Posts by Luci Prosapio

From the Business of Business section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). John, an older man, orally negotiated the terms of his employment contract with his new employer. He gave his employer’s representative a copy of a written contract that he wanted the employer to agree to. During…

From the Business of Business section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). A common cause of legal problems in business deals is the failure of the parties to write down their agreement or, in other words, to make a written contract. It is human nature to believe that…

From the Business of Business section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Fred went into business with a partner to sell mobile homes. To operate, they had to establish accounts with various suppliers. The suppliers wisely required Fred and his partner to sign personal guarantees of the accounts.…

From the Business of Business section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Rick’s Case Rick, a hard-working client of mine, ran his own small business doing grading, hauling, back-hoe projects and related work. He bid upon and was awarded a job demolishing some old industrial buildings and hauling…

From the Business of Business section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Steve, who was well educated and very bright, went into business wit ha couple of people who claimed to have the know-how to manufacture and sell small trailers, called tow dollies. Because they didn’t have the…

From the Divorce section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). It really doesn’t sound fair, but often the party who has possession of anything over which a legal dispute has arisen has an advantage in the struggle. For example, in a child custody dispute, the person who has…

From the Divorce section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Many people who divorce see it coming, but given the emotional turmoil they are in, it is not surprising that they fail to take sufficient steps to protect their finances from the machinations of their estranged spouses. One…

From the Divorce section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). It is amazing how many wives in this day and age do not know how much money their husbands make. Whether her husband is a construction worker or a business executive, many a wife just doesn’t know the…

From the Divorce section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Barbara separated from her husband when he left the marital home. She later discovered that several months before he left, he stopped making the mortgage payments. And after he left, he managed to keep the foreclosure notices from…