Scott I. Unger, Shareholder in Stark & Stark’s Shareholder & Partner Dispute Group, authored the article, Conflicting Loyalties: When corporate counsel should not represent a shareholder, for the May 23, 2011 New Jersey Law Journal Complex Litigation & E-Discovery Supplement.
The Appellate Division has recently upheld summary judgment in favor of a guarantor who had executed a personal guaranty for rent due under a lease, finding that the specific language of the guaranty, read in conjunction with the language of the lease, rendered the guaranty inapplicable in a holdover situation.
Pennsylvania is part of the small minority of states that provides for a peculiar form of ownership of property between a husband and wife which often frustrates the creditors of one spouse. Known as a “tenancy by the entireties,” this estate in property is founded upon the idea that when spouses marry, they become a single legal entity or person. Therefore, when a husband and wife purchase a house or other real or personal property, each is deemed to acquire a one hundred percent undivided interest in the property which cannot be severed or encumbered by the acts of only one of the spouses. This form of ownership is presumed in Pennsylvania upon conveyance to a husband and wife unless there is an affirmative effort to title the property in another matter.
In a recent decision, 350 Main Street, LLC v. Ren Guan Li d/b/a Sun Hing Restaurant, A-3265-09T4 (March 21, 2011), the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, examined whether the strict compliance requirements regarding notice under New Jersey’s Anti-Eviction Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-61.1a) were applicable to the statute governing non-residential evictions (N.J.S.A. 2A:18-53). In answering this question in the negative, the Appellate Division examined various case precedents as well as the express language of both statutes.
Have you ever wondered what you’re worth? No, not your “net worth” (i.e. the cumulative value of your assets less any debts or liabilities), but the commercial value of your name, identity, image or likeness. Yes, you have a right of publicity: the right to control the use of your name, picture, voice, image or likeness, and to prevent another from using the same for commercial benefit without your consent.
You are more than likely one of the 500 million active users on Facebook who willingly choose to share your comments, pictures, and status updates with friends and family. It is easy to lose sight of the gross reality that our “second self,” or our presence on the Internet, is anything but private. The belief that one retains a privacy interest in their social networking accounts is being dispelled by a recent decision in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson County.
In Pennsylvania, “The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951” (“The Act”) governs all residential leases entered in Pennsylvania. The Act provides certain terms in the relationship between a landlord and tenant that cannot be waived by the tenant, even where the written lease has provisions contrary to the Act.
Despite years of judicial expansion, the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (CFA) may soon see its remedial and expansive reach significantly curtailed. This curtailment comes in the form of proposed Bill A-3333, which was introduced in the New Jersey Assembly early in the last quarter of 2010. The primary changes proposed to the CFA are: (1) discretionary, as opposed to mandatory treble damages for violations of the CFA; (2) a reduction or cap on the amount of Attorneys’ fees that can be awarded; and (3) explicit non-applicability of the CFA to businesses.
Allen M. Silk, Shareholder in Stark & Stark’s Business & Corporate and Business Succession Planning Groups, was quoted in the January 3, 2011 NJ Biz article, Prepared for the inevitable. The article discusses Larry Rothwell, Owner of Pennington Quality Market, and his decision to implement a business succession plan. Rothwell began planning for his retirement in the early 1990’s and implemented a succession plan in order to transition his company to his children after his retirement.
As the economy continues to restrict the availability of credit to small businesses, many borrowers are finding that lenders with which they have had long and mutually beneficial relationships have been restricting lines of credit or adding additional requisites to extend or renew existing lines of credit. Principals of newer small businesses may be shopping for credit for the first time, or are presented with a first commercial lease.
