The BUSKLAW Newsletter

When I describe my legal specialty as information technology ("IT"), the common response (along with a puzzled look) is, "what does that mean?" Short answer: "It means a lot."  Because there isn't a business in existence that isn't affected by something IT related. Does your firm have a website that collects personal information? Then you should have terms of use (and a cookie policy) that comply with state and federal laws, regulations, and the GDPR . Do you sell things on your website and accept credit cards as payment? Then you must institute payment card industry data security standards  to protect that credit card data from hackers. And you also must have credit card agreements with your card companies and processing bank that contain indemnity and other "bet your business" obligations. In my experience, credit card agreements are notoriously one-sided and chock full of legal jargon. Have you read yours?   Apart from those co...

I had the privilege of presenting at the Embedded GR  group meeting at The Geek Group Lab on January 25. The meeting topic was "Contracting, Consulting, Moonlighting, and Independent R&D," and I spoke about legal and business "red flags" in contractor agreements. Around 30 engineers were in the audience, along with two motley dogs, plenty of geek food (pizza and pop), and a fellow Grand Rapids IT attorney and Hope College grad, Elliott J.R.Church. I learned a lot at the meeting and had a grand time. These IT engineers and software developers are a very entrepreneurial bunch and were receptive to me expounding on what contractors should worry about when asked to sign a client-drafted consulting contractor agreement. Here's the link to my PowerPoint deck , if you're interested. The camaraderie among this group reminded me of my late father's associates - wildcatters -in the "oil business" in Michigan in the 1940s and 50s. These guys...