Congratulations! You are starting a new business and you want to know what type of business entity you want to establish. Do you want a corporation, a limited liability company, a professional association, a partnership, or be a sole proprietor?  Here are three questions to take to your attorney AND your accountant. 1.  DO I NEED TO HAVE A LEGALLY ORGANIZED BUSINESS TO CONDUCT BUSINESS SAFELY? You do not need to have a business entity in order to conduct business. In other words, you do not need to incorporate or file paperwork with the Department of State, Division of Corporations to get a …

There is a great commercial from a certain quilted bathroom tissue company that uses the slogan, “let’s get real about what happens in the bathroom.” Rather than using bathroom tissue to clean up kitchen messes or some random blue liquid that somehow always appears on the countertops of commercial stars, the company gets to the point and talks about what bathroom tissue is really used for.   The same realistic approach to reporting has been on the largest sports stations during the Olympics in London. Jim Rome, ESPN, and even local sports stations have gone beyond the athletic accomplishments…

Consider this scenario: You have developed a chicken restaurant that uses a secret blend of spices. You also have a business model on how your restaurant is run and it has been very successful so far. In fact, in your opinion, none of your competitors have figured out your trade secrets and business model. However, if your blend of spices and business model became public information, the competition would be fierce. Obviously to run a restaurant (and most other small businesses), you will need help from trustworthy employees. These employees will need to have access to your secrets to do …

Let’s bluntly dive into what is perhaps the most important part of being a family law attorney or someone going through a family law related dispute: The Children!  I do not have a lot of great legal citations or logical deductions in this article. I am simply presenting what most people already know and what most people in family law conflicts forget. Please read the following that was written by the late Judge Michael Haas. He unfortunately passed away in 2011.  “Minnesota Judge Has 200 Blunt Words for Divorcing Parents “By Judge Michael Haas, 2001 “Your children have come into this world …

OPENING STATEMENT: I ran into this story from First Coast News in Jacksonville regarding the police’s ability to search your cell phone if you are arrested. The story references the case of State v. Ricardo Glasco out of the Fifth District Court of Appeals. The Fifth District Court of Appeals is based out of Daytona Beach.  Ricardo Glasco was arrested for possession of drugs. While he was in handcuffs, the police searched him and found his cell phone. When Glasco was booked at the jail, the police searched his cell phone and found text messages that revealed that Glasco intended to sell the …

Three Questions:  The Introduction The “Three Questions” series is back. Here are three questions to ask yourself before you go into a bankruptcy consultation. In my experience, an initial bankruptcy consultation can take a lot longer than a normal legal consultation. Therefore, you need to be prepared if you want to get quality feedback during the consultation.  Perhaps these three questions will assist. Do you think that bankruptcy means you let yourself or your family down? I will remind you that at least two former presidents of the United States filed for bankruptcy before they took the …

Over the last couple weeks, I have been overwhelmed with charity events, fundraising, and interviewing local nonprofit charities. In fact, as I write this, I am camping out at my office for four days trying to raise money for Family Partnerships and their www.buildingfamilies411.com event. Patch.com is premier sponsor of this event. The purpose of this article is to assist you in choosing local charities that you can trust are legitimate. The idea for this story came from The Legally Steal Show, who is a contributor to patch.com as well. While choosing the right charity is matter of choosing …

On June 6, the Tampa Bay Times reported this story regarding the matter of Agbebaku vs. Agbebaku. You can take a look at the article and more importantly the comments on the story. This is my rebuttal to what, in my opinion, is the belief that the resulting homicide of Ingrid Agbebaku is somehow a result of the domestic violence injunction not being entered. Let me start off by saying that my heart goes out to Ingrid Agbebaku’s family, the minor children, and even to Eugene Agbebaku’s family. There is no doubt in my mind that Eugene suffered from some serious mental issues and needed serious …

By Cynthia Veintemillas and Jeremy T. Simons Contest update: Because of a couple last minute adjustments, last week’s winner will be announced next week.  CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here). JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in this article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. In short, figure out the hidden trivia question, send an email with the answer to JT Simons, and make sure your nonprofit is legitimate. Remember, send the answer to jts@simonslawfirm.com, subject line CONTEST ENTRY, and give me as much …

Opening Statement Members of the Jury, you are asked to render a verdict on whether it is more beneficial to lease your property or to sell the property and hold the mortgage yourself. Traditionally (and probably still the most prevalent), an owner will list the property with a real estate agent and sell it on the open market. However, with property values where there are, some are considering other options. In a difficult real estate market, I see more and more property owners getting creative on making money in the absence of true buyers willing to buy at previously fair-market values.  …

The HBO series “Game of Thrones” is one of the most popular series on television.  In fact, my resources show that the first season’s DVD set had the largest first week sales for an HBO weekly series. The series essentially revolves around the seat of power between seven kingdoms. The seat of power is located in King’s Landing, which is in the southern most point of the fictitious Westeros. As the second season continues, there are four kings claiming the right to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Who is the king at the start of the third book? Time will tell.  In the United States, we have …

For some reason, my cases on a weekly basis come in bundles. This week, we had a lot of consultations regarding closing up a business. I never wish this upon anyone, but sometimes we have to shut down a business to start a new chapter in our lives.  Here are three questions you should ask yourself about how you may want to go about shutting your business down. 1. Should I just walk away? From a legal perspective, walking away from a business can have consequences. Most companies should have bylaws or an operating agreement that discusses what should be done if the business needs to dissolve …

This week’s article is about the trouble you can get into for investing in investments that are too good to be true. They are otherwise known as “Ponzi Schemes.” Ponzi schemes are usually clouded by a promise of a legitimate investment. A Ponzi scheme is where a person promises you a guaranteed significant return on an investment that far exceeds the normal market rates. The person then repays you for your investment with other investors’ money. They are bound to fail. The most famous Ponzi scheme of all time is the Madoff scheme that sucked in a Major League Baseball team, among others, for …

The Huffington Post reports that one in four children are born to unwed couples.  Most Family Law attorneys will tell you that some of the most hotly contested time-sharing (previously “custody”) disputes are between young unwed couples. As usual, here is the: Prologue Here is how most situations start off in my cases: Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in lust. Boy and girl have a baby. Now father and mother move in together with the anticipation of getting married. Something happens and father and mother break up.  Mother takes child somewhere else. Father wants to enforce his paternal …

Contest Update: Congratulations to Tim M. for getting last week’s trivia question correct.  The donation will be made to thePasco PACE Center for Girls.  CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here).  JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in this article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. In short, figure out hidden the trivia question, send an email with the answer to JT Simons, and make sure your nonprofit is legitimate. Remember, send the answer to jts@simonslawfirm.com, subject line CONTEST ENTRY, and give me as much …

PROLOGUE Contracts are designed for one purpose in my mind: to place in writing your contractual responsibilities, rights, and waivers in case your agreement is broken. If you sign a 1-year lease or a 30-year mortgage, and you pay on time every month, no one really cares what the contract says. If you get a credit card and you agree to the repayment terms, no one cares about the fine-print until you stop paying. If you promised to pay someone money and signed a promissory note, the terms of the promissory note only matter when you get sued. Perhaps you can relate to someone that read 250 …

Contest Update: The winner from last week’s trivia was: Stephen A. There were several correct answers. Stephen A. was chosen in a random drawing. He has asked us to donate to Creative Clay Inc., a nonprofit based out of St. Petersburg, Florida. That being said, here are more details for this week’s contest: CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here). JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in this article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. In short, figure out hidden the trivia question, send an email with the answer to JT Simons…

Editor’s note: CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here). JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in this article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. In short, figure out the hidden trivia question, send an email with the answer to JT Simons, and make sure your nonprofit is legitimate. Remember, send the answer to jts@simonslawfirm.com, subject line CONTEST ENTRY, and give your first name, the first letter of your last name, and as much information as you can about the nonprofit you want the donation to go to. *** We are going to…

Seeking an injunction to protect you from domestic violence or receiving a petition accusing you of domestic violence is a serious matter. But, before we get started, you should know about a contest I'll be running it each my columns that can win money for your favorite charity: CONTEST ON/JTSCHARITY EVENT: JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in anarticle. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. When you see at the start of an article the following: CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here) In short, figure out the answer to the …

Knowledge of your legal options is power. That is the fundamental point of my articles. If you are the victim of a crime, in most circumstances, the criminal court is not your only option. Let’s continue our goal to empower you with knowledge.  There are four usual types of courts under State law: Criminal courts, Civil courts, Dependency courts, and Appellate courts. There are other courts, tribunals, administrative proceedings, and of course the Federal court system as well.  Criminal courts handle criminal matters. Civil courts handle small claims cases, general litigation such as personal…