Last night, I was having dinner at a bar on the Upper West Side. I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation from the table next to me. The gentlemen were (civilly) discussing a business partnership that had gone bad. They had a “handshake” deal that started out with great dreams together (“You used to say ‘our’ and ‘we.’”) and somehow …
Winner of the Best of Barns Competition for Best Agriculture Attorney
Wow. 2011 was a great year (indeed). I hope that my readers had a wonderful New Year’s celebration with their family and friends. I wanted to share some (more) exciting news: I won Best Agriculture Attorney in the 2011 Best of Barns Competition. Thank you to those of you who nominated and/or voted for me — I’m very humbled (and …
“Fridays with Cari” Webinar Series Kicks Off Today
I’m excited for my new webinar series titled “Fridays with Cari.” I will be discussing a variety of agriculture issues with my Friday webinar series ranging from livestock animal cruelty law to estate planning. I believe that legal information should be affordable for everyone in the food and agriculture industry and I hope that my webinars will be educational to …
Arguments Over Fencelines? Law of Adverse Possession
Sometimes farms and ranches may have fencelines up for generations and then one day a land survey will tell a different story. An article by Jay Girvin in the July 18, 2011 issue of Country Folks reminded me about this potential issue affecting the agriculture community. In these cases, the law of adverse possession applies. This is a common law …
Happy Belated Labor Day
I hope all of my readers had a wonderful Labor Day. I had a great time at the New York State Fair over the weekend with my father. You can find several of the pictures that I took during the open beef show on my Twitter page (@CariRincker). I always gain a newfound passion for the food industry every time …
The Family Business: Hiring and Firing Family Members
I really enjoyed reading the article by Don Tyler titled “Working with Family — Hiring (and Firing) Family Members in this month’s Feedlot magazine (pages 36, 38). It reminded me of the unique challenges that family businesses must face — whether it is a family farm/ranch or any other type of business. Intra-family dynamics can seriously affect the day-to-day operations …
“Goodnight Irene”
“Good night Irene Good night…” I have fond memories from my days at Texas A & M University–that classic song plays every time the Dixie Chicken on North Gate in College Station closes down for the evening (you can watch Willie Nelson’s version here) to let everyone know to stop playing 42 and go home for the night. I decided …
Information for Landlords & Tenants in New Jersey
A few weeks ago, I participated in mediation training in Trenton, New Jersey. While I was there, I came across some excellent pamphlets regarding landlord-tenant law in New Jersey. If you are in a landlord-tenant dispute in New Jersey, I encourage you to pick-up either the “Information for Tenants” or the “Information for Landlords” brochure from the civil courthouse. The …
Evaluating Real Estate Appraisals
Roger F. Tibble, Esq. recently published an excellent article in the ABA GP Solo & Small Firm Division’s Law Trends regarding the value of real estate appraisals. I found this article of particular interest to me because I practice matrimonial law where the Husband and Wife’s appraisals may significantly vary from one another. I don’t envy the job of an …
Will Be Attending the New York State Fair
I will be at the New York State Fair (“NYSF”) in Syracuse from August 29-30 and September 1-2. State Fair time is my favorite time of year. I am a big believer in 4-H and believe that hard work teaches kids how to become good people. I attribute most of my success in life to the fact that I have …
Ag Book Club: Farmer Jane
I recently read the book Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Food We Eat. If you have read the book and are interested in having an online discussion, please email me at cari@rinckerlaw.com. I would like to have a video conference via Skype or WebEx sometime in August. It is a fairly short book and an easy read. You can order …
Saturday Links
Had a nice Saturday afternoon catching up on my RSS Feed. This is what I found: What are your thoughts regarding genetic biodiversity in our food system? The G-20 Agriculture Ministers made an action plan last week to help mitigate hunger & food price volatility around the globe. Let’s take the Taboo out of end-of-life conversations. We are all going …