Under a new Illinois law, non-compete agreements must be premised on a legitimate business interest and narrowly tailored in terms of time, activity, and place. In addition, under the newly enacted Illinois Freedom to Work Act, employers are prohibited from entering into non-competes with employees who make less than $13/hour.…
Can Student Loans Ever Be Discharged? Yes, and there’s a new tool to help bankruptcy lawyers deter mine whether clients qualify Contrary to common perception, not all student loans can be wiped out in bankruptcy court. Although the Bankruptcy Code does protect federal loans and some private loans from discharge,…
BIG WOES FOR ZILLO Zillo, the gigantic online real-estate database company, has a gigantic headache, legally speaking. It is currently the target of a class action lawsuit in Illinois. Zillow is the website that allows a person to search for properties for sale–properties located just about anywhere. And Zillow’s cornerstone feature–Zestimate–allows…
CYBER-SECURITY–A VITAL PRECAUTION It is time for businesses to give cyber-crime protection high priority; the sooner the better. The mounting numbers of cyber-attacks on businesses are a serious threat to every sort of commercial enterprise. Cyber intrusions have become really dangerous, sophisticated, and commonplace. Businesses are attacked (whether they know…
DRIVERLESS CARS: THE FUTURE OF PRODUCT LIABILITY LITIGATION? Any business that will contribute to the production of driverless vehicles must give serious thought to the risk of products-liability lawsuits. And that includes suppliers, even of minor parts. We may think of driverless cars as a phenomenon of the future, but that…
Are Employee Non-Compete Agreements Still Valid for Low-Level Employees? Non-compete arguments are staple in every Chicago Business Lawyer’s legal arsenal and a necessary to protect a business under certain circumstances. A non-compete agreement, also known as a non-competition covenant or clause, is an agreement between an employer and an employee…
What is Equity Crowdfunding? Is this the Future of Raising Investment Capital? It seems that while nearly everyone has heard of crowdfunding, the concept of equity crowdfunding is not as well known but is gaining traction. For those Chicago business owners that are new to this developing area, prior to May…
CAUTION! WATCH OUT FOR THESE WAGE-AND-HOUR PITFALLS The U.S. Department of Labor has been cracking down on wage and hour infractions, and it may be time to review your overtime procedures and policies–it is all too easy to violate wage and hour regulations unwittingly. Sometimes DOL complaints seem trivial. We…
Blockchain and Chicago Businesses In September of 2015, the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software and Society’s World Economic Forum[1] predicted that by 2025, 10% of GDP will be stored on blockchains or blockchain related technology. If you are a Chicago business owner and you are unsure what…
Equity Crowdfunding – The Future of Investing? While nearly everyone has heard of crowdfunding, the concept of equity crowdfunding is not as well known. For those Chicago business owners that are new to this developing area, prior to May 2016, crowdfunding was available only to accredited investors or those with…