Contracts Archives

15Jan 2022 by bhandlaw

Sponsor Seeks to Cancel Deal with NFL’s Jaguars in Clownish Lawsuit

Are you ready for some frivolous litigation?? “Are you ready for some frivolous litigation??" A Georgia-based, roof replacement company apparently is, and its Complaint filed earlier this month against the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars in the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Florida offers lessons for both companies thinking about sponsorship deals with their local professional sports teams, as well as the franchises or team organizations themselves. The JJSA According to RoofClaim.com's complaint, the Jags had tried to get RoofClaim as a team sponsor in the past, to which RoofClaim had apparently responded with something along the lines of "thanks but no thanks". Things turned, however, with the Defendant's splashy hiring of celebrated former Florida and Ohio State college coach Urban Meyer this past Summer. The hiring apparently had enough sizzle to convince…

23Sep 2021 by bhandlaw

The High Cost of Unpaid Internships for Your Startup

Contracts, Copyright, Employment Agreements, Start-Up

Recently, one of our solo founder clients approached me to draw up some short agreement for some (student) unpaid interns he was considering bringing on with his startup. In this post, I touch on some of the things I explained to him after (very professionally, of course) telling him he might want to re-consider his company's plan. If you're a startup founder considering "hiring" unpaid interns to come and work at your new company, it is important that you understand the potential legal and business risks first. Is your startup's unpaid internship even legal? Yes, many business owners never even bother to consider this first, critical question regarding their new or established internship program. The answer is a very legal "probably, but it depends". While not necessarily illegal in and…

07Sep 2021 by bhandlaw

Don’t Leave Home Without It: 6 Must-Haves for Your Startup’s Offshore Development Agreement

Contracts, Software

Many of our startup company clients look overseas for their software development needs. Hiring overseas programmers and engineering teams can allow your lean startup to reap tremendous benefits and get your site or app to market and in front of paying customers that much quicker. As with anything done in a foreign land, however, it is not without its risks. In order to remove or at least reduce these concerns, here we take a look at some essential provisions that your startup's offshore development agreement should have. No Substitute for Due Diligence No, this is not a contract provision per se but one of the most important things you and your fellow co-founders can do when seeking to hire that foreign developer has nothing to do with contract drafting. Instead,…

07Apr 2021 by bhandlaw

9th Cir. Gives No Credit to Claim that Experian’s Updated Site Terms Apply

Contracts, Online Agreements, Terms of Service

A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving mega credit reporting company Experian reminds us that online businesses should be careful of relying on unilateral "change-of-terms" clauses in their online terms of use/service/and conditions. Stover Background In Stover v. Experian Holdings, Inc. (No. 19-55204, 9th Cir. 2020), Stover purchased an "Experian Credit Score" service from the credit reporting firm back in 2014. In doing so, she was required to accept Experian’s terms and conditions, which contained a number of provisions in which she agreed to waive her right to be part of a class action and to arbitrate all disputes “to the fullest extent permitted by law”. Under these 2014 terms, Stover further agreed that each time she accessed the "Product Website", she would be manifesting assent to the…

03Mar 2021 by bhandlaw

Southwest’s Efforts to Enforce Browsewrap Terms Isn’t Peanuts

Contracts, E-Commerce, Terms of Service

Remember these...? Last month, Southwest Airlines Co. (“Southwest”) filed a complaint in a Federal court in Texas (where the discount fare airline is based) against Kiwi.com, an online travel site. While the lawsuit revolves around Kiwi’s scraping of airfare data from Southwest’s website, as well as violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), it offers some valuable lessons to e-commerce and online businesses relying on “browsewrap” terms for their website. Case Background In the Complaint filed in Southwest Airlines Co. v. Kiwi.com, Inc., No. 21-00098 (N.D. Tex. filed Jan. 14, 2021), Southwest accuses Kiwi of scraping of the airline’s flight and pricing data off of its website and selling Southwest tickets through its own platform (apparently charging service fees on top). Southwest, in its breach of contract count,…