“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” “I don’t much care where –” “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland “The only thing worse than no-deal is a bad deal.” A close friend and client shared this homily with me. It struck a cord, maybe “B Sharp” (get it?). I share B Sharp or as I now call it, “Shaffer Rule # 1” with “start-up clients, when it appears th

It has been a while since I last offered my thoughts about how best to use the legal system to your business advantage. To be honest, after writing about bankruptcy and reducing payroll costs, I had little to offer that appeared useful during these challenging times. Me with no clue; go figure. While challenges remain, my practice is revealing opportunities for well positioned start-ups and established small businesses based upon substantial reductions in the

Before addressing this less than exciting topic, I want to wish all of you Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, and a Joyous New Year. This next year is shaping up to be a challenge which will make us smarter and stronger. Hard work and careful planning will get us through it to enjoy the recovery. The current economic disruption is presenting us with opportunities which some of my clients are exploring. However, many of us are confronting the “dark

The Olympics are over. If Michael Phelps was a lawyer, I'd be looking for a new line of work. The nominating conventions are over. If the candidates kept their promises .....what am I saying? One thing is certain, summer is over and it's time to get back to work. In my last post, I wrote about how to get paid under the terms of a commission agreement. In this post, I will focus on how to get paid for goods or services delivered when there is no written contract or no agreem