Category: Commercial Litigation
Collection of Your Accounts Receivable
March 3, 2010 | Joan M. QuadeBy Joan M. Quade Spring 2009 In Brief Newsletter In these tough economic times, companies find that payments on their accounts receivable are delayed and diminished. More and more of their customers cannot pay on time. Some cannot pay the invoices in their entirety and have resorted to smaller, drawn out payments for services and goods, while others have not been able to pay at all. Money is less plentiful but if your customers do not pay, it affects your ability to meet your company’s obligations. In years past, most companies could afford some nonpaying and slow paying customers, but when many of your customers are having financial difficulties, your company must take action to ensure your own company’s survival. You have supplied the goods and services and you should be paid for those efforts. Ignoring your mounting accounts receivable could lead to your own company’s damage or demise. Every company should adopt a procedure for collection of accounts receivable. Such a procedure should be in place during thriving economic times as well as during the tough economic times so that corporate value is not being lost through inconsistent and ineffective collection procedures. To work effectively, a collection procedure should be in writing and adopted by the company’s management team. Training should be…
Read MoreToward an "English Rule" on Costs and Disbursements
December 20, 2009 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Toward an “English Rule” on Costs and Disbursements By Thomas P. Malone and Bradley A. Kletscher The political climate regarding litigation is changing. Everywhere attacks are being made on the “litigation explosion”. Huge efforts are being made to curtail the 30-year trend of expanded litigation; witness the “tort reform” and fee shifting statutes throughout the United States. One method used by legislatures and courts is charging the loser with paying the winners “costs”. “Costs” have always been assessed against the loser in civil litigation. The present difference is the expanding definition of the term “costs”. Year ago, “costs” included, for the most part, only filing fees and service of process expenses. That is no longer the case. Statutes enacted since 1983, as well as court cases construing those statutes, have dramatically expanded the definition of litigation “costs”. Parties are now fairly wide open to an award of the actual costs incurred by the winning side. For example, deposition expenses are now available irrespective of whether the depositions were used by the prevailing party. Until recently, the prevailing rule was that the court would award only those deposition expenses that were taken by the prevailing party and used by that party at trial. That is no longer the case. Now, courts are awarding expenses…
Read MoreMinnesota's Sexual Harassment Statute: It's History and the law (Part I)
December 20, 2009 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Every person who works, and every company that does business in Minnesota must address the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. Even if no such conduct has occurred at the workplace, it is still necessary for employers to have policies in place to address the issue should it arise. Because the topic is such a pressing issue, this article addresses the history behind Minnesota’s law and the specific requirements necessary to prove a claim. Part I of this article discusses the history. Part II discusses the evidence necessary to prove such a claim. The Minnesota Human Rights Act is designed to prevent discrimination against women and men through prohibition of offensive sexual harassment by others. The original version of the MHRA, known as the Minnesota State Act for Fair Employment Practices (FEP) set out its policies in full as follows: “Section 1. Declaration of policy. As a guide to the interpretation and application of this act, be it enacted that the public policy of this state is to foster the employment of all individuals in this state in accordance with their fullest capacities, regardless of their race, color, creed, religion, or national original, and to safeguard their rights and privileges of the inhabitants of this state and menaces the institutions and foundations…
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