Posts written by buteralaw

Wither the State Store?

Since the end of Prohibition in the early 1930’s, Pennsylvanians have been able to purchase liquor and wines only in the State Stores (more recently, the “Wine and Spirit Shoppes”). The State has created a monopoly which has as its original purpose the regulation and… Continue reading

Call Your Lawyer Before You Sign that Agreement!

In any negotiation each side has certain leverage which enhances its ability to negotiate favorable terms; however, once an agreement of sale is fully executed, terms are set, and most leverage disappears.As the title of this article suggests, if you elect to have an agreement… Continue reading

Selling Your Business or Property with Seller Financing

Clients interested in selling an investment a property or a going business sometimes overlook the possibility of providing at least a portion of the financing in order to help the buyer “make the deal”. While seller-financing is sometimes not a good idea, there are many… Continue reading

The King’s English

John Dean will be remembered as perhaps the foremost “whistle-blower” during the Watergate hearings in the early seventies; but perhaps a more durable legacy was his introduction into the vernacular of the phrase point in time. He must have used it hundreds of times, and… Continue reading

Negotiating Personal Guarantys

If you own or are acquiring a small or medium sized business, you probably have been faced with a request from a bank or other creditor to sign a personal guaranty for credit extended to your business. Many business people do not realize that they… Continue reading

Using Communication to Collect

Every successful business will have a certain percentage of customers who do not pay their bills in a timely fashion. Most business owners would prefer that all customers pay within 30 days; after all, if your customers do not pay you, how are you going… Continue reading

Are you prepared to operate in the year 2000?

Although there has been more press recently about the so called “Year 2000 problem” (which is also called the “millennium bug” or the “Y2K” problem), there does not seem to be a clear understanding of what the problem entails.The Y2K problem results from date sensitive… Continue reading

Jones v. Clinton – Sifting Through the Debris

Litigation is rarely a tidy or expeditious process. Parties to lawsuits generally are impatient and angry not only at the other party but at the plodding and often very expensive system. All of the problems seem to be exacerbated with celebrity litigants, especially when the… Continue reading

The King’s English

The King’s English It probably comes to us from the Old West, the drawling cow-puncher, sidling up to the innocent maiden: “Ma’am, you look real pretty tonight.” Somehow a syllable, “ly”, fell by the wayside and seems irretrievably gone! One more bit of syntax erosion.To… Continue reading

Contracts with Key Employees

Employment relationships often are not embodied in a written contract between employer and employee. Instead, most employment is of an “at will” nature, terminable by employer or employee on a moment’s notice, with or without cause. Some employment relationships should be embodied in written agreements,… Continue reading