Skip to main content

Don't Be Scared Off From Fighting For Your Rights Due to High Legal Costs

It's a fact of the business world, with both startup and established businesses, that from time to time you're going to encounter legal issues that are scary and potentially expensive. A lot of these situations involve contracts--either you have to sue someone, or someone has sued you, for breach of contract.

When confronted with these situations, you do need a lawyer. Because if the other side has a lawyer, and you try to handle the legal stuff yourself, YOU WILL LOSE. The law is tricky, and procedural rules are tricky, and the side that's "lawyered up" will push around and bully someone who doesn't have a lawyer.

But, too often, when small business owners are faced with legal challenges, they just give up because hiring a lawyer and fighting would be too expensive.

What brought this to mind was that I caught an older episode of Shark Tank from 2012. A Lee Dahlberg came up with an idea for a business--putting carved, polished, rocks on bands that you wear like a bracelet. He called his product ROCK BAND. Dahlberg told the Sharks he had tried to get into some big retailers but ran up against what he called "the politics of retail", so it never happened. Daymond John asked what he meant by that. Dahlberg said that, for instance, he got a purchase order from a retailer for $150,000, and after he got the Rock Bands made to fulfill the order, the retailer nixed the deal.

Daymond John then asked, "Isn't a purchase order a contract though?" Meaning the retailer breached its contract with Dahlberg. Dahlberg answered, "That's what I said...And I was told, kind of, 'sue us'."

Dahlberg never did sue. Presumably, like many other small business owners, he thought it would be too expensive to fight to enforce his valid contract. The retailer knew that, too, which is why they said "sue us". I imagine that retailer says the same thing to a lot of small businesses.

It's for situations like this that my law firm exists. That's why my hourly fee is so low, so small business owners can fight when they need to and not be scared away because legal costs can be expensive. Not with me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Know Your Rights: Money/Remedy at Law vs. Equitable Relief

When you bring a lawsuit (or some other kind of action or proceeding) in court, you are asking the court to give you some kind of relief. Generally speaking, that relief is either money (called "damages" or "money damages" or a "remedy at law") or equitable relief. Everyone knows what money is. What is "equitable relief"? It is relief other than money. Some examples of equitable relief (or "relief at equity" or an "equitable remedy") are:  specific performance of a contract -- you entered into a contract with another party for them to do something; they failed to do it; you sue them to force them to perform as they agreed to in the contract an injunction -- you bring an action to make another party do something or stop doing something rescission of contract -- you entered into a contract; you believe there is a problem with the contract, or the other side committed fraud, or the other side can't perform its oblig...

Recent Case Developments: Employment Contract Enforceable Against Employer Even Though Not Signed

The plaintiff is a modeling scout. Defendant modeling agency decided to hire him as a modeling scout for $190,000/year, plus bonuses. An employment contract was prepared. One provision of the contact said that if the plaintiff were ever fired without cause, he would be entitled to 6-months severance ($95,000). The contract also said that it could be signed in counterparts. The plaintiff signed the contract on August 18, 2015 and emailed his signature to the modeling agency. One of the agency's board members emailed back, saying "Welcome aboard. We'll countersign over the next few days." But no one from the agency ever signed the contract. Nevertheless, the plaintiff began working as a modeling scout, and the agency paid him according to the contract. But after six months, the agency decided to terminate him, without cause. The agency then refused to pay him the $95,000 severance, and the plaintiff brought a lawsuit for breach of contract. The modeling agency m...

Recent Case Developments: Contractor Entitled to be Paid For Extra Work Not Part of Original Contract

On September 12, 2013, the Town of Kent (Putnam County) entered into a contract with a contractor to build a sewer.  During construction, certain "conditions that were unexpected and unanticipated" arose, requiring the contractor to do "extra" work--things beyond the scope of work of the original contract. (The appeals court doesn't detail what this extra work was.) The contractor performed the extra work, totaling around $380,000 in additional costs. For reasons not stated by the appeals court, the Town refused to pay for this extra work, and the contractor eventually sued the Town in May, 2015.  The contractor moved for summary judgment in the lower court (a kind of mini-trial on paper), and the court awarded judgment in favor of the contractor for the $380,000.  The Town appealed, but the appeals court sided with the contractor, saying that even though this "extra" work was not within the scope of work of the original contract, the con...