Defamation Lawsuit and Online Reviews
Your business may have an entry at online platforms such as Yelp and Glassdoor (or Avvo for attorneys). You may have even used it to write reviews, both positive and negative, yourself. These online review sites generally provide useful information while some posts are obviously angry rants by someone who has a bone to pick, a personal vendetta, or posted by a business competitor in some instances. The veil of anonymity on the internet allows many people to say things they would never say in public or if their names and faces were attached the statement. Thus, it is not uncommon for people to make blatantly false statements online that often times spells financial or reputational ruin to the recipient. One legal remedy that businesses and individuals may have to combat these false statements is to bring a defamation lawsuit against the person who made the false statements. However, it bears noting that not all false statements are defamatory and California law has specific requirements in order for someone to win a defamation lawsuit. What is defamation? If you’ve ever … Continue reading
3 Strategies to Increase Your Business Profits
Many businesses recently reviewed their profit and loss statements and took a closer look at the business’s profitability. This analysis usually prompts the question “how to increase my business profits?” Although this question could only be answered after becoming familiar with your particular business, below are 3 areas where small changes, if done right, could increase your profitability. Decreasing Bad Debt If your business model does not require customers to pay for products or services in advance, collecting on unpaid invoices is likely something you are all too familiar with. However, collection itself comes at a cost to your business. Not being able to recoup that collection cost limits most businesses’ incentive to pursue collection, rightfully seeing it as throwing good money after bad. You can tip the collection scale in your favor. The default rule that each party bears their own attorney’s fees may be modified by statute or by contract. That means that where the law does not provide for recovery of attorney’s fees, you and your customers could mutually agree that if you and your customer find … Continue reading