Practical Legal Guidance for Growing Businesses
Plain-language articles on contracts, employment matters, disputes, investigations, transactions, and the practical legal questions that arise as a company grows. These materials provide general information, not legal advice.
The 1099 Threshold Is Changing Again: A Year-End Checklist for Businesses
The federal reporting threshold for many Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC payments is $2,000 for payments made in 2026 and $2,100 for payments made in 2027. Businesses should update vendor records and year-end reporting workflows without confusing the higher threshold with worker-classification, W-9, or recordkeeping rules.
Tennessee’s New Noncompete Rules: What Employers Should Review Now
Tennessee now bars employers from requiring, requesting, or enforcing noncompetes against employees earning less than $70,000 in annualized compensation and creates new time-based presumptions for restrictive covenants. Employers should review templates, renewal practices, and enforcement decisions before using an existing agreement.
New Health-Plan Price Transparency Rules: What Employers Should Do Before 2027
New federal rules change how group health plans disclose pricing data, attest to its accuracy, and provide cost estimates. Employers should review plan status, vendor contracts, and compliance ownership before the first 2027 deadlines.
Tennessee Expands Employment Verification in 2027: What Small Employers Should Do Now
Beginning January 1, 2027, Tennessee will extend its lawful-employment verification framework to many private employers with as few as one employee. Small businesses should prepare their onboarding process now.
When Hybrid Work Changes the Clock: New Federal Guidance on Travel Time
New Labor Department opinion letters explain when a flexible commute may remain unpaid—and when early calls or other work can turn later travel into compensable time.
Independent Contractor Rules Are Moving Again: What Arkansas and Tennessee Businesses Should Review Now
Federal contractor-classification rules are changing again, while Arkansas and Tennessee apply their own standards. Here is what growing businesses should review now.
Why Growing Businesses Need Strong Employee Handbooks and Workforce Agreements
Employee handbooks, employment agreements, and contractor agreements help growing businesses set expectations, manage risk, and build consistent workplace practices—but only when the documents fit the actual relationship and current law.
Litigation Holds and Document Preservation: A Guide for Businesses
What leadership should know about preserving email, messages, files, devices, and other information when a dispute makes litigation reasonably foreseeable.
A Practical Framework for Workplace Investigations
How growing employers can organize a prompt, impartial, and well-documented investigation while protecting employees, preserving evidence, and making defensible decisions.
The First 72 Hours After a Demand Letter or Agency Charge
An organized early response can preserve evidence, protect deadlines, clarify insurance and reporting obligations, and give leadership better options before positions harden.
Legal Due Diligence When Buying a Privately Held Business
A practical diligence framework for evaluating ownership, contracts, employees, claims, compliance, intellectual property, data, and the liabilities that may follow a business acquisition.
Before You Sign a Letter of Intent: What Business Owners Should Understand
A letter of intent can organize an acquisition, investment, or strategic transaction—but unclear language about exclusivity, confidentiality, expenses, and binding effect can create risk before definitive documents are signed.
A Practical Contract-Review Checklist for Growing Businesses
A business-minded framework for reviewing scope, payment, risk allocation, termination rights, data obligations, and the provisions that determine what happens when a relationship does not go as planned.