Index of Business Law

Quite a bit actually as it shows the stupidity of reckless excess spending, the importance of having cash (even for the rich) and the failure of most contemporary estate planners and business lawyers to plan ahead and think defensively, yes even the super smart ones who work only with rich people. – Ike Devji The Queen of Versailles traces the lives of billionaires Jackie and David Siegel who...  Read More

The article linked below contains some simple and important issues to consider regarding the taxation of C-corps. As an asset protection attorney I’ve never been a fan of them because they are weak , if not defective from a creditor perspective as the shares can actually be taken from you as an asset and handed to a creditor in the worst cases, unlike an LLC as one alternative. We’ve even seen...  Read More

NPR’s Planet Money team recently aired a report titled “They Won’t Tell You Their Names But They’ll Help You Hide Your Money,” featuring an interview with an asset protection service provider that works from offshore and refuses to reveal his real name. The adviser works under an alias, as does the company’s “director of operations” Adam Wolf, who reportedly appears on their website in a...  Read More

Due to the nature of our practice with thousands of Americans we have safely helped use a variety of tools including offshore trusts in a safe and legal way, we get lots of questions about expatriation. Our position remains the same; the best of usage of these tools is tax neutral and provides surety while allowing you to maintain your life and family inside the U.S. Below are some recent...  Read More

The problem with this DOJ (department of justice) suit is that it really does not address the fundamental problems with publishing. Amazon can coerce publishers to price books according to their dominant marketing position. If a publisher prices a book on Amazon between $2.99 to $9.99 it will receive a royalty of 70% of the purchase price. Any other price will generate a royalty of only 35%. The...  Read More

This article was originally published as a two part series, I provide it in total here below. Asset Protection is not just about lawsuits. It's about a rational understanding of all risks and exposures and being prepared for them, it's a state of mind that provides the confidence of being prepared for the unexpected. Sometimes those expected events are financial or legal, sometimes they are much...  Read More

The next 60 days marks the final push to sell physicians and private business owners across the United States tax plans of both good and questionable value. Promoters of various plans are well aware of the pressures affecting your income and will make a variety of frivolous arguments that appeal to your desire to save. As always a great CPA is your first line of defense against both tax exposure...  Read More

Many of the issues and case studies we have discussed on physician asset protection planning in the age of decreased earnings and unlimited liability may seem daunting and complex. Fortunately, not all the moves you can make require a great deal of time and expertise to address. Here are some small simple issues that every physician can act on by themselves today with little or no cost as a first...  Read More

Computer Disposal at Your Business or Medical Practice: The Other Hazardous Material By Ike Devji, JD | January 3, 2012 Happy New Year! Thank you for your continued readership, feedback and support. We start 2012 by addressing something you may have already done — replaced or updated computers and other electronic equipment in your practices. Like many other businesses, medical...  Read More

For further news on this case, see David Chen, 'Court Approves $40m Black Saturday fire payout', ABC Online , 5 December 2011 . If you want all the technical details, you can read the judgment of Beach J in Thomas v Powercor Australia Ltd [2011] VSC 614 . There is also an interesting decision in Thomas v Powercor Australia Ltd [2011] VSC 586 where Forrest J had to decide whether or...  Read More

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a tool that we use to assess a project's performance at any point in the project lifecycle. A lot of contractors that I work with are under the false belief that a project's profit can only be assessed once it is complete. The greatest benefit of EVM is that it makes risks and other issues visible at an early enough stage to act and mitigate the damage they may...  Read More

Most builders and subbies that I know hate SWMS. But I just can't stress enough how important they are - if you only have one piece of safety paperwork in a job folder, make sure it's a well-written, task-specific SWMS that is signed by all employees working under it. In my opinion, SWMS exists for three reasons: 1. To illustrate that the employer has made a considered effort to maximise...  Read More

Asset Protection for Your Home – Bad Legal Advice is the Norm Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. John Howard Payne (1791 – 1852) A good part of the American dream and the largest single asset many people own is their home. Whether shelter or showpiece, the sanctuary it provides and the investment we make in our homes is...  Read More

Until I started working the desert I hadn't even heard of these. As soon as I came across them I was surprised that such a stupidly simple concept wasn't more widely used in Australia. Now that I'm back here, I still rarely see businesses using CVI's but they are AWESOME. I'm sure that you can relate to a situation where you and your client have had an "informal" meeting on-site where they...  Read More

Do you take photos of your job regularly? With almost every phone having a camera these days you really don't have any excuse not to, and it may just save you a heap of money if you develop this important habit. Often in the event of a dispute, in the absence of superior evidence, site diaries  and progress photos  will be considered as contemporaneous evidence.  This means that they will...  Read More

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a tool that we use to assess a project's performance at any point in the project lifecycle. A lot of contractors that I work with are under the false belief that a project's profit can only be assessed once it is complete. The greatest benefit of EVM is that it makes risks and other issues visible at an early enough stage to act and mitigate the damage they may...  Read More

By Ike Devji, J.D. | July 8, 2011 As we return to work this week after celebrating the most uniquely American of holidays it may be easy to take many of the benefits American business owners and professionals enjoy for granted. This is especially true in light of current economic conditions and the relentless barrage of bad news and negativity on all economic fronts we are presented with on a...  Read More

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected one of the largest class-action suits in history. The group of women who sued Wal-Mart ten years ago on the grounds that women are regularly paid less, and given fewer opportunities than their male counterparts, were told that a sex discrimination charge could not be brought as they were too spread out geographically and their job classifications too...  Read More

Every medical practice has a variety of specialized team members that handle patient intake, billing, collections, office management, and, of course, the delivery of the actual medical care itself. In the best medical practices this system is continually refined and each member is carefully selected and trained to ensure that the practice runs as safely and efficiently as possible. What many good...  Read More

I have been fortunate to work with some of the most successful people in America through the course of my career. All of them excel at something; medicine, business, real-estate development, science, and even the arts. What this vastly diverse crowd has in common (besides money) though are a set of traits that have made them not only good at what they do but wealthy and successful by any standard...  Read More

Two recent articles caught my attention and brought into focus many of the topics I write about and address through planning for Physicians across the country. The first was a nationally published article on the highest paying jobs in the United States that ran in various incarnations in a variety of news sources. That article listed a number of professions and the average income from each of...  Read More

By Ike Devji, J.D. | May 10, 2011 A recurring liability I address in asset-protection planning for doctors surrounds the sale or purchase of a medical practice. Most conflict and losses that arise from the purchase of a medical practice result from a combination of mismatched expectations between buyer and seller, a lapse in due diligence by either party, or the failure of one of the parties...  Read More

By Ike Devji, J.D. | April 19, 2011 In the world of physicians’ legal and financial planning there is no term as simultaneously oversold, feared, and misunderstood as “offshore.” This is especially true at tax time, as all doctors and their practice managers have been bombarded by the promoters of various tax savings schemes that range in skill from “genius” to “criminal.” The legal...  Read More

Don't listen to anyone trying to sell you on the idea of incorporating out-of-state in Nevada or Delaware. More than likely, it's a scam. Read More: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219425 Ike Z. Devji, J.D. "Asset Protection is Net Worth Insurance" www.proassetprotection.com  Read More

Chiropractors say that changes in payment policies by two major private health-insurance companies could slash their income, reduce patient visits and even force some practitioners out of business. One industry group has funded a lawsuit against the director of the Arizona Department of Insurance that seeks to force the agency to halt what chiropractors describe as insurers' unfair payment...  Read More

Dear friends and connections, The comprehension of Law, Politics and Ethics, in their most basic issues (and, therefore, most essential issues), was my main activity in the last 10 years. When I say comprehension, I mean not only my intellectual formation, but, mainly, my professional experiences as a lawyer and my passion for these areas. Recently, I focused to a small field in which these...  Read More

This is my latest article for Physicians Practice, where I am a weekly contributor. I hope it is of use to you and your associates. It is abridged due to size limits but offers a snapshot of a few of the issue that are addressed during this process. Even the short version shows substantial improvements of the type we achieve on a daily basis. Yours, Ike Devji Making Over a Physician’s...  Read More

© Ike Z. Devji, J.D. The first version of this went to my clients in December of 2007. I hope your advisors shared similar insights with you. As we move into the second quarter of 2011 we look back at the lessons learned and forward to new opportunities. Below are some critical points we have seen illustrated many times by those we work with, some of the most successful and intelligent people...  Read More

The Snopes Report Confirms the info below: http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/spokeo.asp There's a site called Spokeo.com that's a new online USA phone book w/personal info: pics you've posted on FB or web, your approx credit score, home value, income, age, etc. You can remove yourself! Search for yourself on their site (don't buy the access), copy that URL of your page (to do this...  Read More

[caption id="attachment_214" align="alignleft" width="279" caption="Ed Hinerman, Owner, The Hinerman Group"] [/caption] The importance of working with legal and financial professionals that really do their homework is more important than ever before as Americans are taking estate planning seriously, reviewing the economic effieicney and being "pitched" a variety of options. Insurance expert...  Read More