Download WORD FORMAT – JUNE 2011 NEWSLETTER
The Law Offices of Fredric G. Antenberg - 5071 Bucketpost Court - Columbia, Maryland 21045 - Phone: (410) 730-4404 - Fax: (410) 992-9113 - Email: fa@fgalaw.com -
Business Law - Civil/Criminal Law – DUI/DWI - Employment Law – Estate Planning – Family Law - Juvenile Law - Personal Injury - Pre-nuptial Agreements - Traffic Law - Wills - Workers’ Compensation
FGALAW - Celebrating Over 30 Years in 2011
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WE’VE MOVED!!! – - After over 30 years at our old office by the mall, we decided to make a change to a bigger, more comfortable space in the neighborhood of Thunder Hill. Our new office, located at 5071 Bucketpost Court, Columbia, Maryland, 21045 is only a few miles away from our old one. Visit our website to see some pictures of the new space or bring your next legal issue our way. We look forward to seeing you. – Fredric G. Antenberg |
BUYING A BUSINESS – Pitfalls and Issues
As a Marylandbusiness lawyer practicing in Howard County, Maryland, and surroundingMarylandcounties, in the past 30 years, I have seen many successful business purchases as well as nightmares.
Here is a list of some, but certainly not all, of the pitfalls and issues involved in the buying and/or selling of a business:
1. Little or no attention to the tax affects of the purchase: Consider not just how the goodwill will be allocated between Buyer and Seller, but the selection of the type of entity that purchases the business. Consider capitalizing versus undertaking loans so that the funds used to start the business and left in the business are not difficult to repay to the owner. Consider methods of depreciation and the benefits of electing S Corp status.
2. Broker/Agent issues: The Purchaser’s failure to recognize that the Broker is often the agent of the Seller and is not looking out for the interests of the Purchaser/Buyer. The Broker wants the deal to go through at any cost to the Purchaser so long as the Broker obtains the commission for the sale. Accepting from the Broker that the sales contract is ”standard” and does not need to be reviewed by a lawyer.
3. Failure of the Purchaser to protect the new business from assuming the debts of the Seller: There are numerous ways to approach this issue, such as buying the assets of the business and utilizing the Bulk Transfer Act. It’s best for you to have an attorney represent you.
4. By agreeing to place a factual statement in the Sales Contract between Buyer and Seller that the business’s income is so much per month, the Seller doesn’t realize that the Seller has made a binding obligation/ representation in which the Seller will be obligated to pay damages if the representation is untrue.
5. If you are not represented by a lawyer: Not realizing that the Buyer’s lawyer is not representing you and that, in fact, is only looking out for the interests of the Buyer.
6. Failure to realize upon the sale of inventory, documents, goods, products, and equipment that the State of Marylandmay be entitled to sales tax on the sale of a business or profession.
7. Doing a background check on the Seller to make sure the Seller is reputable, does not have a criminal record or has already sold the business to someone else.
8. The Buyer’s failure to uncover security interests that are not known to the Buyer but that under the laws of this state are presumed known because they are of public record.
9. Financing the Buyer who has a poor credit risk or who has no personal liability because the loan is not personally guaranteed by the Buyer. If the Buyer is married, it is extremely important to have the Buyer’s spouse guarantee and be personally liable on the loan in the event of default.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!!! Read on at HERE
Delicious Recipes for Your Cooking Pleasure When I attempted to make Pork Fried Rice, I thought I could do it without a recipe. When I bought Kikkoman spices packet for pork fried rice and read the recipe, I discovered that in order for the pork fried rice to taste like what you are served at a Chinese restaurant, you need to start off with cold rice. Additionally, the recipe recommends using bacon. However, I recommend using loin of pork or the meat of a pork chop instead. If the loin of pork slice is between 3/8 and 1/2 of an inch thick, place the pork in a 300° oven and bake it for approx. 20 minutes. The baking of the pork in the oven will result in the pork becoming tender. By baking the pork in the oven, you are breaking down the protein which results in the pork becoming tender. Dice the cooked pork and follow the recipe. PORK FRIED RICE - 2 Tbsp. water - 1 package of Fried Rice Seasoning Mix - diced pork (amount desirable) - 3 green onions, chopped - 1 egg, beaten - 3 cups cold cooked rice Dissolve mix in 2 Tbsp. water; set aside. Cook pork in a wok or large skillet for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add green onions; stir-fry 1 minute. Add egg and scramble. Stir in rice and cook until heated, gently separating grains. Add seasoning mixture; cook and stir until well blended. BROCCOLI-BEEF STIR FRY This recipe uses beef. You can use different cuts of beef but I prefer the following cuts: sirloin, rib eye, New York Strip. Pre-cook meat for 20 minutes at 300°. My understanding is that restaurants often use less expensive cuts of beef and bake the beef for 20 minutes before grilling or broiling it. - 2/3 cup water - 1 package Kikkoman Broccoli Beef Stir-Fry Seasoning Mix - 1 pound fresh broccoli - 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided - ½ pound boneless beef, cut in thin strips - 1 large onion, chunked Dissolve mix in 2/3 cup water, set aside. Cut broccoli flowerets in bite-size pieces; peel stalks and cut in thin slices. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in hot wok or large skillet over high heat; add beef. Stir-fry 1 minute; remove. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in same pan. Add broccoli and onion; Stir-fry 4 minutes, sprinkling with 1 Tbsp. water after 2 minutes. Return beef to pan with seasoning mixture. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens and beef and vegetables are coated with sauce. - Fredric G. Antenberg |
WINNING STRATEGIES FOR DUI CASES
There are many successful strategies for use in DUI cases and two that have been particularly successful are (1) reviewing the communication between the arresting officer and the police headquarters’ dispatcher and (2) visiting the scene where the client was stopped.
(1) Reviewing the Communication: Here are some examples of revelations we uncovered by purchasing a CD of the voice communication at the time the officer said he had reasonable grounds and/or belief that the driver was impaired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Often there are inconsistencies between what the officer says are the grounds for the stop of the driver and what is written by the police officer in his or her incident report. For instance, the officer says in the report that the driver crossed the shoulder lines on the left side of the road (which on the citation is expressed correctly as not following a traffic control device) but tells the dispatcher that the driver was speeding. As a second example, the officer says to the dispatcher that the driver was driving into the opposite lane and in themiddle of the street when, in fact, thedriver was on a one way street. Further, the officer then writes in the report that the reason for the stop was failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. The cost of the DVD from the Howard County Police Department is $70.00 as it just went up in cost from $40.
[See also our blog describing “probable cause” more fully in the Criminal section of our website. See also in the Criminal section, the penalties and fines for conviction of DUI, DWI and points. Also see the article within our website ” Do the Police Lie ? ”
(2) Visiting the Scene: When administering the Field Sobriety Tests, the officers are required to state in their reports that the conditions where the FSTs were performed were reasonable and fair. Using word processing, they have sentences that state “the ground where the test was conducted was flat, free of cracks or debris”, and that the officer “demonstrated each test before it was administered”. When I have visited the scene with my clients, often I have taken photographs that show that the FSTs were performed on a severe slope/hill, of as much as a 45 degree angle, or that the surface had many cracks and stones and/or debris.
Through the use of computers and word-processing, police officers are able to quickly and efficiently prepare their reports. However, often officers complete their reports several hours to a day after the time of the arrest and, if they have made six or seven arrests in one night, they sometimes confuse the circumstances surrounding one arrest with another. By visiting the scene and comparing what we see there with what is stated in the report, we are often able to note when such confusion has occurred.
READ ON AT HERE
WE’VE GONE VIRAL!!! - Time For Some Social Networking
- Over the years we have dealt with hundreds of clients and their families. Currently, we are making the effort to get back in contact with everyone, as well as increase our community of clients and friends. However, we need your help. Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/fgalaw) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/fgalaw) and connect with us. Provide us your e-mail address on our website to receive updates, articles, and electronic
Here’s Some Information You Could Bring Our Divorce Attorney During Your FIRST visit
The first visit to your Family Law Attorney inColumbia,Maryland, does not require you to bring anything with you. However, if you want to maximize the effectiveness of the consultation, the following information will be helpful:
A. Financial: We have three forms on our website that you can download/print and fill out:
1. Confidential Information Form – This is an excel spreadsheet that identifies your assets by categories and automatically adds up all categories and provides a grand total. This form is especially useful in planning and developing strategies for your divorce.
Having completed these forms before our first meeting will enable me and my staff to see a “snapshot” of your assets and will assist us in determining what is marital property(all property acquired during the marriage from the date of the marriage to the date of divorce except for gifts or inheritances from a third person) and what is non-marital property (everything else).
2. Monthly Expenses – This form, when completed, helps us to understand the amount of funds that will be needed to support you and your children. This form should be prepared as though you are remaining in the marital residence or as though you are in an alternative living arrangement, such as moving to a residence that may be more desirable because of economic factors or because it’s closer to your work or to the children’s school and/ or because it is easier to maintain than the marital residence.
3. Child Support Calculator – The calculation of child support is important to your understanding of what will be the minimum amount of child support that a court would order based upon your and your spouse’s combined income and other related factors. Completing this form often provides my clients with a feeling of security that comes with knowing what level of support may be available to the custodial parent.
B. A list of three reasons why you want a divorce and of three reasons why your spouse is unhappy with you.
C. Records: Personal and business income tax records for the past three years, records of debts (especially credit card debt for the past twelve months), pension and 401K plan records as far back as they are readily available, photographs of your spouse, a list of all vehicles and a description of each, such as manufacturer, model, color and tag number, and in whose name(s) each is titled.
D. Diary information or records that support your reasons for wanting the divorce, including dates that your spouse behaved wrongly to you and/or your children.
E. Domestic violence: Lists of events with specific dates when you were abused and the names and addresses of any witnesses who may have been present when the violence occurred. If the police were called, know on what date and obtain the police report.
THE CONCLUSION OF THIS ARTICLE, CAN BE FOUND HERE
GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!!!
According to the scorecard, 70 of the 100 most populated U.S.cities saw a bump in traffic. And fasten your seat belt: If the jobless rate falls to 7 percent by 2012, as some economists expect, the newly employed will make 9 million more daily commuting trips, adding to the gridlock.
Most Congested Cities
Here’s a list of the 10 most congested cities in the United States, based on an analysis of traffic on major highways in the 100 largest metropolitan areas. These cities account for more than half of U.S. traffic bottlenecks.
City | Worst Time of Day to Drive |
1. Los Angeles | Thursday — 5:30 p.m. |
2. New York | Friday — 5:15 p.m. |
3. Chicago | Friday — 5:15 p.m. |
4. Washington, D.C. | Thursday — 5:30 p.m. |
5. Dallas | Friday — 5:15 p.m. |
6. San Francisco | Thursday — 5:30 p.m. |
7. Houston | Friday — 5:15 p.m. |
8. Boston | Friday — 5:30 p.m. |
9. Philadelphia | Friday — 5:15 p.m. |
10. Seattle | Thursday — 5:15 p.m. |
INRIX’s tip to drivers? Know before you go. The afternoon rush hours on Thursdays and Fridays are generally the most congested. If you’re flexible, keep the following best and worst commuting days and times in mind before pulling out of your driveway:
Related
- Getting around (without a car) guide. Read
- 25 apps for your trips. Read
- Most dangerous cities for driving. Read
- Is it time to hang up the keys? Read
Worst traffic day: Thursday
Best weekday for traffic: Monday
Worst weekday morning: Tuesday
Best weekday morning: Friday
Worst commuting hour: Friday, 5 to 6 p.m.
Best commuting hour: Friday, 6 to 7 a.m.
Worst evening commute: Friday
Best evening commute: Monday
Still, even if you can’t plan ahead, a number of resources from MapQuest to iPhone and Android phone traffic apps can help you. With real-time information on congested roads in your area, you’ll likely spend less time sitting bumper to bumper and more time doing what you set out in your car to do in the first place.
From: AARP
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