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How do I collect a judgement?

You won the lawsuits. Then what? You need to be paid but unfortunately this won’t happen automatically. The responsibility for collecting this judgment rests entirely with the prevailing party.

The very first thing you need to do is to obtain a certified copy of your final judgment at the Courthouse location where your case was heard. A certified copy is a duplicate of the original that is certified as a true and correct copy by the official responsible for keeping the original. You then take the certified copy of your judgment to the Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court,

You have to conduct a research of their property and return to the Clerk of the Court that originally issued your judgment and ask for a Writ of Execution. Deliver the Writ to the sheriff’s department for the county where the debtor’s property is located. Provide the sheriff’s department with: A deposit to cover their fees and costs.

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Avoid Lawsuits or Minimize the Expenses 

Business Owners: if you are being sued, you should know Summary Judgement 

Lawsuit is scary. It is expensive and drags on for a long time. It is emotionally draining especially when the other part has filed a frivolous lawsuit, meaning, logically,  they do not have a reason to complain. 

There are many tools to shorten the lawsuit and thus reduce the cost if it is not avoidable. Summary judgement is one of them. You should talk to your attorney about it. 

Summary judgment is a judgment entered by a court on partial or all issues without a full trial. A grant of summery judgement simplifies and streamlines the case so that trial is either ruled out or more efficient and focused on the areas of actual dispute.

A court can grant a Summary Judgement when “there is no genuine issues of material fact”. Issue is a disagreement between opposing parties on facts legally relevant to a claim.  The disagreement is “genuine” when it is plausible (e.g., one cannot logically dispute a contract date if he or she does not have a copy of a contract.)

Ask your lawyers about summary judgement or call us to discuss how to save your litigation cost. 

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Contract Template, Good or Bad? 

It depends. One day I went to a doctor’s office to have my skin condition checked up. I asked the doctor if the condition was as bad as google said. The doctor said to me “ You should not google your condition.” After checking my condition, he turned to his computer screen and started googling. I chuckled and asked him “ what are you doing then, Doc?” “What I google is different than what you do. “. 

This also holds true to use of template. Granted, lawyers use legal templates. I select templates, blend them together and modify each every clauses to reflect the term sheets I prepare for the clients. The key word here is the term sheet. A good lawyer use templates intentionally. Not only they know what the clauses mean, they know when they are poorly written or damaging to the clients.  Just like Doctors know how to wade through myths to find truth, Lawyers select the correct legal clauses for clients. 

Contracts are minutes of meeting of minds. They are records of promises made by contractural parties to one another. For a template user, you’d better know what promises you have made and what promises you should receive. If you do not know all of these, signing contract becomes meaningless. To make things worse, when there is a dispute, you might be stunned by the promises you have made yet you cannot, or fail to keep, or you do not know you should keep. Equally bad is you forget to bargain for promises you are entitled to and waive your right without even knowing it. 

There had never been a shortage of lawsuits arising from bad templates, resulting in already bruised contractual parties losing the battle after spending a fortune in the meat-grinding litigation process. 

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Florida’s Motor Vehicle ‘Lemon Law’

Florida Lemon Law provides remedies for consumers who purchase or lease new or demonstrator motor vehicles with “nonconformities” that have not been corrected by the manufacturer, “within a reasonable number of repair attempts.”

A “nonconformity” under the Lemon Law is defined as a defect or condition that substantially impairs the use, value or safety of the vehicle, and it can include problems such as faulty paint, leaks and electrical or mechanical problems.

In order to qualify under the Lemon Law, the vehicle in question must have been sold (or leased) in Florida. The purchase must not have been for resale purposes and must fall into one of the following categories: (1) the vehicle is used for personal, family or household purposes; (2) the vehicle was acquired from the first owner for the same purposes during the first owner’s first 24 months of ownership; or (3) the owner or lessee is a person who is entitled to enforce the warranty.

The Lemon Law also provides that an owner or lessee can file an action in court to recover damages caused by a violation of the Lemon Law. If the owner or lessee wins such an action, recovery will include the amount of any pecuniary losses, litigation costs, reasonable attorney’s fees and other relief the judge decides is fair and just.

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Do I need a lawyer for my contract?  

You may be able to find free template for the contracts you intend to sign and you assume you do not need an attorney. You may be set yourself up for failure simply because you do not know the author, neither the author knows your situation. Each year, Florida residents lose money because they do not understand contracts when they enter into them or what to do when the other side breaches the agreement. In many of these cases, the advice of a lawyer would have prevented the loss.Only a qualified lawyer can advise you on whether an agreement is binding and what rights or obligations you may have if there is a breach.

As a matter of fact, because of the complexity of contract law, and the consequences of entering into contracts, the state Supreme Court restricts the drafting of contracts by nonlawyers, although a person may ordinarily draft a simple contract to which he or she is a party without being deemed to be practicing law. Most printed contracts are drafted by lawyers and are designed to protect the client’s rights

Therefore, before you enter an agreement requiring the giving or payment of valuable consideration, it is best to have a qualified lawyer review the agreement, detail your obligations under it and explain the consequences of a breach of the agreement. Never sign anything that you are not able to read and understand.

If you believe you need legal advice, call us .

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Immigration: Should I sign a prenuptial agreement?

Should you sign a prenuptial agreement or in short, prenup? To answer this question, one must know what prenuptial agreement is. Prenuptial agreement, also called “premarital agreement” in Florida, is a contract between prospective spouses that determine how certain issues such as alimony and property division are treated during a divorce. The agreement is essentially a trade of the act of marriage for certain financial terms in the contract.

What are the pros and cons of prenuptial agreement?

Pro: Prenup can actually be a wise investment, not only because it outlines a couple’s finances, but because it can thwart a costly and contentious divorce if the marriage doesn’t work out. Cons: The agreement may require you to give up your right to spousal support, retirement benefit and inheritance benefit which the law otherwise gives to you. For instance, under the law, you are entitled to 30% of the estate even if your spouse does not include such a provision in his or her will unless you expressly waive it. Another example is that no spouse can give homestead in a will or nobody can take away the house without your consent even if you do not own the property. But you may be required to waive the right partly or wholly.

Can prenuptial agreements always hold up in court?

Not really. Full Financial Disclosure. In representing the party seeking to enforce the PA, the practitioner must make sure the client is fully and frankly disclosing to the other party his or her net worth (all assets and liabilities and the values and amounts thereof) and income.5 Too often just assets, and perhaps liabilities, are disclosed. Florida law requires disclosure of income as well.6 Do not rely on income tax returns alone since they do not reflect any nontaxable income. The financial disclosure should be appended to the PA and initialed by the parties so as to prevent or minimize a later claim of nondisclosure.

While the disclosure must be full and frank, it need not necessarily be minutely detailed or exact as to values and amounts. Reasonable approximations “close to” the actual values and amounts may suffice.

For more information, please contact us or to follow us on social media.

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S-Corporation vs. LLC: What is the difference?

Why would you choose an S Corporation?

First, what is S Corporation (Small Corporation ) for tax purpose?

S corporations are corporations that elect to pass corporate income, losses, deductions, and credits through to their shareholders for federal tax purposes. Shareholders of S corporations report the flow-through of income and losses on their personal tax returns and are assessed tax at their individual income tax rates. This allows S corporations to avoid double taxation on the corporate income. S corporations are responsible for tax on certain built-in gains and passive income at the entity level. (By the definition of IRS.)

Who can become a S-Corporation?

To qualify for S corporation status, the corporation must meet the following requirements:

• Be a domestic corporation
• Have only allowable shareholders
• May be individuals, certain trusts, and estates and
• May not be partnerships, corporations or non-resident alien shareholders
• Have no more than 100 shareholders
• Have only one class of stock
• Not be an ineligible corporation (i.e. certain financial institutions, insurance companies, and domestic international sales corporations).

LLC vs. S-Corporation. What is the difference?

• A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is an entity created by state statute. the IRS will treat an LLC either as a corporation, partnership, or as part of the owner’s tax return (a disregarded entity), depending on elections made by the LLC and the number of members,.  A domestic LLC with at least two members is classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes unless it elects to be treated as a corporation. An LLC with only one member is treated as an entity disregarded as separate from its owner, unless it elects to be treated as a corporation for income tax purposes,. However, for purposes of employment tax and certain excise taxes, an LLC with only one member is still considered a separate entity.

Please feel free to contact us if you have more questions.

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Florida’s Motor Vehicle ‘Lemon Law” -Faulty Vehicle

Chapter 681, Florida Statutes, is Florida’s Lemon Law. It provides remedies for consumers who purchase or lease new motor vehicles with “nonconformities” that have not been corrected by the manufacturer, or a dealership, “within a reasonable number of repair attempts.”.

A “nonconformity” is defined as a faulty vehicle with defect or condition that substantially impairs the use, value or safety of the vehicle. It can include problems such as faulty paint, leaks and electrical or mechanical problems.

Lemon Law rights period” means the period ending 24 months after the date of the original delivery of a motor vehicle to a consumer.

In order to qualify under the Lemon Law, the consumer must have purchased or leased the vehicle in Florida for personal, family or household use, the vehicle was acquired from the first owner for the same purposes shorter than 24 months ago.

More information regarding the definition, the process and the remedies can be found here http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0681/0681.html. 

or to have a discussion about your case, please contact us by visiting www.esqll.com/contact

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What is the process for international adoption?

International adoption, also called “Inter-country adoption” is the process by which you adopt a child from a country other than your own. You may not bring an adopted child into the United States until USCIS determines that you are eligible to adopt from another country. You must meet certain requirements to bring a foreign-born child.

Please see more https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption.html

As a first step, you will need to file an application with USCIS. The application allows you to demonstrate that you are eligible to adopt and capable of providing proper care to a child. Either way, the child must remain in the foreign country where he or she is located until processing is complete.

How long is international adoption process?

The length of the international adoption process will vary depending on the country, service provider, and individual child involved; however, it typically takes from one to five years to complete an overseas adoption. As far as USCIS process, two processes together may take 10-12 months according to USCIS’s 2021 processing time time table.

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

Who can help?

The international adoption process is complicated, but you are not on your own. An immigration attorney can help you to navigate the whole process.

Please call us. https://esqll.com/chinese-speaking-lawyer/

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Employee or Independent Contractor in Florida

Why do employers frequently try to pass off employees as independent contractors?

While some employers misclassify their workers as independent contractors in error, often employers misclassify their employees intentionally in order to reduce labor costs and avoid paying state and federal taxes.

What is the standard used to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor in Florida?

Florida uses a “right of control” test to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor in most areas of the law.

How does Florida define independent contractor?

Florida Statutes Title XIII defines independent contractor as a person who” performs or agrees to perform specific services or work for a specific amount of money and controls the means of performing the services or work. The worker also incurs the principal expenses related to the service or work that he or she performs or agrees to perform. Moreover, the independent contractor is responsible for the satisfactory completion of the work or services that he or she performs or agrees to perform. In addition, independent contractor receives compensation for work or services performed for a commission or on a per-job basis and not on any other basis. Please see here.

What is the penalty for classifying an employee as an independent contractor?

Under Labor Code section 226.8, willful misclassification of individuals as independent contractors subject employer to civil penalties of between $5,000 and $25,000 per violation.

For more information, please contact us. You can find our answers on Justia, Avvo and Quora.

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