This helpful chart for Illinois business entities was used for a speaking engagement last spring with Illinois Farm Bureau. It illustrates some of the major differences among different choices of business entities in Illinois including but not limited to sole proprietorship, general/limited partnerships, limited liability companies (including series LLC’s), and corporations. I’m a visual person so I love charts and …
Choice of Business Entities For Illinois Farmers & Agri-Businesses
[slideshare id=90556988&doc=businessentities-180313203829] I’m looking forward to speaking on Friday at the Women in Ag Conference in Rock Island, Illinois on choices of business entities. The above presentation gives a nice overview of various choices in Illinois including sole proprietorships, partnerships (general and limited), corporations, limited liability companies, etc.
Business Law: General Release for Video-Tapped Testimonials
My office just drafted a simple general release form for an agri-business client seeking permission to videotape client testimonials and use the recordings online. I think it’s a great idea to have a simple consent form to use for these types of situations where video-taped, audio-recorded and/or written testimonials are used in marketing materials. I suggest having language about the …
Amazon Suspension Prevention
There is an Amazon coach in my BNI Chapter and through my conversations with him, it’s come to my attention that entrepreneurs selling on Amazon.com run a risk of robots flagging something in their account and suspending it. In a sense, Amazon will suspend accounts and “ask questions later.” I regularly order goods from Amazon (pretty sure my postman thinks …
Tips for Running a Family Biz
I was having my “Miracle Morning” this morning and catching up on the the news. I came this article in USA Today by Rhonda Abrams titled “8 Keys to Running a Family Business.” When I hear “family business,” I cannot help but think about multi-generational food and agriculture businesses. Here are Rhonda’s tips: Decides who does which job. Like a …
Are you a “DBA” in Illinois?
There are several food and agriculture businesses that are a sole proprietorship or general partnership that operate as a DBA. For example, my own cattle business is really Cari Rincker d/b/a Rincker Cattle Co. My parents’ cattle operation is Curt & Pam Rincker d/b/a Rincker Simmentals. DBA’s are ubiquitous in the food and agriculture industry. However, have you cross your …
Some Considerations for General Partnership Agreements
Happy Post- Thanksgiving Break. I ate a lotta turkey down in College Station, Texas over the weekend. So I’ve been getting a lot of questions about partnership agreements lately. A partnership arises when two or more people agree to share in the profits and losses of a business. Oftentimes in business, especially in the food and agriculture industry, partnerships are …
Shhhhhhh– Some Considerations for Those Pesky NDA’s
In many types of business agreements, including agricultural ones, it is important for parties to be able to safeguard information they wish to remain secret. Non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) can be helpful in ensuring that information stays between the parties of the agreement. Put simply, there are two types of NDAs: bilateral and unilateral. A bilateral NDA is one where both …
Presentation on Common Agriculture Contacts
[slideshare id=64362431&doc=overviewofcommonagriculturecontracts-7-25-16-160725160412] I will be going through the above presentation for a live webcast this Thursday at 3:30pm ET via Lawline. The recording will be available soon after my presentation via Lawline. You can register for the live webcast here. In this presentation, I will be discussing a few of the major contractual issues that affect production agriculture including agriculture production …
New York Agriculture Liens: Truckman’s Lien
Under Section 187 of NY Lien Law, every person or entity engaged in “carting or trucking property shall have a lien upon such property and may retain such portion of the property in his possession” to help ensure payment for the truckman or drayman. See NY Lien Law § 187[1]. Possession of the property is required for this lien. Please note that …
New York Agriculture Liens: Lien on Stray Animals
Under NY Town Law § 310, if a person has any strayed horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats or other livestock animal upon their property which is not adjoined to the livestock owner’s property (in other words, not your immediate neighbor), then that person may have a lien claim against the stray animals. The livestock must have caused property damage and the escape of the …
New York Agriculture Liens: Stableman’s Lien
Under Section 183 of NY Lien Law, any veterinarian who renders treatment to or boards any dog, cat, or other domestic animal or person keeping a livery stable, boarding stable or pasturing animals has a lien over the animal and any equipment kept and stored in conjunction with the animal, such as a “wagon, truck, cart, carriage, vehicle or harness”. Possession of this …