Remote working… my, does that have a familiar ring! To me, it means great views (a huge swath of bright blue water just past my back deck) and no traffic congestion (a walk downstairs, around the corner and into my well-equipped home office). Voila, the Marina Bay version of Widett and McCarthy!
I don’t want to crow too much. After all, some of my colleagues are currently working in a tiny corner of the basement or sharing space at the dining room table with an equally hard working spouse. And then, there are the kids and their online classrooms who are getting less exercise as a result, which means too much energy at night! I understand, it is not necessarily a pretty picture for parents. As for me, I am taking full advantage of my peaceful surroundings.
Remote working has also given me the chance to think more about my clients’ situations. In the “old days,” when I began the practice of law (and since LinkedIn has bellowed to the world the fact that Widett and McCarthy is 25 years old this year, many of you are taking a guess at how long I practiced in a larger Boston firm before I started my own. Well, cut it out … that’s on a need to know basis!), we did not march to the tune of technology and automation. We had time to ponder, think, consider and discuss with colleagues various ways to address clients’ challenges. Clients did not expect immediate responses; they understood that lawyers needed to give their issue some professional thought and they accepted that. But, today, the technology that allows us to respond quickly and efficiently has also taken away the very thing we treasured … time to think. The pandemic has given me some of that back.
Remote working… it enveloped us so quickly — and it is here to stay.
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Marijo McCarthy, Esq.
Pr
esident, Widett and McCarthy, P.C.
Concentrating in contracts and small business purchase and sales
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Non-Disclosure Agreements: First Document to Sign Before the Offer
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When I take on the responsibility for helping a client sell a business, part of my job is “protection.” Protection from unrealistic expectations; protection from disclosing too much too soon; protection, to the extent possible, from the stress that comes with a sale.
Part of that protection, and one of the things that I ask my client to complete first, is a mutually signed Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). If the client is working with a good business broker, that is produced in short order.
If the client has been dealing directly with “tire kickers,” well, that’s another story. That scenario leads us into our first serious conversation and it generally goes something like this:
Me: So, before we get too far down the line talking about Offers and Purchase and Sales Agreements, can you send me a copy of the signed NDA?
Client (about to break my heart!): What is an NDA?
Me: Well, a non-disclosure agreement is usually put into place
before any confidential or proprietary information is exchanged, in order to protect that information from careless disclosure or wrongful use. If you are working with a good business broker…
Client (interrupting me): I’m not. I know some people who might be good buyers for my business and I have started talking with them.
Me: Oh, okay, well, how about if I give you a form of NDA and you get all of those potential buyers (and probably competitors) to sign up before you go any further? That will at least protect any of your confidential information before you disclose anything else. Sound good?
And on we go from there, hopefully, stopping the flow of vital information before any more of it leaks out the door.
If this sounds like you, please stop where you are and contact your trusty legal counsel right now.
He or she will be happy to protect your interests in this oh so important business transaction!
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A World War II factual thriller of good and evil…
It is June of 1943 and we are on the eve of the first Nazi attempt to assassinate one of "The Big Three:" Winston Churchill. It wasn’t the first and would not be the last such effort.
Howard Blum has a wonderful facility for turning history into highly readable prose, so smooth-flowing, in fact, that it seems to be fiction. But
“
Night of the Assassins
” is not fiction, it is fact.
Blum’s history of “Operation Long Jump” in October of 1943 —
the Nazi plot to assassinate FDR, Churchill and Stalin at their Tehran summit — takes the reader at breakneck speed into a thriller of epic proportions. Because it is based on extensive historical research (be sure to read the Epilogue when you reach the end… it stands on its own), it is not really a mystery. After all, the reader knows the conclusion. However, this does not take away from the slow, but sure, suspenseful buildup as Blum takes us closer and closer to an event which could have drastically reversed what then appeared to be the beginning of the end of World War II.
Blum builds the story around two completely opposite protagonists: Michael Reilly, the head of FDR’s Secret Service, charged with protecting the life of the man he calls “the Boss,” and Walter Schellenberg, the SS general whose remit was German intelligence. Reilly thought of himself as brawn, not brains, but at thirty-one he stepped up to the challenge of foiling a plot by Schellenberg against the President of the United States and his allies. Schellenberg’s responsibility becomes a desperate fulfillment of the plans and plots to eliminate the risk that the Big Three present to his psychotic boss’ dreams of ruling the world. Not only are the two men polar opposites, their goals are also diametrically opposed.
The history is compelling and highly readable, and the broad strokes of the two main characters’ psyches are peeled back, layer by layer, in the context of the societal culture of the time.
Reilly finds the evil in the world around him inconceivable and fights to overcome it; Schellenberg recognizes, even acknowledges, the Nazi evil perpetrated upon the world, knows that he very well will stand trial for crimes against humanity when Germany loses the war, but proceeds with determination to push that evil to its final result.
Blum’s style and method of its telling will resonate with a broad swath of readers, bringing them along on his breathless journey and its eventual conclusion.
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Widett and McCarthy concentrates in advising small business owners in the areas of contracts and small business purchase and sales.
Whether reviewing a contract for services with a customer, negotiating a lease with a landlord, finalizing financing documents with a lender, we make sure our clients' best interests are protected.
For those clients who are either acquiring a business or are ready to pass the torch and reap the benefits of their hard work and investment, advising on those all-important Offers and Purchase and Sales Agreements when the time is right is paramount. We work closely with them to ensure the best possible outcome.
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Widett and McCarthy, P.C.
1075 Washington Street
West Newton, MA 02465
Telephone: 617.964.5559
Facsimile: 617.964.5529
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The information you obtain at this site is not,
nor is it intended to be, legal advice.
You should consult an attorney for individual advice
regarding your own situation.
Copyright © 2020 Widett and McCarthy, P.C.
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