Practice Areas
Misunderstandings, disagreements and conflicts with vendors, partners, investors, landlords, employees, independent contractors, licensees and others can be distracting and unpleasant and take your focus away from running your business.
Reviewing the issues with a seasoned attorney experienced in dealing with all varieties of business disputes can help you more objectively and dispassionately evaluate and prioritize your concerns and formulate a plan of action to try to resolve or confront the situation.
To discuss the available options and costs to try to resolve or address your business dispute efficiently, practically and cost-effectively, please contact Larry Sass of Sass Law Office LLC, an experienced business dispute attorney and trial lawyer.
Commercial Litigation and Trials
Every business confronts its share of legal issues and business disputes, which occasionally escalate to threats of a lawsuit or court. When your business is looking for legal advice about a commercial dispute or litigation, an experienced business attorney and trial lawyer can help you to understand and evaluate your legal rights and the risks and costs of litigation. Whether you want to assert your rights aggressively in court, have been served with legal papers or anticipate that a litigation is imminent, you need a strategy to try to resolve the matter in a way that best suits your business and financial needs at the time.
Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitration and Mediation
Arbitration: Not every lawsuit or trial is heard in court. Today, many contracts require that disputes between or among the contracting parties cannot be decided in court but must be resolved by a private arbitration proceeding, paid for by the parties. In a typical arbitration, the case is heard and decided either by one arbitrator (the “judge” in the proceeding) or a panel of three arbitrators; there is no jury, usually no appeal is permitted and there is a limited right to challenge the arbitration decision in court.
Subpoena Compliance and Responses
A subpoena is a written directive issued in connection with a civil lawsuit or criminal or agency investigation or proceeding requiring a person thought to have relevant information to appear as a witness to produce documents or other evidence and/or to testify at a pre-trial deposition, a trial or a hearing.
Receiving a subpoena can seem ominous and be startling because often it is delivered to your home or place of business by a process server and the document typically includes a warning that compliance is required “under penalty” (which is what “subpoena” means) of contempt for disobedience. However, there are often legal options available either to challenge the subpoena, narrow its scope, provide you with more time to respond or make responding to the subpoena less difficult or burdensome. If you or your business has received a subpoena and you want to discuss it with an attorney who is familiar with the subpoena process and experienced in advising clients about the issues involved with responding to, challenging or complying with subpoenas, please contact Larry Sass of Sass Law Office LLC.
Appeals
A verdict rendered by a jury in a civil or criminal case and certain unfavorable rulings issued by a judge can be challenged by appealing the determination to an appellate court designated to hear and decide appeals from the trial level courts.
The most effective appeals require a thorough and cogent analysis of the facts and information that were presented to the judge or jury that made the determination that is being challenged, comprehensive research of the applicable law, persuasive and well written briefs focusing on the most compelling facts and issues and convincing and appropriately forceful oral argument. An attorney with the combined experienced of both trying cases and drafting appeals brings a unique perspective and insight to the process. Please contact Larry Sass of Sass Law Office LLC to review your civil or criminal appeal with an experienced trial and appellate lawyer and former prosecutor.
Contracts and Business Agreements
The day-to-day operations of businesses of every type, size and scope rely heavily on contracts: the lease for your office space, the license for the software that runs on your computers, the commitment from your telephone service provider, your bank’s credit card processing fee agreement or line of credit, the agreement with your business partners on how you will share profits and expenses and operate your business, insurance coverage contracts, and pricing, delivery and payment arrangements with vendors and suppliers, are all contracts.
Outside General Counsel for Businesses
On-call and as-needed advice and guidance for the legal needs of your start-up, growing or established business. Flexible and cost-effective fee arrangements allow businesses of all sizes to have a practical business attorney with extensive courtroom and trial experience available by phone and e-mail to answer day-to-day questions, learn your business, help you anticipate risks, address emergent problems, deal with lawsuits and liabilities and strategize to avoid legal obstacles to future productivity and growth.
Commercial Collections
Unpaid and overdue invoices and accounts receivable reduce the cash flow that a business needs to operate efficiently and to thrive. If your business needs assistance in trying to collect a substantial past due balance from another business, please contact Larry Sass, an experienced business attorney and litigator, to discuss the available options and a strategy to try to maximize your recovery.
Judgment Enforcement and Defenses Against Judgments
A judgment is a determination by a court of the rights and liabilities of the parties to a lawsuit, such as the amount of money one party owes to the other. A judgment though is much more than just a decision because it is enforceable, which means that it allows the party that received the judgment in its favor to take action on the judgment to enforce it against the other party.
Criminal
Larry Sass began his legal career as a prosecutor for over eight years in the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney’s Office where he gained invaluable experience and insights litigating numerous felony and misdemeanor jury trials and hearings, presenting hundreds of cases to grand juries, authoring appellate briefs and handling every type of criminal case, including homicides. He also focused on long-term investigations and white collar crimes for five years, first as Supervising Assistant District Attorney in the Economic Crimes and Arson Bureau and then as Counsel to the Public Corruption Bureau.
White Collar Crime
The term “white collar crime” encompasses a variety of nonviolent crimes, generally concerning financial gain from fraud, scams, or other deception. Tax evasion, insurance fraud, insider trading, embezzlement, and other fraudulent business scams are all white collar crimes.