Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC - Attorneys at Law

02/23/2026

BUSINESS BULLETIN- February 2026
Protecting Your Right to Arbitrate

Many businesses include an arbitration provision in their contracts to enhance speed, ensure efficiency, and provide consistency in resolving business disputes. While most courts generally favor arbitration if agreed by the parties, a recent court ruled that the business’ filing a motion to dismiss a lawsuit before filings its motion to compel arbitration waived the contractual right to arbitrate the dispute. Be careful how you or your lawyer responds to a lawsuit to avoid waiving your contractual right to arbitrate the dispute.

If you have any questions or if we can assist you, please contact us.

09/22/2025

BUSINESS BULLETIN- September 2025
Preserving Accounts, Usernames, and Passwords

We are seeing an increasing number of situations where family members, employers, executors, and guardians are unable to access or even discover a disabled, deceased persons, or former employee’s accounts, phones, computers, emails, social media accounts, electronic wallets, vehicle titles, and other assets. To avoid this loss and excessive costs, please be sure you have the following in a safe, secure, and assessable location known to a trusted friend or attorney in the event of your death or disability:

• A complete list of and the documents relating to accounts, bitcoin, assets, real estate, vehicles, electronic wallets, and other items of value;
• All account holders, accounts, pins, usernames, passcodes, keys, access codes, storage locations, and combinations;
• Complete contact information for all attorneys, accountants, wealth managers, tax preparers, family members, care providers, and doctors;
• All legal papers, trusts, wills, insurance policies, leases, titles, and similar documents; and
• A list of all medications, allergies, and related medical information.

The failure to do so could cause delays and increase the costs of obtaining the information, as well as cause possible losses. Should you have any questions, please contact us.

08/26/2025

BUSINESS BULLETIN- August 2025
Social Media Legal Traps

Social media has been a boon for many businesses, but businesses must use it with caution. Some of the legal traps of social media include:

• Not treating your company’s social media posts as marketing subject to advertising laws.
• Overlooking sweepstakes and other laws applicable to giveaways and promotions.
• Not realizing you can be responsible for your influencers’ and content creators’ content.
• Sharing or posting inappropriate content.
• Not obtaining appropriate rights when sharing others’ content.
• Failing to comply with social media platform terms.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

08/12/2025

BUSINESS BRIEF – July 2025
Maximizing Your Disaster Insurance Recovery

Following a business disaster, even the savviest owner can be in shock and unable to comprehend how to recover. Having a disaster recovery plan in place before an occurrence can speed up the process and maximize your recovery.

A disaster recovery plan should include:

• Proper Documentation. Photograph and document real and personal property periodically to have evidence of their existence and pre-disaster condition.
• Document Preservation. Multiple copies of insurance policies, property valuations, titles, and other important papers should be stored in safe and accessible locations.
• Contact Information. Contact information for all relevant parties should be maintained in a safe and easily accessible manner.
• Quick Response Team. Have materials and people available and accessible to begin emergency prevention, protection, salvage, and reclamation.
• Be Proactive. Contact all insurers and others as soon as possible with written and dated notices that comply with all notice requirements.
• Early Assessment. Evaluating and presenting claims early, with the opportunity to supplement, may speed responses.
• Collect and Preserve. Preserve all relevant documents, communications, electronic information, and photographs that will be needed for claims and recovery.
• Proof of Loss. While time-consuming, your proof of loss must be as comprehensive and as complete as possible.
• Government Assistance. Do not overlook the opportunity for government relief, grants, and loans to get you through the disaster.
• Professional Help. Independent loss assessors, insurance adjusters, forensic accountants, and other professionals can help when appropriate.

Working with competent and experienced attorneys, accountants, and other professionals can also help maximize any recovery. The attorneys at Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC can assist you in preparing a disaster relief plan and addressing the consequences of any disaster.

07/15/2025

BUSINESS BRIEF- June 2025
Family Gifting

Family gifts come in many forms and are made for various reasons. If they are of substantial value, care should be taken to avoid regrets or problems thereafter. Major gifting should also be considered in light of future life care and estate plans. Some of the issues to consider include:

• Loan or gift. While it can be both or part of each, the donor’s intention needs to be clear.

• Immediate or delayed delivery. When and how will the gift be complete?

• Cash or property. Whether both or some of each, can the recipient maintain the property without adequate income?

• Tax consequences. Substantial gifts may require value confirmation and a gift tax return filed by donor.

• Proper documentation. To avoid later disputes and estate confusion, document the gift and preserve the document.

• Donee Concerns. Will the gift upset the recipient’s rights to entitlements?

• Restricted Gifts. Will the gift have any restrictions on use or inheritance?

• Recapture. Will the donor be able to use or claw back the gift if needed?

• Estate plan. Will the gift disrupt or supplement the donor’s existing estate plan.

• Enforceability. Can the gift be challenged by your heirs after death?

• Retained rights. Does the donor retain any rights in or impose restrictions on the gifted property?

• Loan forgiveness. Document the gift of loan forgiveness.

• Competency. Document the donor’s authority and competency to make the gift.

If you are considering gifting to a family member or others, please contact us with any questions or issues.

07/09/2025

July 2025
MONTHLY BUSINESS BYTES

Our Business Bytes highlight recent publications, issues, events and successes that we think our clients and friends should know about. We seek out, sort, prioritize, and summarize them for your quick review. Please contact us if you have any questions, issues, or problems with your business or otherwise that we can help solve.

Payable on Death. Like designating the beneficiary in your life insurance policy, more states and investment vehicles allow owners to use pay on death (POD) or transfer on death (TOD) provisions to avoid probate and transfer real and personal assets to the designated party on death. POD and TOD accounts should only be used in conjunction with your overall estate plan, reviewed periodically, and with appropriate counsel.

Facebook Evidence. As recent news articles have shown, Facebook and other social media posts, comments, and even frequenting websites are discoverable by numerous sources. The courts are no exception and Facebook and other posts are frequently used as evidence. Be wary of what you post.

Family Business Lawsuits. When disputes arise in a family owned or operated business, don’t be too quick to hit the lawsuit button and don’t let a personal issue be the last straw before filing suit. To preserve the business and the family, work with an experienced attorney who is a counselor and not just a litigator.

05/05/2025

May 2025
MONTHLY BUSINESS BYTES

Our Business Bytes highlights recent publications, issues, events and successes that we think our clients and friends should know about. We seek out, sort, prioritize and summarize them for your quick review. Please contact us if you have any questions, issues or problems with your business or otherwise that we can help solve.

Severance Agreements.
Although it is common for employee severance agreements to condition its benefits on the terminated employee’s promises of non-disclosure, confidentiality, and non-disparagement, the National Labor Relations Board finds such conditions improper. Be sure your severance agreements are in compliance.

Cyber Insurance.
Like other forms of insurance, the protection of cyber insurance lies in the policy details. A qualified and trusted advisor should be consulted before acquiring such coverage and a checklist of questions to ask is helpful.

Patents.
Your creation of a new, useful, and non-obvious process, machine, or composition, or creating a new or useful improvement thereon could entitle you to a patent; a government authorized and enforceable right to protect your exclusive use for a specific period of time. Although the result can be very valuable, acquiring a patent is costly and time consuming.

12/18/2024

BUSINESS BULLETIN- December 2024
Life Insurance Beneficiaries

The mistake of failing to properly designate the beneficiary on your life insurance policies can have substantial consequences after your death. Some of the mistakes to avoid include:

• Not naming a beneficiary;
• Not naming contingent beneficiaries;
• Not properly identifying beneficiaries;
• Not removing beneficiaries when appropriate;
• Naming minors as beneficiaries;
• Naming multiple beneficiaries; and
• Naming beneficiaries that could lose entitlement to other benefits.

The attorneys at Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC can assist you in determining the best way to designate beneficiaries on your life insurance, as well as advise you on all estate planning matters. Please contact us with any questions or concerns.

12/05/2024

BUSINESS BULLETIN
Residential Buyer’s Broker

A recent court settlement disrupted the prior practice of residential real estate brokers automatically splitting the seller’s commission with the cooperating or buyer’s broker. As a result, residential real estate buyers need to negotiate a fee with the broker that assists them in finding a home and will be asked to sign an agreement with the broker before they assist you. The contract will identify who will pay and how much will be paid to the buyer’s broker. Buyers should require their broker negotiate a commission split with the listing or seller’s broker, eliminating a direct payment from the buyer at closing. Buyers should also ensure that any offer to purchase should identify the buyer’s broker commission and provide that the seller will pay the buyer’s broker commission.

Should you have any questions about retaining a buyer’s broker or how to address a fee, please contact us.

SPECIAL NOTICE

If your business is a government authorized entity with fewer that twenty full-time employees and gross receipts or sales of less than $5,000,000.00 per year, federal law requires that you provide beneficial ownership information to the U.S. Treasury’s FINCEN by January 1, 2025, to avoid possible penalties. You can do so online at https://fincen.gov/boi or contact Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble to assist you.

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11/05/2024

November 2024
MONTHLY BUSINESS BYTES

Our Business Bytes highlights recent publications, issues, events and successes that we think our clients and friends should know about. We seek out, sort, prioritize and summarize them for your quick review. Please contact us if you have any questions, issues or problems with your business or otherwise that we can help solve.

Fake Reviews: Consumers’ increasing reliance on a business’ online reviews make those reviews and the ratings they generate increasingly important to businesses. Unfortunately, bad actors or unscrupulous competitors can post negative, damaging, and false reviews, often anonymously. Although difficult to find the culprits, courts are beginning to recognize claims for the harm caused by false reviews.

Business Interruption Insurance: Deciding the amount and type of business interruption insurance is part science and part art. The science is determining the scope, areas, duration, anticipated loss, and expense of a business interruption. The art is selecting the right policy, evaluating the risks, and deciding how much you are willing to pay for this protection.

Full Disclosure: Like your doctor, your business lawyer needs to know all of the facts and your goals to properly advise and represent you in any situation. Withholding information, like concealing health systems, can be fatal to your business or your case. As disclosures to your counsel are usually confidential pursuant to the attorney/client privilege, always be open and honest to maximize the benefit of counsel.

10/29/2024

Political Speech in the Workplace

With the federal and other elections looming, non-governmental employers are often confronted with addressing political speech in the workplace. As these discussions can become heated and affect employee morale, employers should establish strategies and publish policies that may help protect the business and its employees. Any policy must consider federal, state, and regulatory worker protections applicable to private employees’ right to engage in political activities. While protecting your business and employees, candidate bumper stickers on employee vehicles in the parking lot is acceptable while employee use of the company e-mail and resources to solicit support for a particular candidate or party may not be. Any policies or strategies must take into account both a respectful and inclusive workplace and employees’ rights. Proper professional advice in this area is always advised.

Should you have any questions or concerns please contact us.