News

LegalZoom Gets Sued in Missouri

LegalZoom, the California-based online legal document company, was sued in Missouri on the grounds of the unauthorized practice of law. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are asking the court for class certification. This is not the first time LegalZoom has been sued for the unauthorized practice of law, and it is unlikely to be the last. LegalZoom has become wildly popular, and is generating $1,000,000's in virtually every state in the nation. So, it is a natural target for traditional...

Avoid Legal Forms Companies

It is generally a bad idea to buy legal forms from an online document or form company. Although Legal Zoom is probably the best-known online legal document company, there are many others. The quality of those online services and documents varies wildly from company to company. None of those online companies provide the advantages of lawyer-created and lawyer-reviewed documents that are state-specific and written just for you, the client. Nearly all online form companies are a bad...

Trademark Law Basics

A trademark is any name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods, and to distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others. A service mark is a mark used in the sale or advertising of services to identify the services and distinguish them from the services of others.

As the definitions suggest, a trademark or a service mark can be a name, symbol, or even a sound. Think of Nike. Both the name Nike...

Indiana Corporations- Piercing the Corporate Veil

In a 2005, Court of Appeals case, Brant v. Krilich, the Court listed the eight factors and described the standard by which a corporate veil could be pierced:

In deciding whether a plaintiff has met the burden to pierce the corporate veil, the court considers whether the plaintiff has presented evidence showing: (1) undercapitalization, (2) absence of corporate records, (3) fraudulent representation by corporate shareholders or directors, (4) use of the corporation to promote fraud...

Fully Virtual Law Office Is Launched in Indiana

Indianapolis, IN: February 1, 2010 – Tiffany U. Vivo, an Indianapolis attorney and Managing Partner of Vivo Law Offices, LLC announced today the launch of Indiana’s first fully virtual law office (VLO) in Indiana.

A virtual law office (VLO) is a web-based law practice that enables clients and lawyers to communicate through encrypted messages from any web access point at times convenient for the client and typically at reduced costs. A VLO is not a website operated by non-lawyers...