The concept goes by several names or references, such as Limited Scope Representation; unbundled legal services; and à la carte legal services.

Under the prior rules, the standard was once a lawyer was in a case, the lawyer was the lawyer in the case and under the professional standards was then held to be responsible for the entire case or matter. Some lawyers with special fee agreements or special limited engagement agreements sought to limit her or his involvement in a matter, but under the rules such “unbundled services” were never formally recognized and the effectiveness of the agreement was unclear. In other words, lawyers who were “unbundling services” took the risk that in a given situation the professional standards required them to be responsible for the whole case whether they agreed to be or not.

In recent years, many in the legal profession understand that a large number of matters do not require full-representation and there are many people who cannot afford to pay a full fee yet want, and need, to hire lawyers to protect their interests in a court case. In California, there is a rule of court – that many lawyers are unaware of – that allows lawyers to appear in court on a limited basis and effectively represent the client at the critical points in the court process.

The California Judicial Council has created a particular form – Notice of Limited Scope Representation – for the client and attorney to complete, sign and file with the court which gives notice to the court that an attorney is providing limited scope representation to a self-represented party (referred to as “in pro per”). In addition to the form being filed with the court, it is served on the opposing party’s attorney (or a party without an attorney.) Thus, all involved in the case are notified that the attorney is providing limited scope representation with a description of the legal services to be provided.

One benefit in using the form is that once it is served on the opposing counsel (or a party without an attorney), the opposition is required to send to your ‘limited scope attorney’ a copy of every document the opposition serves you until a completed Notice of Substitution of Attorney form is filed with the court. This is true even if the document has nothing to do with the limited scope of the attorney’s representation.

The California Rules of Court do not make use of the form mandatory and there are instances where use of the form is unnecessary. For instance, at any time, an attorney can simply be the client’s “ghost-writer” for pleadings, motions, discovery requests, discovery responses, and letters to the opposition with, for instance, proposals for settlement. No disclosure is required nor necessary.

However, while there is no requirement that a Notice of Limited Representation form be filed with the court and served on opposing counsel where a deposition is taken and the deposed party wants an attorney to sit-in the client’s deposition to protect his interests from improper questioning, it is probably a good idea for the notice to be filed with the court and served if the client wants the attorney to take the deposition of another party or person. The same is true if the client wishes the attorney to appear in court for him at, say, a motion hearing or settlement conference. And, with the proper completion, filing and serving of a “Notice of Limited Scope Representation” form, a client can hire a limited scope representation attorney for the purpose of being the client’s attorney at a trial.

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Legal Issues When Matching Employee Donations to Charity

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Legal Issues When Matching Employee Donations to Charity

But no good deed goes un-litigated, as they say, and employee gift matching programs can raise some legal concerns for small businesses.

Which Good Cause Is Good Enough?

Under most matching gift programs (at least those not aimed directly at the employer’s political action committee), an employer will match an employee’s donation to the charity of the employee’s choice. But as Forbes points out, “Companies need to identify what issues or organizations they will support and define the boundaries.”

In other words, you can’t leave it all to your employees to choose the charities. Doing so could require too much work and too much risk on your end to create a vetting process, perform the necessary due diligence, acquire proper documentation, and ensure the employee isn’t benefiting economically from the match. By creating a list of approved organizations beforehand, you will only need to go through this process once, rather than repeatedly for each employee.

A Written Policy for Writing a Check

Make sure you got your matching policy in writing and that eligible employees understand it. That will keep everyone on the same page when it comes to corporate gift giving.

Some other legal considerations you may want to keep in mind when putting together your policy:

• Any volunteer activity or charity event should be unrelated to company’s usual business.
• Your employees’ participation should not bring direct economic benefit to company.
• Charity events should take place outside regular working hour.
• Employees’ participation should be truly voluntary.
• Your company should not employ and regularly pay workers to participate in charity events.

Before putting a matching donation policy in writing, you may want to consult with an experienced business attorney in your area.

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Are Your Female Employees Freezing to Death?

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And it turns out a chilly office can have some adverse effects on the entire staff. So, bosses, here’s how to make your office a comfortable and constructive work environment for the whole team, not just the dudes.

The Problem With Cold Offices

A study published in National Climate Change revealed that the majority of office thermostats are set on a formula devised in the 1960s and based on a warmer male metabolic rate. Considering women are around 50 percent of the workforce, that means the temperature is too cold for half the office. This difference is only exacerbated in the summer, with a greater disparity between outside and inside temperature and most men remaining in a suit and tie while the majority of women may opt for lighter outfits.

Not only are female employees less comfortable in colder offices, all employees could be less productive when the temperature drops. A 2004 study noted that cold employees worked more slowly and were more error-prone: “When the office temperature in a month-long study increased from 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, typing errors fell by 44 percent and typing output jumped 150 percent.”

Save the Female Employees, Save the Planet

Want another reason to use less AC? You can cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants from air conditioning units, which in turn make the planet hotter, thus necessitating more air conditioning. Plus, think of the money you’ll save on your energy bill each month.

Dr. Boris Kingma, a biophysicist who co-authored the office air conditioning study suggests recalibrating the formula for setting building thermostats to account for more female employees. “If you have a more accurate view of the thermal demand of the people inside, then you can design the building so that you are wasting a lot less energy, and that means the carbon dioxide emission is less.”

So if seeing your female staff bundled in blankets at their desks doesn’t convince you to warm up the office a bit, perhaps increased productivity, decreased energy costs, and a healthier environment will. (If you’re worried about litigation, you’re probably OK for now: we couldn’t find a case of female employees successfully suing their employer for a frost-ile work environment.)

For field trips, sports, and other extracurricular activities, schools say not signing the waiver means your child can’t participate. But do you really have to sign? And what does signing the waiver mean?

What Does the Waiver Cover?

Liability waivers are intended to prohibit lawsuits against the school for injuries to students. In some cases, like sports and field trips, the control that schools have over an event is diminished, so schools try to limit their legal liability as well. But there are limits to waivers.

For example, if you sign a school sports waiver so your daughter can play soccer, you may not be able to sue the school if she twists her ankle during a game. However, if your child is injured on the way to the game due to negligence on the part of the school, coach, or other school representative, you may still be able to sue the school. So just because you signed a waiver that covers some injuries doesn’t mean you can’t sue for other injuries when negligence is involved.

Are All Waivers Always Enforceable?

In some cases, courts have found that school liability waivers are unenforceable, meaning that the entire waiver is invalid. So parents who sign a field trip waiver may still be able to sue the school if their child is hit by a car during the field trip.

While the general rule is that the terms of waiver are enforceable, some courts have limited their reach as a matter of public policy, and not allowed parents (and children) to sign away all of their legal rights.

You should read any waiver very carefully. First, you should make sure it is absolutely essential to the activity — if your child can participate without the waiver, you probably shouldn’t sign it. If it is mandatory, be familiar with all the terms of the waiver and know that just because you signed a school liability waiver doesn’t mean you can’t sue the school if your child gets hurt.

If you have more release form questions, or if your child has been injured at school, you may want to consult an experienced injury attorney.

At some large firms, being a partner means having an actual voice in how the firm operates. At others, it means having little influence and a salary barely higher than that of a senior associate.

Baker & Hostetler LLP is proposing a change to put all of its partners on more equal ground by eliminating its so-called two-tier partnership in favor of one that gives every partner an equity stake in the 930-lawyer firm.

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Can I Change My Corporation Status?

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We know employers must carry worker’s comp insurance, but if they’re no longer in business, what happens to my benefits?

One Big Pot

Lucky for you, your workers’ comp benefits aren’t coming out of the same business account as petty cash. Each state runs its own workers’ compensation system, and all employers must prove they are carrying private workers’ comp insurance coverage. The workers’ comp benefits you receive are paid by the private insurers, regardless of whether the company is afloat or not. Your employer should have been paying into their workers’ comp insurance policy on a weekly or monthly basis, but they weren’t necessarily paying your specific benefit amount each week. So even if they stop paying, your benefit doesn’t stop.

So while your employer is required to have workers’ comp insurance, they are not responsible for paying out benefits; meaning that if they go bankrupt, this should not affect your workers’ comp claim or your benefit payments.

A Few Minor Details

Even though you should still receive your workers’ comp benefits if your employer goes out of business, there may be some issues that arise. First, if you just started a claim and it is still being investigated, your claim may be delayed if the insurance company is having trouble getting information from your former employer.

Second, some benefits may depend on your ability to return to work. Without your former employer or your former job being around, this may be more difficult to determine, especially if your job was specific to your employer. This could lead to conflicts regarding your benefit payments.

If you’ve been injured at work, you should file a workers’ compensation claim. If you’ve been denied benefits, or if you’re worried your benefits may end, and an experienced workers’ comp attorney could help.

But if you’ve already incorporated, can you change your incorporation status? And if so, how?

Choose Wisely

Step one when changing your corporation status is properly assessing the pros and cons of incorporation and figuring out which business structure is best for your business. Different organizations require different legal protections, and determining which will work best for your company is essential before you can switch it up.

Some things to consider, from the U.S. Small Business Administration:

• Going from Sole Proprietorship or Partnership to LLC or Corporation – If you’re moving up in the world, you’ll want to change from unlimited personal liability to limited. You’ll have more paperwork (like articles of incorporation and bylaws) and more fees and expenses.
• Going from a LLC or Corporation to Sole Proprietorship or Partnership – Moving down is more difficult, and you may need to get your shareholders on board with the plan. Your tax obligations and filing requirements will be different, so you’ll need to inform the IRS of the change.

Step Lively

Once you’ve decided on which structure to change to, it’s all about following the necessary steps:

1. File with Local and State Agencies: Converting your corporate status is a lot like starting out for the first time and you need to file the proper paperwork with your state government office.
2. Register with the IRS: You’ll probably need a new Employer Identification Number (EIN) and IRS.gov can tell you if you need a new EIN and how to apply.
3. Reapply for Licenses: Some state licensing requirements mandate you reapply for licenses after changes to your corporate structure.
4. Spread the Word: You’ll also want to notify your bank, insurance company, and those you do business with, including suppliers, customers and employees.

If you need legal assistance with your corporate structure, an experienced business organization attorney may be able to help.

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Can I Still Get Workers’ Comp if My Company Goes Out of Business?

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