SBA Loans to Small Businesses affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. THERE IS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE TO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS. Practically every small business is feeling the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world. The restaurant and hospitality industries have been hit the hardest, but every business has seen…
Did someone say force majeure? COVID-19 Pandemic and Force Majeure clauses According to Black’s Law Dictionary, force majeure is defined as “An event or effect that can be neither anticipated nor controlled.” It is generally viewed as an unexpected event that prevents someone from doing or completing something that he…
As Harvey Weinstein rape trial moves forward, has your Chicago area business kept up with the increased awareness of sexual harassment and moved forward with adequate policy and cultural safeguards to ensure that you’re not the next target of the #MeToo movement? #MeToo Movement is changing business environment protections. A…
Marijuana became legal in Illinois on January 1, yet licensed cannabis dispensaries are generally forced to operate like their street-corner, black-market counterparts in at least one respect: They are cash-only businesses because they have no access to banking services. Illinois Cannabis Laws create new issues That’s because federal law still…
Borrowing a line from Leynrd Skynrd’s song, three quick steps to the doorway of business organization will get you into today’s preferred format for your business – a limited liability company (“LLC”). So here are the three quick steps: Draft and file the Illinois Articles of Organization. This is…
If you’ve watched any of the Democratic presidential debates, you might have heard candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang – you know, the guy with the $1,000 per month guaranteed income plan – talk about something called the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” This is a recognition that technology is imploding and changing…
FLSA Changes Protecting Chicago Area Business Owners. The threshold for white-collar employees to be classifiable as “exempt” rose about 50% to $684 per week (about $35,568 per year) on January 1, 2020. Employers will need to make adjustments to ensure they’re compliant with this updated rule, under the Fair Labor…
The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which prevents non-governmental employers from requiring that low-wage employees enter into non-compete agreements, has begun to impact case law in the past three years since it was enacted. Employers would be wise to take note. Chicago Business Lawyers The act, which defines “low-wage employees”…
We all get them … and we get them all the time … and we are all tired of them … and we all cuss them out! Many of those calls are illegal. Some of the robocalls you may have agreed to receive when you signed up for certain services…
Can a business ban guns from the business and workplace? If a customer walked into your retail business or professional office carrying a gun, would you be comfortable with that, or would it feel a little too much like the O.K. Corral? What if they were carrying their weapon openly?…