Arizona Business Laws

My name is Neal Bookspan. I’m a partner at Jaburg and Wilk. I help my clients manage their legal risks in the area of litigation, transactional work, and creditor’s rights.

What is an Alternative Dispute Resolution?

Here in Arizona, our superior state court has an alternative dispute resolution department. And what that is, it’s about trying to get cases resolved in some manner.   When it comes to state court it involves settlement conferences but it also can mean mediation, arbitration, and then there’s a whole bunch of different variances of these type of situations. And what it is, is it’s a method for parties to try to take control of their disputes and get them resolved in a manner that is hopefully more efficient, less expensive, and lets them move on in their business.

What are mediation and arbitration?

A lot of people get mediation and arbitration confused. Mediation is where you use a neutral third party to help resolve or settle a dispute. It would also be referred to as shuttle diplomacy. Usually parties are put into separate conference rooms and the mediator shuttles between these room trying to help people resolve their disputes.   Arbitration is where you use a third party to serve as a judge. These people usually are retired judges or a very experienced practicing attorney. And what they do is they actually serve as the judge. It is a much more informal proceeding. It is usually held in a conference room and – while it has all the seriousness of a real trial in front of a judge, and the same results – it usually can be done in a manner that will make it happen faster than you can get to trial in court, hopefully, less expensively. And they’re also other possibilities including making it a binding arbitration so that no one can appeal and there’s finality. Which even when parties aren’t happy with the decision, it at least allows them to move on and move forward from the dispute.

By: Neal Bookspan

Hello, I’m Michelle Lombino, a partner at Jaburg & Wilk, and a business lawyer and certified understanding-based mediator.

Having a Positive Mind

Frequently when people are entering into deals, the positive mindset dominates. They’re very eager, they’re very excited to get the deal done. They’re willing to compromise with the other party. But at the same time– oftentimes that is, they will rush through things they don’t want to confront or address issues that they fear might derail their deal.

It is fashionable to tap the virtues of the positive mind; and the positive mind is beneficial. It focuses on what works, on results, it’s action oriented. But if the positive mind dominates, parties may be easily fooled. They may not consider the risks or the potential pitfalls of a problem. Over the years I’ve been involved in many a litigation involving Ponzi schemes, and I’ve thought that those Ponzi schemes might be the result of the positive mind dominating.

Having a Negative Mind

Yes, at its best, the negative mind sees the risks and potential downfall of a situation. However, taken to its extreme, the negative mind can lead to anger, intolerance, and a sense of frustration. Many a settlement negotiation has fallen apart because the negative mind has predominated.

Changing Your Mindset

Yes, first by recognizing the benefit of using both the positive mind and the negative mind, and using both approaches. And second, by cultivating a neutral mind that can consider both what could go right and what could go wrong, and from that place deciding the best approach.

By: Michelle Lombino

I’m Beth Cohn. I’m an attorney at Jaburg Wilk, and I work in the area of business transactions.

How Do I Prepare to Sell My Business

What people need to do first is to determine whether they have a buyer for their business. And a lot of times they’ll come in and they’ll say, “I want to sell my business,” and I’ll say, “Who are you going to sell it to?” And they don’t really have an idea of how to go about finding a buyer.

Can’t Find a Buyer

Sometimes they will sell their business, and other times they can’t find a buyer, so what they look at is that they look at the possibility of children coming into the business. Or they sometimes look at the possibility of employees buying their business.

How Should I Transfer Ownership to My Children

Sometimes what they’ll do when they’re transferring to their children is that they may sell interests in the business to their children, and what the parents will do is that they will decrease their own compensation so that what they’re getting is payments for their business interests instead of getting paid salary. So that works out really well, and it creates the cash that the parents need, and it gives the children the ownership in the business.

What Are My Options Outside of Family Members

The two choices are to try to find a buyer during their lifetime so that they can at least get the liquidity from the business and enjoy that part of their efforts and labor. Or after they die it’s sometimes very difficult to sell the business, because when the key person dies a lot of times the value of the business goes down significantly.

By: Beth Cohn