Legal Issues


Recent Legal Issues Articles

My Board Wants a New CEO

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Feb 16, 2012

You've built your company from the ground up, but now are being pushed out. Step One: Get a lawyer. Then what?  Read more


Business Lesson From Beyonce and Jay-Z

By Matthew Swyers |  Feb 15, 2012

Can you really trademark a baby’s name? Absolutely. Why would you want to? The answer is more applicable to your business than you may realize.  Read more


3 Ways to Shrink Your Start-up Legal Costs

By Christina DesMarais |  Feb 13, 2012

The average legal bill even before VC financing can run more than $20,000. Why pay that when DIY options abound?  Read more


7 Office Space Traps to Avoid

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Feb 9, 2012

You just closed a small financing round, hired some new team members and are looking to move into a new office space. Here are seven things to avoid when sig...  Read more


8 Interview Questions You Should Never Ask

By Chas Rampenthal |  Feb 7, 2012

They seem like friendly, harmless queries, but they can land you in a serious legal tar pit. Here's how to learn safely what you need to know.  Read more


Don't Want to Wait to Cash Out?

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Feb 2, 2012

I've seen founders get an early share of the upside using this strategy--without putting their companies in danger or angering their investors.  Read more


Case Study: To Sue or Not to Sue

By Jennifer Alsever |  Jan 24, 2012

The rival: enormous. Its product: disturbingly similar. The question: Should Mixed Chicks get into a legal battle with a multibillion-dollar giant?  Read more


Ask Inc.: Can a New Hire Sign a Non-Compete Later?

By Jeff Haden |  Jan 19, 2012

Inc.com columnist Jeff Haden is taking your start-up questions. Up this week: How to handle an employee who won't agree to a non-compete.  Read more


The Employees Most Likely to Embezzle

By Courtney Rubin |  Jan 18, 2012

A new study, which fingers some unlikely suspects, reports that loss due to embezzlement is down slightly this year.  Read more


Raising Money? Don't Get Ripped Off

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Jan 12, 2012

Before you look for venture capital, you'd better have a great venture lawyer, and be prepared to keep her in the loop.  Read more


Big Money for Cheap Legal Services

By Courtney Rubin |  Jan 5, 2012

Rocket Lawyer, which offers free legal documents and subscriptions for cheap legal advice, has raised $10.8 million.  Read more


China’s Bubble Economy: What it Means to Your Business

By Constantine von Hoffman |  Dec 29, 2011

Beijing is nursing a real-estate bubble proportionately larger than our own in 2005. If it bursts, the aftershock will hit every business in the U.S.  Read more


Close a Whale of a Deal

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Dec 28, 2011

So, you've landed a huge enterprise client. Here's how to close the deal without getting stuck in a legal maelstrom over the contract.  Read more


Protecting Your 'Secret Sauce'

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Dec 21, 2011

You talk about your company all the time, to investors, to clients. What if someone rips off your great ideas?  Read more


How to Fire Your Co-Founder

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Dec 14, 2011

It can be the most emotionally draining process a start-up ever goes through. Here's how to keep a cool head, and take the right legal precautions.  Read more


How to Run an "Illegal" Start-up

By Andre Gharakhanian |  Dec 6, 2011

As tech-sector regulations pile on for start-ups, here's how to keep innovating while weathering the legal storm.  Read more


Exploding the Too-Big-To-Fail Myth

By Constantine von Hoffman |  Dec 6, 2011

Crazed radicals (like the president of the Dallas Fed) think banks should suffer the consequences of their actions instead of relying on the government to un...  Read more


My Crisis of Conscience

By Matthew Swyers |  Dec 5, 2011

The Trademark Company CEO Matthew Swyers went from being a legal mercenary to a warrior defending the trademarks of small businesses.  Read more


Why Start-ups Are Scared of SOPA

By Tim Donnelly |  Nov 17, 2011

Big Technology has come out against the anti-piracy legislation as censorship. Entrepreneurs have a whole different bag of worries.  Read more


How Far Can You Push Customers' Trust?

By Tim Donnelly |  Nov 3, 2011

In the wake of Airbnb's home-vandal scandal, start-ups in the collaborative consumption space are rebuilding peer-to-peer buying's reputation. Here's how.  Read more


4 Cell Phones That Can Take a Beating

By John Brandon |  May 26, 2012

Just how tough are rugged phones? We tested them to find out.  Read more


Why the Next Steve Jobs Will be Asian

By Eric Schurenberg |  Oct 26, 2011

As Washington maneuvers on skilled immigration reform, the United States is losing its near-monopoly on entrepreneurship by forcing its educated Indian and C...  Read more


5 Supreme Court Cases Entrepreneurs Should Watch

By Eric Markowitz |  Oct 7, 2011

These five cases put businesses on the stand. Here's what's at stake, and how it could affect the way you do business.  Read more


Should You Be Able to Patent a Business Model?

By Courtney Rubin |  Oct 5, 2011

Kickstarter is asking that a patent be invalidated--or at least, that it not be found to be infringing upon it.  Read more


Drawing the Line on Lawyer Fees

By Eilene Zimmerman |  Oct 3, 2011

Lawyer and founder of MyLawsuit.com Michele Colucci hopes her start-up will change the way people find an attorney and how much is paid in referral fees.  Read more