As a general rule, if a customer/invitee of a business is harmed by a third-party criminal act, the business is not responsible. The rationale for this rule is that criminal acts are rarely foreseeable. Early v. Dunn, 670 S.W.3d 47, 51 (Mo. App. E.D. 2023). There are a number of exceptions. First, a duty arises…
Legal Articles
Insurance Policies: Disputes, Breach
The basic operation of an insurance policy is that you pay an insurance company a monetary premium in exchange for its legal obligation to protect, hold harmless, and indemnify you within set parameters. Take a car insurance policy, for instance. You pay a set premium (the amount of which is based upon, among other things,…
Breach of Promissory Note: Saint Louis, Missouri
Though often confused, promissory notes and contracts are two different types of legal documents. A contract requires an offer, acceptance, and consideration. Consideration is an exchange between two parties/entities — e.g., I pay you rent in exchange for you making an apartment available to me for living space. Breach of contract actions or specific performance…
Trademarks: Registration, Infringement, Dilution
Trademarks are distinctive marks — in the form of words, phrases, symbols, or a combination thereof — which designate a source or origin of a particular good. Trademarks do not have to be registered to be legally protected. However, you would be a fool not to register your trademark. When you simply begin using a…
Contract Disputes
Whether you realize it or not, contracts play a crucial role in our day-to-day lives. Purchasing a TV from a department store forms a contractual relationship. Filling up at the gas station forms a contractual relationship. Things do not always have to be formally reduced to writing to create a legally binding contract, like with…
Corporate/Business Registered Agents
Missouri law requires that each and every business entity which carries on business in the State — partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations, etc. — have a registered agent. The registered agent may be either an individual, domestic corporation, or a foreign corporation authorized to do business in Missouri. The basic purpose of the registered agent…
Foreign Corporations
Because corporations are registered on a state-by-state basis, the rights of a corporation are derived from the powers granted to it by the law of the state in which the corporation was created. In Missouri, when a foreign corporation (i.e., from any other state) seeks to transact business in Missouri, it must first do some…
Family Partnerships & Family Limited liability Companies
A family partnership (FLP) and Family Limited Liability Company (FLLC) are vehicles designed to hold and manage assets that otherwise would be held and managed by individual family members. Quite obviously, only family members — or entities controlled by them (e.g., revocable living trusts or business entities) — will be the partners or members of…
Breach of Lease
A breach of lease is essentially the same thing as a breach of contract. Because a lease is a type of contract, the legal analysis does not change too much, but there are sometimes special statutory laws applicable in interpreting a lease agreement. In general, a legally actionable breach of lease or contract occurs when…
Real Estate Contracts Offers & Contingencies
It’s important to remember that after combing through all of the home listing and finally settling on a home that you feel confident in, that the offer you place on the home vests in the seller of the home the power to accept the contract and thus creates a legally binding contract. A surprising amount…