Author Archive

Rob Tauler

Rob Tauler is a law and entrepreneurship blogger for Noobpreneur.com. Mr. Tauler practices law in the State of California and is a Partner of the Tavius Consulting Group. Mr. Tauler is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of California, Irvine.

Woman entrepreneur

It will probably come as no surprise to some of you that men and women differ in some important respects. Whether it is the simple task of asking for directions, or different preferences in entertainment, it is obvious that women and men often approach the world from different perspectives. These differences have important ramifications on the negotiating table.

To this effect, studies have found that women set lower goals than men prior to negotiations, are more passive than men…

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Lawsuit

When your enterprise is in its critical initial phases, pursuing claims against deadbeat vendors and two-timing salespeople may seem to make sense, but pursuing litigation at this stage may not always be the best course. Time is money, and lawsuits frequently take a lot of both.

First and foremost, litigation can be very expensive. The costs of litigation can be surprising even to seasoned businesspersons and can be crippling to fledgeling companies. Second, a lawsuit can be very…

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International litigation

In the increasingly global economy, it is not uncommon for business disputes to involve international witnesses.  Depositions (the obtaining of witness testimony) in foreign countries requires meticulous planning and strict compliance with immigration and treaty requirements, not to mention a knowledge of local practices.  The following are some basic issues and ways to save money on the process. 

The fundamentals

Below are some of the initial issues your attorney must evaluate in order to determine is an international deposition…

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Non-disclosure agreement

The importance of protecting company secrets cannot be gainsaid.  Many entrepreneurial projects are dependent upon the protection of trade secrets of proprietary technology.  Entrepreneurs seeking funding at early stages often find themselves at a cross roads between protecting this information, and revealing it to potential investors in the hopes of obtaining funding.

The Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

The most common way to protect confidential information of this sort is to have any individual who you share this information with sign…

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Fee arrangement

In today’s economy, business must think creatively about managing their legal costs. The following will briefly summarize different ways legal costs are charged.

Hourly Rates

In most cases, attorneys charge for their services based on their hourly rate. Obviously, one great way to lower your attorneys fees is to minimize the amount of this hourly rate. As one might expect, this rate is often tied to the experience, expertise and reputation of the attorney and so a…

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Non-profit board of directors

The board of directors is the governing body of a nonprofit and is legally accountable for its actions.

Directors must oversee the accomplishment of the organization’s purposes. Initial directors are appointed by the Founder. Thereafter, the organization’s Bylaws stipulate the manner of election as well as term of office, qualifications, termination and other matters pertinent to these individuals. Below are some guidelines on choosing the right initial board members:

First and foremost, you should choose people who…

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Car negotiation

This post courtesy of my friend and business partner Matt Smith:

I remember it like it was yesterday – my father standing toe to toe with the used car dealer on a hot summer afternoon in Fresno, California. With the sticky black asphalt melting beneath our feet, the numbers went flying back and forth for what seemed like hours. High, low, high, low – like a two children on a seesaw trying to knock each other off balance.…

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Non-profit

Entrepreneurship is not limited to for-profit entities. Forming a nonprofit corporation is much like creating a regular corporation, however, non-profits have to take the extra steps of applying for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status with the IRS and their state tax division. Below are four basic steps to getting your 501(c)(3) up and running.

Step One: File with your state

The first step to form a non-profit is to register. This is normally done through your states’ department of corporations or the…

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Choose the right attorney

It may be surprising to learn that most legal work is relatively routine. Being the right lawyer for the job often has less to do with complex legal theory or detailed analysis, and much more to do with knowing which form to fill out and which clerk will process it most quickly. Below are some general guidelines for choosing the right attorney for your business.

Firm Size

In general, the smaller the firm, the…

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Contract drafting

Boot-strapping entrepreneurs can ill-afford the luxury of obtaining legal counsel to draft contracts for their company. Some entrepreneurs even view the high expense of legal counsel for “routine” matters (like vendor contracts or sales contracts) to be foolish. As a result, many play the dual role of attorney and client, searching for suitable contracts on a search engine and altering them to their needs.

This strategy raises several potential problems. Cutting and pasting these types of contracts can…

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Dot com

Mark Twain once famously said that one would be wise to invest in land because they aren’t making it anymore. The same is true these days of popular domain names. Today, it is close to impossible to obtain straightforward “.com” addresses. Burgeoning entrepreneurs are now forced to select domain names that are increasingly fanciful and, as a consequence, less catchy and less useful for their business interests.

The problem of decreasing .com “land” is exacerbated by…

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