UTAH BUSINESS LAW ADVISOR

Property disputes are common. Unraveling a property dispute, however, can take some fancy footwork and legal wrangling. You have questions, so let me give you a few answers. There are a number of legal avenues to assert rights to property...

In short, a Utah real estate agent hired by the seller or vendor owes to others, including the buyer, a duty to be “honest, ethical, and competent and is answerable at law for his or her statutory duty to the...

Million-dollar view from one of my favorite rocks in Farmington, Utah Did you engage your accountant to work for your company (LLC or S Corp) or did you engage him or her to work for you personally? The reason that...

Utah is an at-will employment state, meaning that “either the employer or the employee may terminate the employment for any reason (or no reason) except where prohibited by law.” This termination right, however, is not without limitation and could be...

Utah business partners: are you in trouble? Seen here mountain biking on Antelope Island, Utah Short answer: probably. It all depends on what you mean by ‘trouble.’ Do you mean, “is my Utah business partnership about to implode (or explode!)?”...

The duty to defend is the duty that an insurance company owes its insureds to hire an attorney and take action to defend the insured when the insured gets sued. It’s a bit of complex law that is often at...

Who gets how much from a personal injury settlement or judgment has always been shared pro rata among those benefitting: the plaintiff and those who paid for the personal injury. No longer. The Utah Supreme Court ruled in Bryner v....

You need an attorney but you cannot afford to pay or need a different way to pay? There are ways known only to the initiated (i.e., those who have asked!). It’s called an “alternative fee agreement” or “alternative fee arrangement”...

In many Utah premises liability personal injury cases, the person who is injured on real property is often told they should have avoided the object or situation that injured them because it was “open and obvious.” The Utah Supreme Court...

Property disputes are common. Unraveling a property dispute, however, can take some fancy footwork and legal wrangling. You have questions, so let me give you a few answers. There are a number of legal avenues to assert rights to property...

The Utah Supreme Court upheld the disbarment of attorney Susan Rose for conduct in violation of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct. It’s a reminder to attorneys and the clients who hire them that there are limits to the judicial...

Part 1 of 3: Fences Make Good Neighbors. Property disputes are common. Unraveling a property dispute, however, can take some fancy footwork and legal wrangling. You have questions, so let me give you a few answers. There are a number...

If you are an accountant in Utah, you know that you have a friend in the Utah statutes, specifically Utah Code section 58-26a-602 (the Accountant Liability Statute). Your protection is that you only owe fiduciary duties to your client and...

The Utah Supreme Court ruled against a debtor who asserted a novel defense to repayment of a $250,000 loan in default. The case is Crapo v. Zions Bank. The debtor claimed that once the bank sent him a Form 1099-C...

When you start a business in Utah, you are going to make money. When you make money, you will have to pay taxes. The type of business you create will determine how you account to the IRS for the money...

The Utah Court of Appeals recently provided a quick and dirty summary of basic contract terms in Lebrecht v. Deep Blue Pools, 2016 UT App 110. The case also provides a primer for creating an enforceable settlement agreement without an attorney....

What happens when you suffer harm from a breach of contract that you cannot prove or would have a very difficult time proving? Such as for a delay? Often your damages will go unreimbursed. One typical situation is for delay...

In Utah, claims against landowners, i.e., ‘premises liability’ claims, are subject to the ‘open and obvious hazard‘ defense. This defense is the assertion that the injured person failed to protect themselves from a risk that should have been apparent to...

The Utah Legislature recently passed and Governor Herbert signed a law in 2016 limiting non-competition agreements. It can be found at Utah Code Ann. 34-51-101, et seq. Please note that I updated this article as of April 2017. When the law...

Reporting on offers of health insurance coverage by Utah employers under section 6056 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is first required in early 2016 with respect to calendar year 2015. If you find yourself in this situation, my partner, Chris...

Your initial response to the title question should certainly be ‘No’. In light of a recent case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals, however, you may want to reevaluate your representations made in contract or settlement negotiations. A bank...

You have carefully crafted your employee handbook to expressly and explicitly disclaim any contractual relationship with your employees and keep them at-will and then- BOOM. You got cute with the fine print. You kept your important language buried in the...

Do you have a neighbor whose conduct is reducing or barring you from enjoying your own property? A nuisance claim may be the answer to your problem. Nuisance law is alive and well in Utah and modern courts. The problem,...

Insurance covers whatever has a value. I do not sell insurance but I am a consumer of it: in business, at home, and as a source of income. It is a monster topic with many issues. Let me share some...

This is a cautionary tale for those who lend money for bail in Utah. You have to know that your money is at risk if you lend money to bail someone out of jail. It is apparently a profitable business...

What is adverse possession you ask? Good question. It’s when a possessor of land claims ownership of land when title is held in the name of someone else. It can make a claimant into the legit title owner of real...

The Utah courts of appeal recently are breaking out the creative stick. Here’s the most recent literary opening gambit: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley an lea’s us nought but grief an’ pain for promis’d joy.”...

The Utah Supreme Court quipped recently: “‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,’ Genesis 1:1, and families have been fighting over them ever since.” Rawlings v. Rawlings. Family disputes over inheritance and land is like a Ronda...

Utah businesses recently received a boost to their ability to protect their trade secrets from misappropriation by employees. The Utah Supreme Court smacked down a former employee’s efforts to make off with trade secrets in violation of both an employment...

This is Part III of a three part series on business or commercial contingency fee cases. See Part I and Part II. You may have a claim for damages that you may not be able to afford to pursue. Damages run...

This is Part II of a three part series on business or commercial contingency fee cases. You may have a claim for damages that you may not be able to afford to pursue. Damages run the gamut from personal injury...

This is Part I of a three part series on commercial contingency fee cases. I have had clients come to me with stories about how they have suffered massive damages but cannot afford to pay an attorney to pursue the...

Perhaps the first question is: does your Utah business have a privacy policy?  If yes, you get a star.  If no, go back two spaces and lose a turn.  Next question: does your company’s privacy policy do what you mean it...

Utah has been a tech destination for years, with companies like eBay EBAY +0.65%, Oracle ORCL +0.00%, Microsoft MSFT +0.00% and Twitter TWTR +1.18% building up a heavy presence in the state as a low-cost alternative to California. However, the tech scene is evolving...