Blog: Business Law
- Can You Enforce an Oral Business Contract?
Jul 11, 2022
Are There Agreements that May Only Be Enforced in New Jersey if in Writing? If you are like most small business owners, much of your day is spent on the phone or in meetings. In those conversations, you’ll often come to agreement on terms of a proposed contract. Suppose your discussions meet all the requirements of a valid and enforceable contract: There’s an offer and acceptance Both parties have agreed to give something of value...Read More - Unfair Competition in Business
May 4, 2022
Prohibited Activities under State and Federal Laws While the American free enterprise system promotes competition for the benefit of consumers, there is still are requirement that the forms of competition engaged in follow some basic rules. When another company or individual engages in actions that wrongfully affect your business or your market share, those acts may constitute “unfair competition.” That may involve a broad range of violations: Interference with or infringement of your intellectual property...Read More - Why You Don’t Want to Run Your Business as a Sole Proprietorship
May 1, 2022
The Benefits of a Corporation or Limited Liability Company (LLC) In the state of New Jersey, you can open for business as a sole proprietorship without filing any documents with the state government. You may want to choose a separate name under which to conduct business. If you do, you’ll need to register your assumed name with the local county clerk’s office. You may also need to secure certain licenses, based on the goods or...Read More - Common Mistakes Made by Small Businesses
Apr 1, 2022
Simple Strategies that Can Improve Your Chances of Success Successfully building a small business from scratch can be a daunting prospect. According to federal government statistics, about one in five new small businesses fail within 12 months and about half don’t make it five years. There are, unfortunately, some factors that contribute to this that cannot be controlled—markets change, products become obsolete or economic circumstances make viability difficult. But there are certain mistakes that often...Read More - The Uniform Commercial Code—Bringing Stability to Business Transactions
Mar 10, 2022
What Is the Uniform Commercial Code | When Does It Apply? Throughout history, as human beings have conducted business, disputes have arisen and legal rights have had to be enforced. For centuries, most of those laws were found in judicial decisions, what it referred to as the “common law.” However, in the 1890s, a movement arose to draft “uniform” laws, which attempted to incorporate much of prior common law into statutes (written laws enacted by...Read More - Contracts That May Be Unenforceable
Dec 25, 2019
Circumstances That Can Invalidate an Agreement As the law of contracts has evolved over centuries, certain requirements have been established to ensure the enforceability of an agreement. Accordingly, a number of situations have been identified where a contract generally will be considered invalid: Where the Purpose of the Contract Is Illegal—The court will not enforce any type of agreement to commit or participate in any illegal activity. For example, if the sale of certain prescription...Read More - Common Defenses to the Enforceability of a Contract
Mar 4, 2019
In an earlier blog, we identified the specific elements of a valid and enforceable contract: An agreement Supported by consideration Voluntarily entered into By persons with contractual capacity With a subject matter that is legal Let’s look a little closer at the defenses you can raise to the enforceability of a contract. The Contract Was Entered into because of a Mistake This defense may be raised when there is some misunderstanding with respect to the...Read More