first determined and then allotted to the individual partners in accordance with their equity interest in the partnership (as per the partnership agreement). The income earned by the individual partners will be fully taxed at their personal income tax rate (source: Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen, Byrd & Chen’s Canadian Tax Principles, 2006-2007 ed. (Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007), p. 862). The fiscal year end of the partnership will be same as the individual partners – namely, December 31st of each year (sources Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.), ss. 96(1) and 249.1(1). See also Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen, Byrd & Chen’s Canadian Tax Principles, 2006-2007 ed. (Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007), p. 862.

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Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.  If you need legal advice with respect to complying with anti-spam or privacy legislation,  you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

Canada’s Anti-Spam Laws are found in the proposed Bill S-235, An Act concerning unsolicited commercial electronic messages.  That’s right: I said “proposed”.  It’s not passed into law yet.  In fact, at the time of writing this blog, the Bill had only been introduced into the Senate (first reading) on May 7, 2008 and had been debated at 2nd reading on May 13, 2008.  You can view the status of the Bill here.  So where does that leave us?  Well, private individuals and companies still need to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA for short), which imposes obligations and liabilities with respect to the collection, use, and dissemination of third party personal information without those parties’ knowledge or consent.

So how would Canada’s proposed Anti-Spam Laws work?   The following information is a brief summary of certain provisions based on the current reading of the text of the Bill (remember: it may get changed if and when it becomes law).

Requirements for commercial electronic messages (e.g. an advertisement e-mail):

• They must clearly and accurately identify the sender, contain readily-accessible and accurate heading and routing info, and include info as to how the recipient can contact the person sending the message.
• They must include an accurate subject line.
• They must include a functional unsubscribe facility and a clear statement to the effect that unsubscribing can be done.

Prohibitions in the Bill:

• No person can send a commercial electronic message unless the recipient has consented to receiving the message.
• Implied consent  cannot be inferred from the fact that the recipient’s e-mail address has been published elsewhere or has been generally available to the public.
• A recipient can withdraw their consent.
• It is illegal for someone to offer to supply, supply or use e-mail or address-harvesting software or a harvested-address list.
• No person shall impersonate a trusted source.
• No person shall send out commercial electronic messages that include or constitute false representations (e.g. false representations that the commercial electronic message is being sent by or on behalf of another person, etc.)

With respect to enforcing these and other provisions of the Bill, anyone who sends a commercial electronic message without the recipient’s consent may be convicted of an offence and liable to a find not exceeding $500,000 and for a second and subsequent offence, to a find not exceeding $1.5-million.

There are other specific offences and fines related to requirements, duties, and obligations found in Canada’s proposed Anti-Spam laws.   Interestingly, apart from being prosecuted under this proposed bill and having to pay a fine, an individual or business could be sued in a civil action for breaching the proposed Act.

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Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to drafting or reviewing Articles of Incorporation, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto business lawyers registered on the website who can answer your questions or help you draft and submit articles of incorporation for Ontario or Federal corporations.

Incorporating a business: a few words should be written about the roles and responsibilities of those involved with and acting on behalf of or for the corporation.

A corporation is created by having the initial directors file articles of incorporation in the jurisdiction in which the corporation is going to have its head office (provincial licenses will also be required to operate the corporation in particularly provinces).

After this, the directors have got a few things to do to get the corporation organized and up and running.  For example, they will need to pass a By-Law (which gives the corporation’s directors power-making authority), pass director resolutions, issue shares to shareholders (and have the shareholders subscribe to shares), have the shareholders ratify the by-law, have the shareholders vote in the new directors, etc.  Without these essential steps and documents, a corporation is not a legally operational entity.

The board of directors is comprised of individuals and typically a chairperson who oversee the affairs of the corporation , but not typically on a day-to-day basis.  The directors are typically paid to sit on the board, but it’s not a lot of money (as compared with the corporate officers) because they don’t meet that often and are not responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the corporation (as officers are).  The board is typically comprised of individuals with expertise in certain areas and who sit on a number of corporate boards.  They offer their insight and are accountable to the shareholders who vote them in.

For their part, shareholders are the owners of the corporation and have the power to vote in the directors of the corporation.  If there is only one sole shareholder holding all of the shares of the corporation then that person could vote in all of the directors.  It is possible to have only one shareholder and one director of a corporation.

Finally, officers of a corporation are appointed by the board of directors in order to oversee the day-to-day management of the corporation’s affairs.  The titles of officers are not that important, although traditionally most people have come to know officers as one of the following: President, Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, Vice-President, etc.  It does not really matter what these individuals are called.  Often, their titles, roles, and responsibilities will be outlined in a corporate by-law, which establishes their position and sets out their qualifications, powers, duties, etc.  Officers can be replaced by the board of directors, to whom they are accountable.

So to summarize: shareholders with voting power will vote in the directors on an annual basis (or sooner in certain circumstances), directors have the power to manage the corporation and they meet only a few times a year, and officers (e.g. CEO, VP, CFO, Treasurer, President, etc.) are the people who run the corporation on a daily basis and who are appointed (not elected) by the directors on an annual (or sooner in certain circumstances) basis.

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Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.  If you need legal advice with respect to creating a limited liability company, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto business lawyers registered on the website who can answer your questions or help you draft and submit articles of incorporation for Ontario or Federal corporations.

Want to know to incorporate?  First, if you’re trying to do it yourself, it’s pretty straightforward.  You just need to figure out which jurisdiction you’re trying to incorporate and then use a website service provider that will allow you to submit articles of incorporation, conduct a NUANS name search and submit a NUANS name search report, etc.  While the government fees are not high to incorporate (e.g. $200 for a federal corporation, plus $20 for a NUANS name search report), there are a number of questions arise which may lead you to seek out answers to questions relating to how to incorporate.

For example, you may have questions concerning what exactly goes into the Articles of Incorporation.  You can find a previous blog about Articles of Incorporation here. “Articles of Incorporation” is the name of the document that must be submitted to the Federal Government to create a corporation.  A corporation is a separate and distinct legal entity from its incorporators and from its owners, managers, employees, etc.  A corporation has its own rights and obligations; must file its own taxes (at both the provincial and federal levels); has its own income, assets, and liabilities; and can be sued and sue other parties.  These things being said, a corporation must act through other parties (e.g. owners, managers, employees, directors, etc.), who can in turn be held liable for their actions (e.g. negligence, breach of contract, etc.), although the corporation will likely be sued in these circumstances because of things like vicarious liability, insurance, and its otherwise deep pockets.

But simply submitting and having the government approve of your incorporate package is not sufficient to have your company up and running.  In fact, the cheap incorporation companies out there that promise to incorporate your company may not help you establish by-laws (which are power-giving or authority-giving documents that make corporate actions legal), prepare director and shareholder meetings and minutes (which establish accountability and transparency by letting stakeholders know what was decided upon), and finish explaining each party’s (i.e. shareholders, directors, officers, employees) roles and responsibilities vis-a-vis the corporation. Knowing how to incorporate is a good start,  but it’s always wise to consult with a business lawyer (e.g. by making a post on Dynamic Lawyers) with respect to questions about these and other things corporation related.

The roles of the various parties in a corporation will be discussed in the next post…

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Law Firm SEO – Here we go again… So I’ve been learning all about SEO over the past little while, the tricks and tips.  In addition to what I’ve already mentioned about Law Firm SEO, here are 10 more things you should know that will help improve your organic search engine rankings for your particular keywords (by organic, I am referring to the search results that occur after paid Google ads are displayed):

1. Permalinks: these are permanent links or URLs that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives.  You should make sure that you change default links to your specific blog or forum (which may simply contain alpha numeric characters) to permalinks that incorporate your title.
2. Blog Tags: these are keywords and terms that will help describe your page or blog for search engine users to find.  Make sure to fill your website and blog with relevant and popular tags.
3. Related Links: put up links adjacent to your content to encourage users to visit other pages, blogs, etc.  This is great for SEO because search engines love lots of deep linking within websites.
4. Links to other websites: linking to good quality websites will not only make your website a ‘go to’ portal on a particular topic, but it will also create trust among industry players and search engines.
5. No Broken Pages: search engines hate broken pages / URLs and will punish your website if there are page errors, etc.
6. Share Backlinks: allow other websites to link to your page by filling out a form.  When they do so, you will be automatically notified and then you can do the same.  Backlinks are the relationships that search engines use to determine if your website is a good one.  The more good quality backlinks you have, the better.
7. Update Frequently: search engines love to see frequently updated content (because it’s more likely to be relevant to those who are searching for the content).
8. Use ALT Tags for pictures: although search engines cannot see or index the images or words that appear in images, if you describe your images using an ALT tag (which displays when you hover your mouse over an image), then search engines can read those images.
9. Tag your keywords: you should be using tags such as header tags (e.g. H1 through to H6, etc.) to characterize your keywords, as well as bold, italics, and underline.
10. Keep learning and strategizing: there’s always some new way to improve your Google rankings and you should never stop learning about them to take advantage (and leave your competitors wondering how you got on p. 1 of Google for your specific keywords).

Happy SEOing!

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In his blog (“the [non] billable hour“), Matthew Homann (lawyer, mediator, blogger and entrepreneur) recently wrote a blog entitled “Let Your Clients Decide Your Price” (March 9, 2009).  In that blog, Matthew challenged lawyers to let their clients set the price of the work they do – after it is done!

This is revolutionary, not only for the legal industry, but in virtually every industry I can think of.  Matthew says he uses this pricing model for all of his consulting work.  He even provides a sample invoice which he uses for his own clients.  Clients decide, no questions asked!  Matthew states that, even though his clients decide how much to pay, he requires payment and feedback within 21 days after clients receive the invoice.

Now I’ve been trying to think of where else this kind of billing alternative exists.  Nothing comes to my mind immediately.  Rather, as they taught me in business school and in the school of life, suppliers of goods and services set their prices beforehand.  They do so in light of their own costs (the bottom), competitor costs (the middle), and any premium they can charge because of some kind of competitive advantage (the top).  Prices are set so that clients can shop around as well to figure out what exactly is the market value of the thing they’re purchasing.  So in certain industries, it’s clear that his recommended model may not work.

Now what about the potential disadvantages with Matthew’s model.  I’m sure he knows them well.  What if clients continue to take advantage of the service provider?  What if clients don’t pay (hence, lawyers take retainers up front to help them ensured getting paid and having reserves for when future legal services are needed)?  What if there is bickering at the end about the true value of the legal services provided?  Is this going to get us any closer to determining what’s a fair billing model in the eyes of both the lawyer and the client?

Granted, Matthew’s model may make sense in certain industries where it’s relatively easy for the consumer to determine what the price is of the thing they’re purchasing.  They can shop around, get a sense, and then make a judgment call.  They can punish you by giving you less.  They might even reward you by giving you more.  Maybe it’s better for established clientelle who have no difficulty paying and who appreciate the value of your services.  I’d be more comfortable doing something like what Matthew recommends in these limited circumstances.  But I wouldn’t open up my entire practice to this billing model any time soon…

Remember that not everyone is at the same stage in their life.  Some of us are just starting out our practices and will have some hard lessons to learn along the way.  Some of us have decades worth of experience, a solid reputation, established clientele and a large referral base, etc.  So I would take what Matthew says with a grain of salt before diving in too soon…

written by admin \\ tags: alternative billing, billable hour, blog, business school, competition, competitive advantage, competitor, entrepreneur, ger, homann, lawyer, lawyers, Let your clients decide your price, mediator, pricing model, referrals, reputation, retainers, s, sample invoice, sampling, service provider, true value