Tom Stilp, JD, MBA/MM, LLM, MSC
It seems there is not a month goes by without the heavy hammer of Illinois government coming down on the top of a business. The article below (and ones to follow in the next newsletter to come) are real cases with real business consequences that cost each business a lot, and yet, could have been mitigated if not avoided entirely.
In many years of practice, almost every troubled transaction and thorny problem we have seen has been the result of not having the parties’ understanding clearly and completely put in writing.
This is not to say that you need to have page after page of verbiage. But the parties to a transaction, whether it be between your business and an employee, a customer, or a vendor, or another business, have to pay attention to the details. Too often, eager parties believe that because the omission of some detail or fact did not prevent the transaction from going forward, they are home-free or getting by with it.
Often times, this is just a matter of attitude of “let’s get it done with as little detail as possible”.
Regardless of the underlying reasons, it is playing Russian roulette with your business. Successful business, with minimal stress and no after-bite proceed on course, properly navigated by having clear-cut, succinct simple terms reduced to print.
Good attorneys help you protect your business and allow your relationships with employees, customers and other business to be lucrative.
“Business as Usual” In Illinois? (PART 1)
In Seymour vs. Collins, the Illinois Supreme Court criticized businesses in Illinois. Finding in favor of a debtor who had been accused of hiding assets in bankruptcy by failing to list assets in the bankruptcy schedules, the Illinois Supreme Court said: “We are not so ready, as the federal courts appear to be, to penalize, via presumption, the truly inadvertent omissions of good-faith debtors in order to protect the dubious, practical interests of bankruptcy creditors.”
What’s “dubious” about the creditors’ interests – seeking to get paid? Creditors in bankruptcy are businesses who loaned money and sold goods to the debtor, and have not been paid. Why would the interests of creditors be “dubious”? The Court offers no explanation, but the choice of words is reflective of the ever-present hostility, that somehow business in Illinois is unworthy of protection and deserving of sarcasm.
What does this mean for business? Simply that if you are a business in Illinois, you better , double and triple check your agreements, particularly those involving consumers and employees. If your business is not up on the latest, you will lose.
