Blogs & Resources

Recently, a clause in an industry standard sales contract backfired, much to the dismay of the car dealer. In Duval Ford v. Rogers, 73 So. 3d 261 (Fla. 1st DCA June 21, 2011) a sophisticated car dealer’s Retail Buyer’s Order (“RBO”) was rendered unenforceable by the existence of a merger clause in their Retail Installment Sales Contract (“RISC”). Florida’s First District Court of Appeals held that the RISC was the entire contract, consistent with the merger clause. Therefore, the RBO was totally irrelevant. Irrelevant RBO’s will require substantial sales practices changes in the automotive industry.

By Kristen Sinnott, Candidate for Juris Doctor 2013

If there is one thing most people can agree on, it would be the fact that Steve Jobs provided the business world with one of the greatest creations, an Apple iPhone. Whether you are an attorney, doctor, small business owner, or CEO of a Fortune-500 corporation, the iPhone can single handedly make your work day easier, more organized, and frankly, more entertaining. Millions of applications have been produced, and quite a few have received honorable mention from New York Times, Forbes and the bloggers of the world. For those of you who need on-the-go access to your files, presentations, inventory, and agendas while away from your desk, these ten apps are for you!

By Harry M. Wilson, IV Esq.
It almost goes without saying, but lawyers should go the extra mile to double check the background of potential clients who come to the firm solely via email. As we’ve learned from personal experience, there are con artists afoot who would use lawyers to perpetrate their, albeit clumsy, frauds. Recently, our firm was contacted twice by imposters posing as potential clients.

To do business in modern America, one almost necessarily has to engage in interstate commerce. In a city like Jacksonville, with its proximity to the Florida-Georgia border, one can easily see how anything from the sale of an automobile, to the award of a subcontract, or the hiring of an employee, could involve potential litigants from different states. If a dispute arises out of such an interstate transaction and litigation is eminent, an important question is what is the appropriate forum to file the complaint?

Assuming the plaintiff is a Florida corporation, the question of whether the complaint can be filed in Florida court hinges on the State’s power to enforce a judgment against the defendant. A state’s power to adjudicate a claim and enforce the judgment is limited by the due process clauses of the United States Constitution and by precedent. The test to determine if a state court has the power to enforce judgment over an out of state defendant corporation asks whether the defendant has certain minimum contacts with the forum state so that the suit does not offend “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.” International Shoe Co. v. State of Wash., Office of Unemployment and Compensation, 326 U.S. 310,316 (1945).

Today’s labor market can be generally characterized by high job turnover. Nationwide, in November 2010, over four million employment positions were filled and nearly an equal number of employment relationships were severed. Understanding the relationship between employers and their current and prospective employees is very important in a national labor market with a job turnover rate of approximately two percent of the labor force per month. The predominant and default employment arrangement in the United States is “Employment-at-Will. In Florida, an employment agreement that does not provide for a specified duration of employment, in the absence of surrounding facts that could be construed as a durational restriction, is recognized as an agreement to employment at will. See Savannah, F. & W. RY. CO. v. Willet, 31 So. 246, 314 (Fla. 1901). Employment-at-will allows for the termination of employment at any time by either the employer or employee. See e.g. Demarco v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 360 So. 2d 134, 136 (“The established law is that where the term of employment is discretionary with either party or indefinite, then either party for any reason may terminate it at any time and no action may be maintained for breach of the employment contract.”)

In a labor market with high job turnover, employers and employees are constantly creating new employment relationships and severing previous employment relationships. When an employee makes a transition from an existing employer to a new employer, they usually give notice to their existing employer and effectively sever the employment relation with their existing employer. The at-will doctrine allows employees the flexibility to do this. The drawback to this flexibility comes when the employee relies on an offer for new employment and then the offer is rescinded by the prospective employer. This situation has received varied treatment across jurisdictions.

This post describes how this situation is treated in Florida courts.

Though Florida was one of the first states to enact legislation permitting the organization of a limited liability company (“LLC”), usage of LLCs as a corporate form is still a relatively new thing. With the Florida Limited Liability Company Act of 1999 and the passage of certain taxation legislation, LLCs are a very favorable business organization form for small and mid-sized businesses. Nearly every LLC maintains a separate written or oral operating agreement, which is generally defined as the agreement governing the LLCs business, and member’s financial and managerial rights and duties. LLCs operating without an operating agreement are governed by the state’s default rules contained in the relevant statute and developed through court decisions interpreting those laws. In Florida, the LLC statute is Fla. Stat. Chapter 608.

Often in a small, member-managed LLC, managerial and financial disputes arise among the members regarding business affairs of the company or distribution of company assets. Clients often come to our firm to analyze and litigate issues regarding one or more fellow members who have committed breaches of the operating agreement, common law or statutory duties or in some cases have gone as far as violating criminal laws. In analyzing the aggrieved member’s rights against these rogue members practitioners must first turn to the LLC operating agreement before utilizing Fla. Stat. §608 and case law to fill in the gaps. As a case study for expulsion, we will analyze a scenario where a member is diverting company assets.

Most courts nationwide continue to adhere to the majority position asserted by the court in Republic Ins. Co. v. Silverton Elevators, Inc., 493 S.W.2d 748 (Tex. 1973), that estoppel may not be employed to expand coverage not otherwise provided in an insurance contract. See, e.g., Laidlow Environmental Services, Inc. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 524 S.E.2d 847, 852 (S.C. Ct. App. 1999) (estoppel and waiver cannot create coverage that does not otherwise exist); Martin v. United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co., 996 S.W.2d 506, 511 (Mo. 1999) (estoppel cannot be used to create coverage); Shepard v. Keystone Insurance Co., 743 F. Supp. 429, 433 (D. Md. 1990) (under Maryland law, “waiver and estoppel cannot be used to create liability where none previously existed, or to extend coverage beyond what was originally intended”); Fli-Back Co., Inc. v. Philadelphia Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co., 502 F.2d 214, 216 (4th Cir. 1974) (same under North Carolina law).

Florida has joined the minority position creating or allowing coverage for an insured based on estoppel. Crown Life Ins. Co. v. McBride, 517 So.2d 660 (Fla. 1987).

As our firm represents many materials suppliers and site work contractors/subcontractors, we are often presented with payment issues that require us to pursue unconventional avenues of recovery to obtain payment. One area in which we have had a good success is through making claims on Agricultural Bonds through the Florida Department of Agriculture. According to Florida law, any person who is engaged within the state in the business of buying, receiving, soliciting, handling, or negotiating agricultural products from or for Florida producers, or their agents, must be licensed and bonded. The Bureau of Agricultural Dealer’s Licenses is responsible for the licensing of dealers in agricultural products. Per the Department of Agriculture, “Florida License and Bond Law is intended to facilitate the marketing of Florida agricultural products by encouraging a better understanding between buyers and sellers and by providing a marketplace that is relatively free of unfair trading practices and defaults. The purpose of the law is to help assure that the producers of products covered by the law receive proper accounting and payment for their products.” If you do business with nurseries, landscaping companies, or virtually anyone who deals in green goods and you like to get paid the money you are rightfully owed, this post should be required reading.

By: Emily C. Williams, Esq.

Employers and employees, alike, are often unaware of the repercussions associated with how they are characterized in the workplace. When two persons agree that one will perform work for the other, the parties should be concerned with the legal significance of whether or not the arrangement creates an employer/employee relationship or an independent contractor relationship. Whether one arrangement exists can result in the following consequences: tax obligations — withholding, social security, and sales, prevailing wage rate obligations, indemnity and liability obligations for wrongful activities, insurance obligations and coverage issues and licensing. Furthermore, an employer is not held liable for the negligent acts of its independent contractors, except where the contractor injures someone to whom the employer owes a non-delegable duty of care, such as where the employer is a school authority and the injured party a pupil. An employer can also be held liable for the negligent selection of an independent contractor.

Frequently our clients ask us general questions regarding the day-to-day operations of their business. In order to prepare a client for how to form corporate policies reacting to sexual harassment claims, we first had to educate them on the process of how an aggrieved employee goes about pursuing a claim. What follows is an overview of the claim filing process. Knowing the process of how employee complaints are made will help your business in formulating a defense if that time should ever come.