Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Legislature passed Act 258, which will bring updates to Wisconsin’s LLC Law. These changes are set to take effect on January 1, 2023. At a high level, the major updates include the following: For those out there reading, you might be wondering, “What does this have to do with me?” … Read more
Compensating service providers with equity is a pretty regular occurrence with startups. New companies don’t have a lot of cash (or any) to pay the people they need to run the business (just get a quote on the cost to develop an MVP of your new app if you don’t believe me) and providing equity … Read more
Every year, many Wisconsin lawyers who work for small firms or practice law solo attend a conference sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin which facilitates gatherings, lectures, and conversations about relevant topics and issues. I was excited to be able to attend this year’s Wisconsin Solo and Small Firm Conference to gain insight into … Read more
When advising clients on forming new companies, the question comes up about where to form the company. Should the client form the company in the state where their business is located (Wisconsin most of the time), or somewhere else? When the client elects for “somewhere else,” their entity is considered a “foreign entity.” This means … Read more
Welcome back to our discussion on 501(c)(3)’s, inurement, and excess benefit transactions! If you missed the last post that provided an overview of the rules related to this topic, you can find the link to the previous post here. Now that the overview is out of the way, here are some ideas on how to … Read more
Non-profit organizations, by their nature, provide great value through their missions and services. That is at least part of the reason why they typically receive tax-exempt status, including under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). However, that tax-exempt status is fragile and contingent on meeting and maintaining certain requirements, and an organization can … Read more
When we wed a few years ago, I like to think my wife was aware she was getting hitched to an eccentric fella. What she might not have appreciated was that I was soon to start my next semester of law school by learning about trusts and estates, where I would discover Wisconsin’s marital property … Read more
On January 1, 2022, copyrighted works from 1926 will enter the US public domain. That means that anyone can copy, share, and build upon that work, but it doesn’t mean the public can do the same for things that are already derived from the original. What do I mean by that? Well, the first Winnie-the-Pooh … Read more
As I advise clients on trademark issues, it is relatively common for clients to ask if there is an “international trademark”. I then break the unfortunate news that there is no such thing as an “international trademark”. Instead, registered trademark protections only extend to the national borders where the mark is registered. This means that … Read more
We’ve all asked when on a food blogger’s site, “Why can’t you just give me the recipe and not your life story?” Many have listened to this complaint and added a much (to me) valued “Jump to Recipe” button on the top. But I am here to defend all those stories that I often skip. … Read more