Charlotte Injury Lawyer Blog

In the battle between hiring an attorney or using a 'do it yourself' legal services website, who comes out on top? When you factor in all concerns such as cost, legality, personal contact and quality, what it really comes down to is getting what you pay for. As a Business Litigation and Estates attorney in Charlotte, North Carolina, I am often asked by potential clients why they should hire me and pay more when they can use online sites, such as Legal Zoom, and save money. Although using online legal services may seem like the fast, easy and inexpensive thing to do, there are many reasons why going to an attorney is the better option and the winner of this battle.

Personal Contact

The first factor to take into consideration is personal contact. When meeting with an attorney compared to logging on to a website, you are able to build a relationship. With this relationship, your attorney learns about you and your needs and will be able to assist you beyond your original expectations. An attorney is also able to determine if your needs are something you wouldn't have even considered. For example, if you think you need a copyright, you can go to an online service and plug in what you need, and you will instantly get a copyright. If you go to an attorney with the same need, you might find out you actually need a patent and not a copyright. Without this personal contact, you may not get what you actually need, and in the end, you'll end up wasting time and money. Unfortunately, this personal touch is not available through online services.

Quality

The next aspect to consider is quality. With online sites, a person fills out a basic template and a product is produced. How was your information transformed into the final product? Who knows, but it certainly is not tailored to your exact needs. When you hire an attorney, not only do we work side by side with you to ensure you understand all steps in the process, but we also customize and tailor everything to fit your individual needs. For example, when preparing your Will, there are many complexities that a website cannot ascertain by having you answer a blanket questionnaire. When you hire an attorney, we work with you to answer any questions and ensure your family is protected. A Will is your last chance to be heard and allowing a website to generate this document is not wise.

Cost

The price differential is probably the main reason patrons use online legal services over hiring an attorney. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. By working with an actual attorney, the overall price may be a bit higher, but you can be assured that you'll get exactly what you are looking for and exactly what you need. Furthermore, your attorney is only a phone call away, so if you have any questions or concerns throughout the process, you know there is always someone there to answer them.

Legality

The final thing to take into consideration when choosing who you want to represent you is legality. As shown in a recent article by the News and Observer, the North Carolina State Bar has decided to take on the leading online legal center, Legal Zoom, questioning whether or not their actions constituted the unauthorized practice of law. As a response, the company said that there were inaccuracies in the State Bar's claims, stressing that its services are automated and don't involve legal advice. So whether or not the site's practice is authorized, Legal Zoom admitted their services are automated, and thus confirmed all points listed above.

A professional corporation versus a regular corporation - yes, there is a difference. Our Charlotte-based Business Litigation law firm represents a number of professional practices including physicians, dentists, accountants, engineers and other professionals. These clients are often unaware of the different rules that apply to ownership issues for professional practices. These rules are important to consider when starting a practice, adding an owner or during succession planning.

Chapter 55B of the North Carolina General Statutes provides for professional corporations. While professional corporations are very similar to regular corporations, they differ in that professional corporations do not provide protection for professional liability, they require licensing board approval before creation, and they limit some or all of the ownership and/or management of the company to licensed professionals. For a company to provide professional services it must be a professional corporation.

The intent of these limitations is to preserve the sanctity of professional rules for each profession by limiting ownership to those who know and are bound by the profession's rules and ethical standards. Multi-disciplinary practices cause some difficulty under the rules as the statutes are very specific as to who may own an interest in each type of professional corporation. The general rule under N.C.G.S. §55B-6 is that all stock must be owned by a licensed professional.

Certain professions allow for narrow exceptions to this rule. Specifically, Architects (N.C.G.S. §83A), Landscape Architects (N.C.G.S. §89A), Engineers and Land Surveyors (N.C.G.S. §89C), Geologists (N.C.G.S. §89E) and Soil Scientists (N.C.G.S. §89F) may allow up to 1/3 of their outstanding shares to be owned by non-licensed employees of the corporation. Accountants (N.C.G.S. §93) may have any person own up to 49% of shares in their professional corporation as long as licensed accountants own the other 51% and continue to maintain 51% of the vote regarding the election of directors of the corporation.

Due to the restrictions imposed by the Professional Corporations Act, special care must be taken when setting up a multi-disciplinary practice. These restrictions must also be considered if a professional wants to issue stock to employees and in estate planning. Upon the death of a professional shareholder, a professional corporation has only one year to come in compliance with these rules. If you have any questions about the ownership of your professional practice or how your ownership interest is handled in your estate plan, please feel free to contact Hull & Chandler, P.A. for more information.

The formula for Coca-Cola has long been considered the ultimate trade secret. While Coca-Cola could have chosen to patent the formula they use for their product, that protection would only have lasted twenty years and generic coke would currently be undercutting their product. Instead of using the patent process, Coca-Cola took the more difficult, but potentially longer lasting route in protecting their intellectual property by protecting the formula as a proprietary trade secret.
A trade secret is defined in North Carolina, as business or technical information, including but not limited to a formula, pattern, program, device, compilation of information, method, technique, or process that:
a. Derives independent actual or potential commercial value from not being known or readily ascertainable through independent development or reverse engineering by persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
b. Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
G.S. § 66-152(3)(2001)
Factors in determining whether or not information is a trade secret include:
(1) the extent to which information is known outside the business; (2) the extent to which it is known to employees and others involved in the business; (3) the extent of measures taken to guard secrecy of the information; (4) the value of information to business and its competitors; (5) the amount of effort or money expended in developing the information; and (6) the ease or difficulty with which the information could properly be acquired or duplicated by others.
The trade secret act allows owners of trade secrets to receive injunctions against disclosure or use of their trade secrets and potentially to receive treble damages for infringement.
According to legend, Coca-Cola's formula is only known to a handful of top executives who are all bound by various confidentiality and non-compete agreements. The recipe has been kept under lock and key. Any information that would be helpful to someone trying to reverse engineer the formula has also been subject to protection.
Despite the best efforts of Coca-Cola, This American Life claims to have revealed the ultimate trade secret, the recipe for Coca-Cola by looking closely at a 1979 photo they claim is of the recipe. The formula has been one of the most closely guarded corporate secrets. Coca-Cola's protection of the formula has been the gold standard by which all attorneys wish their clients would follow regarding their trade secrets. Even if this formula is correct, Coca-Cola has been able to protect their trade secret for many decades by protecting their information the right way.

A person is faced with many decisions when they decide to start their own business. One of the first and most important decisions that must be made is what type of business structure to go with. There are many variables that go into deciding which structure would be more beneficial. Today we are going to look at the difference between a C-Corporation versus an S-Corporation.

The C-Corp is considered the standard corporation, while the S-Corp has elected special tax status by the IRS. However, the special status under the S-Corp is not automatic. One must elect to become an S-Corp, and must do so by filing Form 2554 with the IRS.

One of the major differences between these two structures is the way that they are taxed. A C-Corp is considered a separate entity, therefore requiring that they file a separate corporate tax return as well as pay taxes at the corporate level. In addition, a C-Corp also faces double taxation as the corporation is taxed on its income, and then the shareholders are taxed on any dividends they receive. S-Corps however are considered "pass through entities'." This means that the profit and losses pass through the business and instead are reported on the individual's personal tax return. Therefore taxes are paid at the individual level by the owners, and no income is taxed at the corporate level.

Another difference between these two entities is ownership. While a C-Corp has no restrictions as to ownership, an S-Corp is limited to 100 shareholders, and shareholders must be U.S. citizens. Another restriction placed on an S-Corp is that they may only have one class of stock, unlike the C-Corp which may have multiple classes.

Determining what business structure is best for your business is an important decision, and it is imperative to have an attorney who is knowledgeable in this area of law and up to date with all of the IRS tax codes. If you are interested in forming a corporation, or just have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many people often call our office unsure as to what their rights are after they have been let go from a job. Often people do not understand why they have been let go, and feel that because there was no specific reason for their discharge they have a case. Unfortunately this is untrue in North Carolina. North Carolina is what we call an "Employment-at-Will" state. The term "Employment-at-Will" means that unless there is a specific law protecting the employee, or if there is an employment contract, an employer may fire an employee for any reason or no reason at all. Under the law an employer may also treat an employee as they see fit. In addition, it is at the discretion of the employer as to whether the employee may or may not have access to their personal record.

Although employers are given broad range to discharge employees and treat them as they see fit, there are certain protected categories that an employer must adhere to. These categories stem from the employees civil rights, and are based on age, sex, race, religion, national origin, color, disability or pregnancy. An employer many not discriminate against an employee based on any of the reasons just listed. Another protected category falls under the Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA). This act protects an employee from an employer's retaliation when an employee participates in activities protected under Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Act, the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act, and Workers Compensation Act.

Citigroup is currently being sued by six women who are alleging that they have been discriminated against due to their gender. This is one of the several protected categories under North Carolina law. The women who have filed suit against Citigroup claim that due to their gender, they are being held back from equal access to pay, promotions and work. If the accusations are true, these are serious violations of their rights. It is therefore very important to know your rights as an employee, and have an attorney who will fight on your behalf. The attorneys of Hull & Chandler, P.A. are committed to fighting for your rights if they have been violated.

Due to the current economic climate, non-compete agreements have become increasingly popular in North Carolina. A non-compete agreement can either be contained within an employment agreement or a separate agreement. The primary goal of a non-compete agreement is to prevent former employees to work for competitors of the employer for a specified period of time. Unfortunately due to each contract being different, there is no set of general rules that apply to all of them.

Most courts however will consider the reasonableness of the non-compete to determine whether or not they are going to enforce it. The court will often look at such things as the nature of the job, the time period a former employee is prevented to work for a competitor, and whether the employee received consideration for signing it. However courts have agreed that is unlawful to bar a former employee from working in a trade in which he or she has been trained, except to the extent it is necessary to protect the former employer. Although no employer can force you to sign a non-compete, it is important to know that the employer can then chose not to hire you if you refuse to sign it. Therefore it is important to obtain an attorney who is knowledgeable in the area of non-competes' to review any non-compete or employment agreements your employer may ask you to sign before you sign them.

An LLC or Limited Liability Company has become one of the most popular platforms for small to medium sized businesses when owners are looking for not only tax benefits, but protection from the liabilities someone may face when in business for themselves. In order to form an LLC, the managing members must first decide which state they want to register their business in. Once they have done so, Articles of Organization must be submitted to that state. After the state register's the LLC, the managing members can take advantage of several conveniences and breaks that those who have not done so will not be privy to. One significant advantage of forming an LLC is that similar to a partnership, an LLC has pass-through taxes which mean that the business taxes are "passed through" to the individual's tax return. This is extremely advantageous to the managing members, as it means that they will not endure double taxation of both corporate and personal income tax as the Corporations do. Additionally the LLC grants its managing members protection from liabilities of the LLC or any debts it may incur to only the amount that the member invested in the LLC. It should also be known that members of the LLC do not have to be U.S. Citizens. The LLC structure also allows for significantly less paperwork than the Corporation, not requiring annual meetings, minutes or a Board of Directors, and there is minimal reporting required to state and other agencies. All in all the LLC is simpler to operate than other forms of business platforms. If you are interested in forming an LLC, or any corporate entity, or just have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.