Business Law

As the son of two small-business owners, Eli Underwood knows what a business means to a family, and how it is an extension of your family’s ambitions.

Although business litigation can be described a number of ways, at its most basic, it usually involves a breach of an agreement between the parties. This breach can be described as a breach of contract, a corporate dispute, a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, business fraud, a breach of fiduciary duty, financial misconduct, a commercial dispute, or as an officer or shareholder dispute. Although the dispute can be described a number of ways, each has its own facets that deserve specific attention.

These types of disputes are common in businesses with a small number of partners, and where the business have known each other well. In these types of situations, it is imperative that the client retain a lawyer who is familiar with all of the challenges involved. A Sacramento Business Lawyer at Marcus | Underwood has repeatedly handled these cases successfully.

The formation of business relationships often creates various duties owed by the owners or managers of the business to the other owners or partners. When a party takes on such a relationship, then the law deems their relationship to be “fiduciary.” A “fiduciary” has the duty to act in the highest and best interest of those parties to whom they owed duties. In essence, that means that a fiduciary must put the other party’s interests ahead of their own.

Like partnership disputes, these cases often feel incredibly personal because the parties are trying to resolve the apparent betrayal of trust. The allegation that someone failed to honor another’s trust leads to high emotions, and so it is important to approach the matter in a way that is warranted under the circumstances.

Frequently, misconduct in the operation of a business may be deemed a breach of a “fiduciary” duty. A party who is faced with a breach of a fiduciary duty, or is alleging that another breached such a duty, must carefully describe the duty and the agreement to take on those duties. While the term is often casually tossed around, it carries substantial burdens, and must be taken seriously when alleged. That said, a fiduciary duty may not apply in every case of business operation and management, and so it is important to retain an experienced business lawyer in order to competently handle these types of claims.

Generally, the conduct of business relationships entail the management and handling of funds either for investment or the business. When a party fails to properly handle these funds, then the transaction or series of transactions may constitute financial fraud. In such instances, it is important that the party faced with this situation find an experienced Sacramento business attorney who knows how to properly address these claims.

In financial misconduct cases, there are often critical defenses and types of claims that must be addressed in order to favorably resolve the issue. Frequently, the failure to do so can lead to the loss of valuable claims or defenses. In such cases, it is important that the party retain counsel who can speak to both the head and the heart of the matter. An attorney involved in these cases must understand business sense, and be able to translate those matters in a real way that connects to the emotions involved.