Legally Sound | Smart Business

Nasir and Matt attempt to do a World Cup themed episode, as they discuss the recent Supreme Court case about patents and answer, "If I sell items online, can I have them agree to the contract by checking a box that no one reads?" Transcript: NASIR: Goal! Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business! This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to our business legal podcast where we cover business in the news and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. Welcome to our World Cup themed episode. Everything we’re talking about is World Cup. We’re not even going to talk about the law. It’s become a sports podcast only for today and only the World Cup. MATT: I don’t know if you saw and I don’t want to get too off tangent but, well, I guess, from what you said, this isn’t off tangent. We’re recording this the day after the US lost in the group stage but ended up advancing. I don’t know if you saw Denny’s when they

Nasir and Matt again talk about Yelp, this time with its new chat feature. They then answer the question, "What's the most important thing to include in a noncompete agreement?" Nasir's note: here is the link to the site he deemed much better than Yelp:http://talkto.com/. Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business! This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to our business podcast where we cover business news and also add our legal twist to the business news and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener who are businesses that can send at ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. MATT: You said the word “business” quite often in that intro. NASIR: I just want to emphasize that we’re focusing on businesses. MATT: This has been the week of intros where I’ve critiqued. I’ve never listened prior to this week. NASIR: Yeah. MATT: I’m finally listening so every episode’s been a critique of your intro. I think, eventually, we’ll

The guys welcome the CEO of Klean Kanteen, Jim Osgood, to discuss why his company decided to become B Corp certified and the positive effects the certification has had. Jim also provides his perspective on the question, "One of our employees does great work and isn't breaking any office rules, but we have noticed he is posting very questionable content on his social media. Can we fire him for this since he lists us as his employer on his profiles?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: Welcome to our podcast. This is where we cover business news and add our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. As I’ve said before, soon to be dot-pizza. I’ve looked it up and it is definitely coming – just not yet – TBD. MATT: I’m glad you took my advice from the last episode and varied your intro. It did sound a little bit differ

Nasir and Matt kick things off by discussing the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office canceling the Washington Redskins' trademark registration. They then answer the following for a dentist from Napa, California, "We have a handfull of clients who owe us money. Some are a couple days late and some are months outstanding. At what point should we sue, or at least threaten suit?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business! This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to our podcast where we cover business news and put in our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. No other comment. MATT: It sounds like you recorded this at a different time and we just throw this in every time because it always sounds the same. I need some variation for future episodes. NASIR: Yeah, I know. I like to comment on the intro as well but I was trying not to this time but you brought it

Nasir and Matt get World Cup fever as they delve into insurance coverage for the big event. The guys also answer the question, "I own a restaurant. Can I help get to the new minimum wage by giving them a $1 food credit each hour?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business! This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news with our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. This is our Friday episode – my favorite. MATT: Yeah, I think it’s what is it? Follow Fridays on Twitter so this is a good opportunity – if you’re listening to this on a Friday morning – I guess you can’t follow us because we don’t have a Twitter for the podcast but what’s the closest thing? You could subscribe on iTunes. NASIR: Just follow us around where we go, you know, and that’s fine, too. Just stalk us. MATT: Yeah, I take my gigantic

Nasir and Matt talk about the recent lawsuits filed against companies in Manila about spam texting. They then answer, "We have a PTO system in place that allows employees to take days off, but many of my employees are requesting the same days off because of the World Cup. Can I prevent some from doing this?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business! My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: We both remembered our names. Great! This is our podcast where we cover business in the news and answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can submit to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. MATT: Yeah, if they can get through typing in the name, sometimes, the questions are shorter than the actual email address they type in to. NASIR: That’s true. Well, that’s the biggest obstacle – getting the email right. If you get that right, then you’re more likely to get the question answered. MATT: That’s true. NASIR: More likely. MATT: That’s definit

The guys discuss Tesla's decision to go open source with its patents and answer the question, "Our sales people get company cell phones that are for work use only. One of our recently fired employees wants the pictures on their phone. Do I have to give it to them?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business! This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: This is Matt. NASIR: Welcome to… Oh, I forgot, Matt Staub is here. MATT: Yeah, Matt Staub is also here. It’s apparently a one-person show this week. NASIR: So, welcome to Episode 55 where we cover business in the news and also put in our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, sends to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. MATT: Apparently, we allow the co-host to talk at times, but not always. NASIR: Well, I just wanted to try it out to see if it was just Legally Sound Smart Business with Nasir Pasha and then that’s it. I just wanted to see. It has nothing to do with you. I just, you know, I was

The guys discuss Kickstarter's decision to lower the barrier for project acceptance and answer the question, "Can I hire some summer interns and not pay them?"

Nasir and Matt welcome author Meg Hirshberg to discuss her recent article about firing your spouse. They address, "I run a business that hinges on customer service. My son is home from college and can't find a job. Is it worth me taking the risk of hiring him knowing he probably won't be good for the business?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And this is where we cover business in the news and also put on our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, sends in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. Very good. MATT: Good intro, too. NASIR: I’m talking about myself – my intro. MATT: Yeah, good intro today. Good job. NASIR: Great. We are going to cover a nice little topic about families and businesses and spouses. I was thinking about this. I probably have at least I can think of four or five different clients that literally it’s a husband and wife operation as

Nasir and Matt talk about the effects of Seattle raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and discuss whether cities like San Diego will follow suit. They then answer, "In late November 2013 I bought some things for a local business and was given a check for the exact amount a few days later. I had forgotten about the check for 2 months and when I went to the bank to cash the check, it bounced due to a closed account. I called the business owner and they said someone had stolen their checkbook awhile back and they had to close the account, and not to worry as they would write another. It's been 4 months now of me texting them each week asking about the check she was supposed to leave at the business and they always just come up with some excuse." Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: This is Legally Sound Smart Business. My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Welcome to our business podcast where we cover business in the news and answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listene

The guys end the week by talking about the waivers signed by participants in extreme sports like Tough Mudder.  They address the question, "I'm an independent contractor and was presented with an agreement that basically makes me liable for any mistake I make and not the company.  Is this fair, or even common practice?"

Nasir and Matt welcome Steve Rothschild to discuss the film tax credit bill recently passed in California, as well as the importance of transferrable tax credits to businesses. They also answer, "I received a demand letter from an attorney that is asking for way more money that I would ever be responsible for. What should I do about this?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: This is our business podcast where we cover business legal news and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, submits to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. We are at the mid-week point, Episode 50. That’s a lot of episodes. MATT: Yeah, pretty crazy. It’s a semi-milestone. NASIR: I thought 48 episodes was a lot but 50 is just… I think we should just stop. It’s too much. MATT: Yeah, we’ll see how this one goes. If it’s the best one, we’ll stop at 50. NASIR: That’s a lot of pressure. MATT: Well, let’s get in

Nasir and Matt kick off the week discussing Apple's acquisition of Beats and whether it was a smart purchase. They then answer the question, "Should I give some of my employees a corporate credit card?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And this is our podcast where we cover business in the news with our business legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you can send at ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com and dot-pizza when that comes. MATT: I think we’ve said that enough now, I don’t know. The joke might be… NASIR: No, it’s not a joke. I just want to get used to saying it when we do get it. MATT: At some point, I guess one of us is actually going to have to look up if that’s even going to become a thing. NASIR: No, it is. I think you thought I was joking these past few episodes but I’ve been looking it up. I don’t know the exact date that it’s coming out. Like you said, you can

Nasir and Matt break down the new laws involving Uber and Lyft in Colorado and answer the question, "Now that it's almost summertime, I want to implement casual Fridays. Is there something I should restrict from a legal standpoint?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: Welcome to our business legal podcast, Episode #48. This is where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions at ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com and soon to be dot-pizza, when I get it. MATT: Almost have it, yeah. NASIR: Don’t send it yet. I’ll tell you when. MATT: It’s a pipedream but it’s all right. NASIR: Very good. Well, today’s a good topic. It’s a recurring topic, right? I don’t know how many times we’ve covered Uber and Lyft and other sharing economy issues. I think this is our fiftieth. Even though we’ve only had 48 episodes, we’ve covered it 50 times, I think. MATT: Yea

The guys discuss the most recent lawsuit involving Paris Hilton's breach of contract and answer, "Is it legal to record audio of employees in the workplace without their consent?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: Welcome to our business legal podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, sends in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. I almost forget the dot-com there. MATT: That’s all right. NASIR: I nailed it. MATT: We bought all of them – all the domain extensions NASIR: That’s right. Actually, I looked into dot-pizza. Apparently, dot-pizza is not out yet. I was going to buy just the waiting list one but I wasn’t sure how that works. As soon as it comes out though. MATT: I find it hard to believe that stuff is going to catch on, but who knows? NASIR: Yeah, we’ll start it, for sure. Well, I’m excited for

Nasir and Matt talk about fast food restaurants replacing employees with robots and answer the question, "I'm trying to raise some capital from investors. When they ask how I am going to use their investment, what should I say?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: Welcome to our business legal podcast where we cover business news and add our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, sends in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. We really appreciate those questions. Those of you who have not sent any questions, you guys can stop listening because we don’t care about you guys. MATT: The people that don’t send in questions don’t have problems so maybe that’s a consideration as well. NASIR: I guess that’s true. Well, you can still listen. MATT: We don’t want to alienate people that don’t have questions that need to be answered – or at least I don’t; maybe you do. N

The guys talk about all you can eat buffets implementing surcharges for unclean plates. They then address, "I have an minor working for me who said they would work for half of what the minimum wage is. Can I legally do this?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Smart Sound Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to the podcast where we cover business stories with our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. MATT: It is the Friday episode so I’d like to give a shout-out to a select listener. I got some compliments this week from – I’ll give the first name only – Ericka. She was giving compliments out. Every introduction is a little bit different and she liked that. NASIR: She liked that? MATT: Yeah, thanks for listening. We appreciate it. I’m sure she’s one of the people too that have given us a good review on iTunes. NASIR: She’d better have. Otherwise,

Nasir and Matt welcome security guru Daniel Libby to discuss the issues involved with the secrecy of whistleblower apps, and answer the question, "We had an issue with some customer info that was compromised. Should we tell our customers, and if so, how?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and add our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions at ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. That was a pretty good intro. MATT: Yeah. NASIR: That was nice and clean. MATT: Yeah, not too bad. NASIR: If I may say so myself. MATT: Yeah, it was good until you brought up the fact that it was nice and clean and good. NASIR: I know. I can’t not comment on the intro. It sticks with me. MATT: That’s fine. NASIR: So, what do we have up today? MATT: Well, this is a pretty interesting story. I was unaware of this before coming across this stor

Nasir and Matt talk about the trademark filing surrounding Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M. They also answer the question, "Can I put anything in my contracts that prevents my customers from leaving a negative Yelp review?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And this is Matt Staub. NASIR: And this is our podcast where we cover business in the news with our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, submits to our podcast at ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. We always have to slow that down for everyone. I feel like, if I say it too fast, no one’s going to get it. MATT: You know, you always bring up the part where we introduce ourselves at the beginning and you always say it’s kind of redundant. I never even really thought about it but I was listening to an episode this morning. NASIR: Is that the first episode you listened to? MATT: It was and it was literally just back to back, but I think it’

The guys discuss Snapchat's seemingly minor punishment for misrepresentations about its privacy policy and answer, "How do I decide what salary to pay myself?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: Welcome to Legally Sound Smart Business. This is Nasir Pasha. MATT: This is Matt Staub. NASIR: Like the NBA – Matthew Staub. Welcome to our podcast. This is where we cover business in the news and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can submit to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. Episode #42. MATT: It is #42, yeah, the Jackie Robinson episode. NASIR: I didn’t see that movie yet. MATT: I relate all numbers to the players that wore the number for sports so we’re getting up to the numbers now. We’re running out of basketball so it’s maybe a little bit of baseball then we’ll cut into some football. Then, once we hit triple digits, it’s pretty much over. NASIR: Yeah, there’s no sports that go up that high that I can think of. Maybe golf? Actually, marathons – they have three-digit