Articles
Appealing Real Property Taxes
2011 is a "reassessment year" for real property taxes in Missouri. A property owner's right to appeal an assessment is usually available only in "reassessment years." Unless special circumstances exist, the assessment establishes the value for the next succeeding year...
Missouri Court of Appeals Refuses to Apply “Abuse of Discretion” Standard to its Review of a Benefit Denial Despite “Firestone Language”
A recent decision by the Missouri Court of Appeals limited the scope of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Burch, 489 U.S. 101 (1989). In Firestone, the Supreme Court held that “a denial of benefits challenged under § 1132(a)(1)(B)...
Employers can Still Require Compliance with Call-in Policies, Without Violating FMLA
A Minnesota District Court recently held that a returning to work member of the National Guard was subject to proper termination for failure to comply with his employer’s call-in policy. That policy required all employees to report absences directly to a manager, not...
Missouri 2010 Mechanic’s Lien Law Amendments
Missouri contractors and subcontractors have received a bit of extra protection courtesy of the Missouri legislature, with property owners and others receiving benefits as well. Recently enacted provisions amend the Missouri Mechanic's Lien Law to provide protection...
Negotiating, and Defenses to, Personal Guaranties
One of the dreaded documents any business owner faces in a deal is the "personal guaranty." After all, the business owner went through the steps to incorporate or organize their business just to avoid this personal liability, and now a lender, landlord, supplier or...
COBRA: Compliance with Employee Benefits Laws; Not the Snake in the Grass Kind
When business owners hear the term "COBRA," most (hopefully) skip past the images of fangs and hissing and think of employee health care benefits, which, come to think of it, have their own type of fangs and hissing. Larger employers usually lean on human resources...
Foreclosure: Debunking the Myths and Clarifying the Truths
At this time of year, many individuals are engrossed in three hotly debated topics. First, who is going to win the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers; second, are the Cardinals going to sign Albert Pujols this off season; and third, what are...
The Great Recession, the Chink in China’s Armor, and American Ingenuity
I don't need to recite statistics regarding what some are calling the "Great Recession." It has touched every one of us, some harder than others, but it certainly has made for a lasting impression. The news just a few days ago, which resulted in a 250 point drop in...
Face-off Over Facebook
"If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook." — Mark Zuckerberg, from the movie, "The Social Network" "The Social Network" movie is a fictional story of the birth of Facebook, but more specifically about founder Mark Zuckerberg and the...
The “Ordinary” Commercial Lease: A Fallacy. It Doesn’t Exist.
"It's just ordinary lease stuff," Frank said. After a short pause, he continued, "At least, I think it is." Frank had just been given a document entitled "Standard Commercial Lease – Net." He wasn't an unsophisticated businessman—his business had grown from him and...
Reasonable Accommodation and the Interactive Process: The ADA Requires Employees and Employers to Work Together
2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. A key distinction between the ADA and other anti-discrimination laws is the requirement for employers to make “reasonable accommodation” for the...
Shallow Pockets; the Risk of Undercapitalization
Assuming your company does not have 20 billion dollars stashed away in money reserves like BP Energy, many companies risk inadequate capitalization, or what is also referred to as "thin capitalization." Inadequate capitalization generally means funding resources that...