Firing or terminating an employee is a natural part of business. It can be uncomfortable, awkward, and certainly not fun. But it can also get a whole lot worse, especially if a former employee brings a lawsuit against you. It can not only be costly, but it can cause unrest among your other employees and customers.

So how do you best protect yourself from lawsuits from terminated employees? Employment separation and release of claims agreements.  We’ll call them separation agreements.

We had a client contact us recently who was reasonably upset after discovering a party they'd been working with “breached” their Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The said party was a prospective buyer who told one of our client’s customers they were buying our client’s business (I think you can see the problem here). Unfortunately, our team at Gutwein Law wasn't given a chance to review the document prior to our client signing the NDA, and that "breach" of contract wasn't really a breach after all.

As much as we hate to admit it, sexual harassment is a hot topic right now. From celebrities to large corporations and even startups, it’s everywhere. And regardless of whether you want to discuss it, sexual harassment needs to be talked about with your employees because, let's face it, it's not going anywhere unless we do something about it.

We have all come across this concept (or is it a term?) before, but now, let’s take the time to really understand this. Over the next few posts in this series, we’ll take a dive into the indemnification pool (pun intended) and break down the useful definitions and considerations to give you enough to have a conversation and lead you into more in-depth research.

In fact, Indemnification Caps (“Caps”) are essential to both buyers and sellers and draw on expertise from litigators and deal lawyers. Are they worth it? You bet, a botched indemnification negotiation could negate the entire value of the deal you just closed. Is it tricky? As you’ll see, the negotiators have their own language.

Let’s start with a broad definition that we can refer back to throughout the series: What is an Indemnification Cap?

As a business person, you no doubt are aware that bankruptcy effects the state of trade. In day to day operations, when providing goods or services to a struggling entity or individual you know, getting money due from your customers can prove to be difficult.

Perhaps you were lucky enough to receive some funds from your customer prior to its filing bankruptcy. Just when you were thanking your lucky stars for the little amount money you were able to receive from your customer prior to its bankruptcy filing, you receive the dreaded demand letter from the bankruptcy trustee in the mail and it hits you in the face like a splash of cold water. You’re being told you have to give it back any money received from 90 days prior to your customer filing bankruptcy.  And it's not some sort of bad joke, either.