Power in Collaboration®
Maria Laftchiyska graduated from Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 2009. She received her J.D. in 2013 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. While at Loyola University, Maria was a member of the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition team and National Moot Court team. Maria focuses her practice on estate… Read more »
In the construction industry, contractors commonly use tradesman as independent contractors for a specific construction project. With the recent passage of the Employee Classification Act, any contractor that utilizes a subcontractor must be certain that the subcontractor is truly an “independent contractor” and not an employee. The law became effective January 1, 2008, and seriously… Read more »
Directors and officers obviously owe a duty to the corporation and its shareholders. But if the corporation becomes insolvent, directors owe a duty to creditors as well. Regrettably, the current economic climate suggests that more and more clients will face financial difficulty. It is well recognized that corporate directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty… Read more »
Recently one of my clients had an estimator jump ship and go to work for a competitor. As is usually the case the employee was just coming into his own after several years of training and was becoming an asset to the company. When he announced his departure, he was reminded that he had signed… Read more »
When we speak of estate planning, we think first and foremost about planning for disposition of assets at death. One focus of estate planning is tax planning. We should also keep in mind, however, asset protection and asset management for individuals unable to manage for themselves including clients who become disabled. A principal objective of… Read more »
Increasingly, the family limited partnership, or a family owned limited liability company, which could perhaps be collectively referred to as family limited liability entity or FLLE is being employed in planning larger estates. When coupled with the concept of a “minority discount” it contains many attractive features for a family gifting program. A FLLE typically… Read more »
The Illinois Business Corporation Act (BCA) and the Illinois Limited Liability Company Act (LLC) contain references to the term “fair value.” In the BCA, we find this term in the context of dissenter’s rights (805 ILCS 5/11.60-70) and in the minority shareholders’ rights section (805 ILCS 5/12.56). In the LLC act, the term occurs in… Read more »
The Illinois Mechanic’s Lien Act gives contractor and material suppliers the ability to place a lien against title of a homeowner’s property and foreclose on that lien in the event the homewoner doesn’t pay the general contractor or the general contractor doesn’t pay the material suppliers for subcontractors. In this video David Arena details the… Read more »
It’s common for projects to expand in scope, and this generally requires modifying the construction contracts using a change order. By being careful and documenting any changes to the contract with change orders, you limit the disputes that can occur, and you protect yourself from having to litigate issues. In this video, David Arena discusses… Read more »
If a lien is placed on a homeowner’s property, the homeowner can bond over the lien. This protects title to the property. Without a bond, the homeowner would not be able to sell his or her property or refinance the property without paying the lien claim. In this video, David Arena explains this and other… Read more »