A federal appellate decision warns that arbitration might not be as confidential as the parties in business disputes prefer it to be. If the winner of an arbitration wants to enforce their award by obtaining an ordinary court judgment, they must run the risk of losing confidentiality.
All across America, places of work are considering the safety of its employees and personnel. Included is the psychological well-being of employees. Here is a brief articles by Lorraine Segal, M.A. describing 3 critical factors to consider. https://www.mediate.com/articles/segal-psychological.cfm
On March 17, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Workforce Commission to waive the waiting week for Unemployment Benefits. In addition to waiving the waiting week, the Texas Workforce Commission is exercising its authority under the Governor’s declaration of a Statewide Disaster to waive Unemployment Insurance work search requirements effective immediately.
Those seeking to apply for Unemployment Benefits will need to submit an application.
You will need the following:
For Additional Services in San Antonio: https://www.workforcesolutionsalamo.org/
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently granted Texas’ Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) assistance declaration, making loans available statewide to small businesses and private, non-profit organizations to help alleviate economic injury caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Small businesses who believe they may be eligible for an SBA EIDL, should visit the SBA’s website where they can directly apply for assistance. The online application is the fastest method to receive a decision about loan eligibility. In order to qualify, businesses will need to assemble the following documents:
(a) Corporate governance documents (Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Organization (for LLC), or Registration of Sole Proprietorship;
(b) a Written statement justifying the nature and scope of economic injury and how/why nature of business was adversely impacted by the Coronavirus (one page/no more than two), such as loss of revenues, cancelled contracts, interrupted supply chain, etc., that resulted in economic injury;
(c) Current Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable Aging as of date of filing for the loan;
(d) Three (3) years’ 1040 Federal Income Tax Returns for the business & owners;
(e) Three (3) years’ company FYE Income Statement and Balance Sheet and latest YTD Financial Statements (Company prepared is acceptable);
(f) Company and Owners’ Debt Schedule Tables [e.g., Lender, original loan amt., date, current balance, interest rate, collateral, purpose of loan, guarantors, status (e.g., current or past due with explanation) per row in table];
(g) Monthly two (2) years’ cash flow projections;
(h) Three (3) years’ Monthly Sales History up to date of filing for loan;
(i) Current copies of owners’ credit reports from the three (3) credit bureaus with explanations for any negative reports; and
(j) Required SBA Forms, including IRS Form 4506-T, Personal Financial Statement (SBA Form 413), Schedule of Liabilities & Fixed Assets (SBA Form 2202), Monthly Sales (SBA Form 1368), Home Loan (SBA Form 5c), if applicable.
Please share this information with any and all small business owners!
COVID-19 has brought about many horrible scenarios relating to public health and serious financial stress on our incredibly complicated financial system. But small businesses are confronting a specific issue–can COVID-19 excuse small businesses or individuals from their contractual obligations?
The answer depends on the language contained in the contract, local and state law (including Emergency Orders/Directives from governors and/or mayors), and the connection between COVID-19 and the parties’ ability to perform their contractual obligations.
Many contracts contain a “Force Majeure” clause or an “Acts of God” provision. These provisions apply when a contract cannot be performed due to causes which are outside the control of the parties and could not be avoided by exercise of due care. These clauses allocate risk between the parties when an unanticipated event makes performance impossible or impracticable for each party or both parties.
Also, the more specific the clause, the more limited application it has. Most clauses specify that they are only invoked when performance becomes impossible.
Courts generally require the party claiming force majeure to show that the event was not foreseeable and directly caused the failure to meet its contractual obligations. Thus, a pandemic resulting in mass closures of all restaurants, bars, schools and the like should not be a close call. This is not a normal risk of doing business.
Note that many contracts have specific requirements in order to trigger the “Force Majeure” clause or “Acts of God” provision–namely, notice to the other party.
Many contracts (employment agreements, lease agreements, credit card agreements, warranty disputes, contractor agreements, service contracts, etc.) include an arbitration provision. They require that you arbitrate disputes instead of litigating them in Court. Know what arbitration is, how it works and what it means for your contract.