Is your Business Prepared to face These 5 Critical Legal Issues in the New Year?

Hey. Happy New Year! We hope you are enjoying your year so far. We know this will be a special year for you and your business. We are happy to be part of the ride with you. Since we are together in this, I wanted to make sure to let you know about some of the legal trends that may affect your business this year. The following are some areas in your business we believe you should have an increased focus on:

1. Contracts – While your contracts are something that you should have reviewed at least once a year, this year we cannot highlight the need for contract review enough. Recent caselaw across the country has invalidated certain terms that are found in a majority of contracts. In some contracts this can make the entire agreement invalid. You need to make sure the contracts you have in place still protect you and your business in the way they are supposed to be designed to.

Also, we’ve seen an uptick in people using agreements either fully written or at least modified by the use of Artificial intelligence (AI). While AI has come a long way, it still does not do a great job of predicting potential issues in your personal situation. AI is a tool. As a matter of fact, it’s a tool we use at our office as well. However, it still requires human review to guide and ensure that its production fits the parties' goals. All too often we have come across mindless gibberish that protects nobody. Don’t be that person. Litigation is more expensive than preparation. 

2. Employment Issues - Every year more and more states redefine their labor laws. With the uptick of remote work, those laws have gotten even harder to keep up with. Employers are now facing the responsibility of being compliant in their home state as well as the state of their employees. As a matter of fact, even the way employee contracts are written have been affected by recent legislation. One that has been the most affected is the effect of non-compete clauses. Many states have completely disallowed the use of these clauses in employee contracts. However, a business owner that knows how to prepare themselves for this situation, is going to be ahead of the curve when it comes to hiring and the growth of their team. 

3. ADA Compliance – An area of law that continues to grow year after year is lawsuits that deal with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In the past many of these claims dealt specifically with physical locations like restaurants, office spaces, retail stores, etc. However, most of those claims have now moved on to the Internet. One of the most common claims being that of websites that do not comply with ADA standards. ADA standards change year to year, making it important to have an inspection performed almost yearly. While some websites perform “Audits”, those audits are often inaccurate, leaving business owners open to lawsuits. Some states have a statutory minimum for damages when it comes to ADA violations. Business owners need to start considering an investment into making sure their websites are compliant or potentially face the legal consequences. 

4. Selling and Buying Businesses – More than ever the thought of buying businesses has entered the mind of hopeful entrepreneurs. To be completely honest, there’s a lot of younger buyers in the market who think they can make older businesses more profitable. This uptick has primarily been due to social media influencers giving them “sage” advice on how to make a quick return on their investment while doing minimal work. Despite your personal feelings about this, the truth is, that this potentially a great opportunity for everyone involved. If you already own a business, the question you should ask yourself is “How Can I make this sellable?”. On the other side of things if you want to invest into a business, then you really need to learn the ins and outs of the business you intend on purchasing. A person way wiser than the person writing this once said “Running a business is simple, but it is not easy”. One of the ways to help protect yourself is making sure you have the right team around you when making a purchase. 

5. Federal Requirements - As of January 1st, 2024, new entities (businesses filed in 2024) MUST report their business owner information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Entities that were formed prior to 2024 have until December 31st, 2024, to complete their filing.  FinCEN is a Federal Government agency designated to try to stop things such as money laundering, illegal trade, and other business-related crimes. The requirement became official when it was made a part of the Corporate Transparency Act in 2022. The reason why this is so important is because the punishments for non-compliance will be both civil and criminal. Civilly there will be fines up to $10,000.00, while criminally you can serve up to 2 years in prison. 

*Note: Entities formed prior to 2024 might have the date of their required filing moved from December 31st, 2024, to a future date. As of this writing Entities filed prior to January 1st, 2024, must register before December 31st, 2024. 

We understand that there’s a lot for business owners to keep track of for their business before even considering the legal issues that may arise. Because of that, our law firm is now offering compliance packages. Our goal is to be the legal arm of your team. By doing so, we will be able to anticipate and better prepare you for the legal issues in your business. Our legal compliance packages are custom to your needs. 

Call us at (855) 781-7705 and schedule a consultation to speak about a legal compliance strategy for your business today.