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Often, RICO cases fail due to very specific pleading errors. A RICO plaintiff may fail to meet the law’s requirements for pleading continuity, for pleading a valid RICO enterprise, for pleading underlying fraud claims with particularity, or for pleading an injury that qualifies under the law as “domestic,” not foreign. Whether you are pursuing a…

When it comes to protecting yourself from a contract partner failing to perform as promised, there are numerous keys. One is to ensure you have a contract drafted with skill and precision. Another is to avoid making missteps that could cost you the opportunity to assert contractual rights you otherwise would have had. In both…

On courtroom TV shows, success or failure often occurs in one very sudden “a-ha!” moment at or near the end of a trial. In reality, though, the crucial seeds of success (or failure) are often sowed much earlier. Success in your commercial dispute requires many skillfully executed pretrial steps, including drafting and timely submitting a…

When you, as a landlord, ink a lease with a commercial tenant, you obviously hope the tenant’s business succeeds. Sometimes, though, that doesn’t happen. Failure happened a lot during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When your tenant gives up on their business and abandons the property they leased, you, as the landlord,…

When dealing with commercial contracts and negotiations regarding commercial contracts, there are pieces of information that can be crucial. Perhaps the most fundamental is “Do we or don’t we have a binding agreement enforceable under the law?” When it comes to negotiating an agreement and getting knowledgeable advice about the contractual legal obligations you do…

While not occurring here in Georgia, a recent federal court ruling dismissing a shareholder derivative action in California is a prime example of the extreme importance of the procedural demands placed on the plaintiffs in a derivative claim. As a shareholder plaintiff, satisfying these procedural steps is essential to getting your case to trial. On…

A recent RICO claim in federal court, tossed following a motion to dismiss, contains some useful lessons for both plaintiffs and defendants. For potential plaintiffs, it is important to understand that not every wrong that involved a collective of people acting in concert is a civil RICO violation, and if what harmed you was a…

Contract relationships can be like couples relationships: some are satisfying and mutually beneficial, some start out strong but eventually go off course, and others seemingly are beset with problems almost from the start. If you find yourself in the middle or last scenario, you may also have to deal with a breach of contract case…

Amidst complicated questions of corporate mergers, intellectual property, and more, commercial contracts often come down to fundamental issues of document drafting and contract construction. Whether yours is a (seemingly) straightforward contract for services or a complex deal, success often comes down to what’s on the paper you sign and your understanding of what rights and…

The effect of a judge finding a party in contempt of court can be very different depending on the circumstances. If the party in question is a deadbeat parent who hasn’t paid their child support, the result may be jail time. On the other hand, if the party in question is your commercial tenant who…