McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC offers a full array of legal services to meet the needs of businesses and individuals. Our attorneys represent diverse backgrounds, interests and legal emphasis, but we share one common goal – providing the highest quality legal services to our clients through the combination of our talents, experience, and expertise. In each case, we strive to tailor those services to meet each client’s specific circumstances.
The firm’s origins trace back to 1973 and it has continued to grow in its range of services and the diversity of its attorneys. A number of the firm’s attorneys previously practiced in larger law firms. As a result, McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC has a sophisticated corporate practice common to the larger law firms while maintaining the relationships and responsiveness of a small firm. Our clients include businesses, individuals, institutions, and local governments. Service and responsiveness are the key to McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC’s continuing growth and success,
The corporate services group provides advice in business planning, transactions, bond financing, taxation, real estate, healthcare reimbursement, labor and employment law compliance, environmental regulation, and other related areas. We also offer services in estate planning, and trust and estate administration and fiduciary law. Service and responsiveness are the key to McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC continuing growth and success.
The litigation group assists clients in resolving disputes and claims, whether by settlement, trial, appeal, or alternative dispute resolution, in state and federal courts, as well as before various governmental agencies. Our attorneys are experienced in many and diverse specialized areas of practice, from commercial litigation to family law, from environmental litigation to criminal defense, from trusts and estates to mergers and acquisitions, from financial to employment law, and from tax to creditor rights.
Suspecting Embezzlement? Here’s What To Do
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly withholding assets for the purpose of conversion (theft) of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the possessions were delegated, either to be held or to be utilized for specific functions. It is also a very serious allegation. You do not wish to charge somebody of embezzlement without being absolutely certain it is true.
If you think that someone in your firm, especially a supervisor or somebody in a placement of authority over you, is embezzling funds, there are a few points to remember before getting the phone and calling the authorities.
The preliminary response of someone experiencing a criminal offense is to call the police yet typically in an embezzlement instance that will certainly not get you anywhere but fired and it gives the implicated time to ruin evidence or cover their tracks. The police will usually not carry out an examination into the internal financial workings of a company. You will wish to do a few things to attempt to gather evidence of wrong doing.
You don't want a hard drive to comfortably crash when an internal examination is noticeable to the accused. Make sure that there are copies available and in a safe place.
Having someone take a look at the situation as well as the evidence in an objective way is extremely crucial. If the issue happens to be a bookkeeping mistake or other innocent blunder within the firm you have saved not only the track record of a person potentially being accused yet likewise your own as the accuser.
You wish to see to it that you do not confront or otherwise hint the accused you are suspecting something. If you do talk to them regarding the problem see to it you are always in the visibility of others to ensure that you don't get involved in a physical run-in or get accused of threatening or other harassment charges.
Doing a rigorous investigation of the probable embezzlement can reveal expensive errors in company policy or audit techniques. As stated above, the absent funds may be a result of mismanagement but not necessarily theft. Discovering these openings earlier rather than later on can enhance the profitability of your firm in the long run. Changing business policy regarding the checks and balances regarding funds may also prevent any type of embezzlement.
If it happens to be a significant quantity of money, you have evidence and know without the shade of a doubt that your employer is embezzling from the company you will wish to get in touch with the qualified attorneys. You must be prepared to provide any evidence you have actually collected.
As an informer, you will want to make sure your civil rights are protected in an embezzlement situation and try to avoid any type of backlash by working with a knowledgeable attorney in white collar crimes. With a background in accounting and taxation, our attorneys at Mckoon, Williams, Atchley and Stulce PLLC are uniquely suited to handle white collar crimes, including financial fraud and embezzlement.
If you think that someone in your firm, especially a supervisor or somebody in a placement of authority over you, is embezzling funds, there are a few points to remember before getting the phone and calling the authorities.
Evidence:
The preliminary response of someone experiencing a criminal offense is to call the police yet typically in an embezzlement instance that will certainly not get you anywhere but fired and it gives the implicated time to ruin evidence or cover their tracks. The police will usually not carry out an examination into the internal financial workings of a company. You will wish to do a few things to attempt to gather evidence of wrong doing.
Back up digital data
You don't want a hard drive to comfortably crash when an internal examination is noticeable to the accused. Make sure that there are copies available and in a safe place.
Discretely call an attorney
Having someone take a look at the situation as well as the evidence in an objective way is extremely crucial. If the issue happens to be a bookkeeping mistake or other innocent blunder within the firm you have saved not only the track record of a person potentially being accused yet likewise your own as the accuser.
Do not confront the accused
You wish to see to it that you do not confront or otherwise hint the accused you are suspecting something. If you do talk to them regarding the problem see to it you are always in the visibility of others to ensure that you don't get involved in a physical run-in or get accused of threatening or other harassment charges.
Discovering the holes
Doing a rigorous investigation of the probable embezzlement can reveal expensive errors in company policy or audit techniques. As stated above, the absent funds may be a result of mismanagement but not necessarily theft. Discovering these openings earlier rather than later on can enhance the profitability of your firm in the long run. Changing business policy regarding the checks and balances regarding funds may also prevent any type of embezzlement.
Next Steps
If it happens to be a significant quantity of money, you have evidence and know without the shade of a doubt that your employer is embezzling from the company you will wish to get in touch with the qualified attorneys. You must be prepared to provide any evidence you have actually collected.
As an informer, you will want to make sure your civil rights are protected in an embezzlement situation and try to avoid any type of backlash by working with a knowledgeable attorney in white collar crimes. With a background in accounting and taxation, our attorneys at Mckoon, Williams, Atchley and Stulce PLLC are uniquely suited to handle white collar crimes, including financial fraud and embezzlement.
5 Legal Tips On Non-Disclosure Agreement
Because information as well as ideas are usually an business's most important asset, additional steps must be taken to protect it.
Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements are essential agreements used to protect an individual or company's sensitive information and proprietary ideas.
A Confidentiality Agreement, additionally known as an NDA, essentially acts as a document shield, preventing your company information from being revealed to your competitors. Though, its power derives entirely from its capability to make potential disclosers think twice prior to giving the game away. The clearly specified threat of severe legal action is usually enough to ruin the plans of a former employee, business partner or third party to use your proprietary information for personal gain.
Yet your confidentiality arrangement will just work as a deterrent if it's composed and also executed effectively.
Here are 5 legal tips on NDA from McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC corporate lawyers.
Templates are fine, as long as you use them as just that: a template. The trouble with using templates is that lots of them on the Internet are generic and will likely fail to meet your requirements.
Your absolute top priority when drafting your confidentiality arrangement is to be specific and take into account the special aspects of the industry, deal, arrangements, and the needs of the parties involved.
You can also easily find a variety of NDAs online from huge companies as well as market leaders. Reading these examples can give you some understanding of what believed leaders are doing to protect their work, which conditions you need to include, and also what language is being used by others in your job. McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC has rich experience of drawing up such agreements and will advise what else should be included.
Among the greatest mistakes is to compose your confidentiality agreement with language that's overly broad or too vague.
If your agreement encounters scrutiny in court as a result of a violation, there's a high risk that your arrangement will be considered to be "void for vagueness" if the used definitions are uncertain or vague thus making it impossible to follow its terms and conditions
One more typical omission is forgetting to include the third parties. Disclosing Parties are frequently so concentrated on protecting themselves from one of the most immediate hazard, that they neglect to look and take into consideration other parties who may be included.
For instance, your may be contracting with a programmer to assist get your new exclusive software program prepared for the general public market.
The programmer, the instant Recipient Party of your secret information, likely doesn't function alone. The programmer may contract 3rd parties to perform part of their services.
If your Confidentiality Agreement does nothing to hold those people to confidential standards, then you risk leaving an open hole in your protection. Do include all involved.
Another usual trap when it comes to NDAs is not setting a reasonable time frame for how long the duty of confidentiality must last.
Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of creating an unrealistic duration, while others fall short to include this detail completely.
The significance of this period is that it aids to establish a definitive obligation for the Recipient Party. Otherwise you risk having your NDA nullified in court since it's simply too unclear to be imposed.
Do be realistic. While you are justified in your intention to protect your information, you also have to be reasonable otherwise the Recipient Party might find no point in signing your agreement at all.
Bare in mind that some confidential information has a finite lifespan. Trade secrets must not.
Some business owners feel uncomfortable broaching the topic of signing a confidentiality agreement while others take an even more careless attitude and wait until the discussion "gets more serious."
The risk in waiting is that, for one, early conversations can easily include pieces of secret information. A discussion can quickly escalate, especially if the parties are eager or excited.
The last point you want is to stop a great exchange of your thoughts dead in its tracks since you understand you cannot say much words without revealing something important. Simply put, even if you didn't intend on having a comprehensive discussion right away, it might easily happen in the heat of the moment.
It's also crucial to bear in mind that anything you state, even in preliminary conversations, can be at risk to disclosure. So even if you seem like you've been very careful about what you say, there is a chance that the other party took something seemingly insignificant that you stated and ran with it.
Do sign a confidentiality arrangement upfront. While it may not be possible to learn about every conversation before it takes place, you reasonably know about vital conversations beforehand, especially with designers, staff members, potential business partners, etc.
McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC functions as "general counsel" to many clients offering legal advice that is driven by the needs and pace of business. Non-disclosure agreement is the document that can save your business and guarantee its top place in the industry. Legal help is vital here. Contact our corporate lawyers to draft the agreement that will protect your information.
Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements are essential agreements used to protect an individual or company's sensitive information and proprietary ideas.
A Confidentiality Agreement, additionally known as an NDA, essentially acts as a document shield, preventing your company information from being revealed to your competitors. Though, its power derives entirely from its capability to make potential disclosers think twice prior to giving the game away. The clearly specified threat of severe legal action is usually enough to ruin the plans of a former employee, business partner or third party to use your proprietary information for personal gain.
Yet your confidentiality arrangement will just work as a deterrent if it's composed and also executed effectively.
Here are 5 legal tips on NDA from McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC corporate lawyers.
1. Don't use template agreements from the Internet
Templates are fine, as long as you use them as just that: a template. The trouble with using templates is that lots of them on the Internet are generic and will likely fail to meet your requirements.
Your absolute top priority when drafting your confidentiality arrangement is to be specific and take into account the special aspects of the industry, deal, arrangements, and the needs of the parties involved.
You can also easily find a variety of NDAs online from huge companies as well as market leaders. Reading these examples can give you some understanding of what believed leaders are doing to protect their work, which conditions you need to include, and also what language is being used by others in your job. McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC has rich experience of drawing up such agreements and will advise what else should be included.
2. Do not be ambiguous
Among the greatest mistakes is to compose your confidentiality agreement with language that's overly broad or too vague.
If your agreement encounters scrutiny in court as a result of a violation, there's a high risk that your arrangement will be considered to be "void for vagueness" if the used definitions are uncertain or vague thus making it impossible to follow its terms and conditions
3. Include Third Parties
One more typical omission is forgetting to include the third parties. Disclosing Parties are frequently so concentrated on protecting themselves from one of the most immediate hazard, that they neglect to look and take into consideration other parties who may be included.
For instance, your may be contracting with a programmer to assist get your new exclusive software program prepared for the general public market.
The programmer, the instant Recipient Party of your secret information, likely doesn't function alone. The programmer may contract 3rd parties to perform part of their services.
If your Confidentiality Agreement does nothing to hold those people to confidential standards, then you risk leaving an open hole in your protection. Do include all involved.
4. Set a time frame
Another usual trap when it comes to NDAs is not setting a reasonable time frame for how long the duty of confidentiality must last.
Some entrepreneurs make the mistake of creating an unrealistic duration, while others fall short to include this detail completely.
The significance of this period is that it aids to establish a definitive obligation for the Recipient Party. Otherwise you risk having your NDA nullified in court since it's simply too unclear to be imposed.
Do be realistic. While you are justified in your intention to protect your information, you also have to be reasonable otherwise the Recipient Party might find no point in signing your agreement at all.
Bare in mind that some confidential information has a finite lifespan. Trade secrets must not.
5. Don't delay signing
Some business owners feel uncomfortable broaching the topic of signing a confidentiality agreement while others take an even more careless attitude and wait until the discussion "gets more serious."
The risk in waiting is that, for one, early conversations can easily include pieces of secret information. A discussion can quickly escalate, especially if the parties are eager or excited.
The last point you want is to stop a great exchange of your thoughts dead in its tracks since you understand you cannot say much words without revealing something important. Simply put, even if you didn't intend on having a comprehensive discussion right away, it might easily happen in the heat of the moment.
It's also crucial to bear in mind that anything you state, even in preliminary conversations, can be at risk to disclosure. So even if you seem like you've been very careful about what you say, there is a chance that the other party took something seemingly insignificant that you stated and ran with it.
Do sign a confidentiality arrangement upfront. While it may not be possible to learn about every conversation before it takes place, you reasonably know about vital conversations beforehand, especially with designers, staff members, potential business partners, etc.
McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stulce, PLLC functions as "general counsel" to many clients offering legal advice that is driven by the needs and pace of business. Non-disclosure agreement is the document that can save your business and guarantee its top place in the industry. Legal help is vital here. Contact our corporate lawyers to draft the agreement that will protect your information.
Legal Ways To Divorce Quickly
When it is essential to divorce quickly, there are some legal ways to speed the process depending on the issues between the existing spouses such as child support and custody. If the two parties are on the same page, this can greatly influence the timeline along with using another form of divorce approach such as mediation.
When there are certain crucial aspects within the divorce itself, one or both parties may demand that the procedure finishes as quickly as possible. These factors often affect particular concerns such as the ownership of a business, child custody and also when one or both are leaving Tennessee or even the US. Some areas require the separating parties to stay in the location till the divorce is completed. Some custody matters entail others such as extended family or a foster treatment scenario. Speeding the divorce is important to fixing various issues between the marriage, in the household as well as with external elements.
One reason to accelerate the divorce involves the expenses of legal assistance. When both parties require to retain a divorce lawyer, the costs might grow. If the two parties have any chance of settlement, the attorneys may still need to help along the procedure with mediation, arbitration or a lawsuit. Presenting the case to a court or the 3rd party frequently calls for the help or assistance of an attorney. With other expenses and fees added to the final amount, the difference between weeks and months of working together with an attorney is substantial.
Reaching an agreement with the partner is generally the quickest way to speed the divorce to make sure that it does not take weeks or months to finish the procedure. This is additionally possible through mediation with an open dialogue as well as complete understanding of all the details such as custody, spousal support and the division of marital property. When both sides are absolutely ready for cooperation and compromise and all assets are open and disclosed, the process might go much faster.
The quickest divorces typically exist when they are both uncontested and no-fault.
The uncontested divorce is one of the primary means to move the divorce procedure along promptly. This is when one party does not contest the specific issues within the dissolution of the relationship such as taking on more liability or letting go of additional assets. When there is no competition within the divorce, the time used will reduce significantly. This likewise reduces prices with the legal representative and also before a judge.
The problems that are common within divorce usually do not appear in no-fault or uncontested divorces. Peaceful agreements with custody, visitation, support, division of property and debt and any other argument that may exist are reached much faster and with no headache. Yet, both will need to unentangle all lawful matters to include financial issues that may involve retirement accounts and life insurance policy plans on each other. When all material is available to include in a parenting plan, a settlement agreement and also specific Tennessee state items, the two may hire a family lawyer to continue via the divorce rapidly.
When divorcing in a short time, the person will require a family attorney to assist gather and present a case before a court or mediator. The agreement records and also conformity with the other partner might increase the speed of the divorce. The attorneys at McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stanley, PLLC will do everything to finish your divorce case as soon as possible. Get in touch with us regarding options available for you.
Why Divorce Quickly?
When there are certain crucial aspects within the divorce itself, one or both parties may demand that the procedure finishes as quickly as possible. These factors often affect particular concerns such as the ownership of a business, child custody and also when one or both are leaving Tennessee or even the US. Some areas require the separating parties to stay in the location till the divorce is completed. Some custody matters entail others such as extended family or a foster treatment scenario. Speeding the divorce is important to fixing various issues between the marriage, in the household as well as with external elements.
Legal Costs
One reason to accelerate the divorce involves the expenses of legal assistance. When both parties require to retain a divorce lawyer, the costs might grow. If the two parties have any chance of settlement, the attorneys may still need to help along the procedure with mediation, arbitration or a lawsuit. Presenting the case to a court or the 3rd party frequently calls for the help or assistance of an attorney. With other expenses and fees added to the final amount, the difference between weeks and months of working together with an attorney is substantial.
Speeding up the Divorce
Reaching an agreement with the partner is generally the quickest way to speed the divorce to make sure that it does not take weeks or months to finish the procedure. This is additionally possible through mediation with an open dialogue as well as complete understanding of all the details such as custody, spousal support and the division of marital property. When both sides are absolutely ready for cooperation and compromise and all assets are open and disclosed, the process might go much faster.
Quick Divorces
The quickest divorces typically exist when they are both uncontested and no-fault.
The uncontested divorce is one of the primary means to move the divorce procedure along promptly. This is when one party does not contest the specific issues within the dissolution of the relationship such as taking on more liability or letting go of additional assets. When there is no competition within the divorce, the time used will reduce significantly. This likewise reduces prices with the legal representative and also before a judge.
The problems that are common within divorce usually do not appear in no-fault or uncontested divorces. Peaceful agreements with custody, visitation, support, division of property and debt and any other argument that may exist are reached much faster and with no headache. Yet, both will need to unentangle all lawful matters to include financial issues that may involve retirement accounts and life insurance policy plans on each other. When all material is available to include in a parenting plan, a settlement agreement and also specific Tennessee state items, the two may hire a family lawyer to continue via the divorce rapidly.
The Legal Assistance for a Quick Divorce
When divorcing in a short time, the person will require a family attorney to assist gather and present a case before a court or mediator. The agreement records and also conformity with the other partner might increase the speed of the divorce. The attorneys at McKoon, Williams, Atchley & Stanley, PLLC will do everything to finish your divorce case as soon as possible. Get in touch with us regarding options available for you.