Get Specific! You Must Mention “FEES” in Your Attorney Fee Provisions

business lawyer Memphis, TN

Tennessee Requirements for Attorney Fee Provisions

As the business lawyer Memphis TN  trusts when it comes to contract negotiation and drafting, one piece of simple legal advice we frequently give our small business clients is to always include attorney fee provisions in your contracts and routine business forms. Why? Because if you don’t have such a provision and you end up in litigation, you’re on the hook for your own attorney fees and legal expenses even if the breach of contract, or the resulting litigation, isn’t your fault.

It has always been the case that a contractual provision allowing for the recovery of attorney fees must be specific. However, just last month, in Nyrstar Tennessee Mines-Strawberry Plains, LLC v. Claiborne Hauling, LLC, the Tennessee Court of Appeals went further to reinforce this principle by making clear that attorney fee provisions must specifically invoke the magic words “attorney fees.”   The Court held that it is not enough simply to provide recovery of “costs,” “expenses” or even “legal expenses” – all of which the Court held was simply not specific enough to permit recovery of attorney’s fees.

 In Nyrstar, the plaintiff won at trial on its breach of contract action against the defendant and the judge awarded the plaintiff $116,073.43 in damages. After winning the case, the plaintiff then sought attorney’s fees of $106,779.50 and expenses of $2,982.12 pursuant to the attorney fee provision in the applicable contract. The specific language of the contract in Nyrstar was as follows:

The Customer must pay Nyrstar all costs and expenses incurred by Nyrstar in connection with enforcing its rights against the Customer under an Agreement including legal expenses and other costs incurred in recovering monies owed by the Customer to Nyrstar.

The trial court awarded the plaintiff its expenses, but refused to award the plaintiff its attorney’s fees, despite the contract language providing for the recovery of “legal expenses.” The trial court stated:

[t]he plaintiff Nyrstar’s language does not use the term “fees.” It uses “expenses,” which has been found to be inadequate. Merely providing for the “recovery of ‘costs and expenses’” is insufficient to reach a contractual right to recover attorney’s fees.

(Emphasis added). The Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld this decision. The Nyrstar case means that you should pull out your contracts and regular business forms, and then call us today to make sure that the language you are using in your attorney fee provisions is correct. After all, what is the point of having an attorney fee provision in your contracts and forms if it’s not going to hold up in court?

Bottom Line

Your attorney fee provision MUST specifically provide for the recovery of “attorney’s fees,” and not merely “costs” or “expenses.”

Even if a provision provides for the recovery of “legal expenses” or “costs and expenses of any suit or proceeding,” the right to recover attorney’s fees is not created because the provision does not specifically implicate “fees” as part of the recovery.

If you’d like the small business lawyer Memphis TN  trusts to review your small business contracts and routine business forms to make sure your language complies with the requirements in Tennessee for attorney fee provisions, call us today at (901) 372-5003.

How to Dissolve a Tennessee LLC

How to Dissolve a Tennessee LLC

dissolve tennessee llcNeed to dissolve your Tennessee LLC? The method for dissolving a business entity depends on the type of entity and its structure.  This post will focus on the termination of a Tennessee Limited Liability Company (LLC).  In addition, while LLCs can be dissolved both judicially and administratively, we will focus on dissolution by the person or persons associated with the LLC.

Disclaimer: This information is intended to be a general overview of the LLC termination process in Tennessee.  The termination process may be different depending on the LLC, its makeup, or a client’s specific circumstances. This information should not be used as a substitute for consulting an attorney about terminating your LLC.

 Statute on how to dissolve a Tennessee LLC

LLCs formed on or after January 1, 2006, are governed by the Tennessee Revised Limited Liability Company Act.  Tenn. Code Ann. 48-249-601  provides the various methods for dissolving a Tennessee LLC and provides that an LLC is dissolved upon the first of the following to occur:

  • Expiration of the period fixed in the Articles of Organization, if any:
  • The occurrence of an event specified in the LLC documents;
  • Action of the members in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-603;
  • Action of the organizers under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-602 if not contributions have been accepted by the LLC;
  • An order of the court under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-616 or § 48-249-617, also known as judicial dissolution;
  • An action of the Secretary of State under Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-605; also known as administrative dissolution; or
  • If there are no LLC members and a notice of dissolution is filed within 90 days of the occurrence of the event terminating the interest of the last remaining member and the LLC documents specify that the termination of the interest of the last member dissolves the LLC.

The statute specifically provides that the “termination, dissociation, death, incapacity, withdrawal, retirement, resignation, expulsion, bankruptcy or dissolution of any member, or the occurrence of any other event that terminates the membership interest of any member, shall not cause the LLC to be dissolved.”  If any LLC is to be dissolved in any of these instances, it must be stated in the LLC documents.

What to Do Before Termination

Before terminating your entity with the Tennessee Secretary of State, the entity must file a Final Tax Return with the Tennessee Department of Revenue and obtain a Tax Clearance Letter to submit with its termination documents.

Submitting Termination Documents

If a Tennessee LLC is terminated by the organizers, Articles of Termination by the organizers must be filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State. If the LLC is terminated after a designated period, under the LLC documents, if there are no members left, or if by consent of the members, Notice of Dissolution must also be filed with the Secretary of State.    Be sure to have appropriate documentation filed with your LLC documents showing any action that was taken to effect this decision, if necessary.

What to Do After Termination

Once an entity is terminated with the State, the LLC must stop doing business and wind up its affairs.  To wind up the business, management must collect and pay all debts, sell assets, and distribute any remaining funds to the members of the LLC.

You Still Need to Consult a Business Lawyer

This information is only a general overview of the LLC termination process in Tennessee.  The process may be different depending on the LLC, its makeup or a client’s specific circumstances.  For this reason, it is important that you consult an attorney before taking steps to terminate your LLC.

If you need help terminating your LLC, we would be honored to assist you.  Please call us at 901-372-5003 or email us here.

Small Business Tip: Include Provision in Your Contracts to Recover Attorneys’ Fees

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Reason to Add an Attorney Fee Provision

You’re running a small business. You have a form, purchase order, or other short contract you always use.  Take a moment to look at your forms and contracts. Do they include an attorney fee provision?  If not, we recommend that you add one.

If someone fails to pay you, you might need to file a lawsuit to recover what you are owed. Going to court is expensive.  In Tennessee, each party is responsible for paying their own attorney fees. That’s right–even if you win in court, you generally can’t make the other side pay your attorney fees unless you have an attorney fee provision in your contract.  For more information on attorney fees, read this blog post.

Sample Attorney Fee Provision

If any party institutes any action or proceeding to enforce any provision of this contract by reason of any alleged breach of any provision herein, the prevailing party shall be entitled to receive from the losing party all legal fees and costs incurred in connection with any such proceeding.

We are Small Business Lawyers.

Check out our team at Patterson Bray.  If you need help with your small business contracts, agreements, or forms, or if you have a question about business litigation or the recovery of attorney fees in a lawsuit, please call us at 901-372-5003 or email us here. We have offices in Memphis and Nashville TN.

 

 

Construction Contract? Confirm Your Contractor is Properly Licensed First!

construction contract lawyer

Construction Contract? Confirm Your Contractor is Properly Licensed First!

I spent a good amount of time one week working with a client to cancel his construction contract after learning that the contractor was not properly licensed to build his new house. What started out as an exciting time in this client’s life turned out to be a big mess.  I was eventually able to work out a solution with the unlicensed contractor, but not before he had hired legal counsel of his own.

In Tennessee, residential and commercial construction contractors are regulated by the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors.  Per the Board,

A contractor’s license is required prior to contracting (bidding or negotiating a price) whenever the total cost of the project is $25,000 or more.

For residential construction, licensed contractors may contract to build houses so long as the total cost of the project does not exceed the monetary limit established by the Board.  A contractor may apply to have his limit increased after submitting documents showing financial stability.

Frequently however, home builders enter into contracts with customers for projects that exceed their monetary limits.  Many problems can come into play when this happens.  Contractors jeopardize their licenses and expose themselves to fines from the Board. Contractors open themselves up to not being able to collect under the terms of the construction contract, even if everything goes well.  Customers run the risk of the project being shut down and having to incur additional expenses. Customers may even have to hire a replacement contractor.

Before Your Enter Into a Construction Contract. . .

Check to see if your contractor is properly licensed!  Construction litigation  can be lengthy, complex, and expensive. Many problems can be avoided if customers do a little quick research to confirm that the contractor they want to use is fully and properly licensed.  You can do that by clicking here.

If you need a construction or contract lawyer, call me at (901) 372-5003 or email me here. 

By: Chris Patterson

Construction Contract Lawyer Chris Patterson

Patterson Bray PLLC

8001 Centerview Parkway, Suite 103

Memphis, Tennessee 38018

(901) 372-5003 Office

 

 

Credit Application and Small Business

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Signing a Credit Application on Behalf of a Company Could Subject You to PERSONAL Liability

Most small business vendors and suppliers require a company officer to sign a Commercial Credit Application or Agreement to buy goods and supplies on account.

Watch out, though!

Carefully examine the language of the Credit Application or you may find yourself personally liable for the debt even if you don’t have any ownership in the company!

In 2011, the Tennessee Supreme Court considered a credit application in  84 Lumber Company v. Smith that contained the following language:

BY SIGNING BELOW I HEREBY … UNCONDITIONALLY AND IRREVOCABLY PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THIS CREDIT ACCOUNT AND PAYMENTS OF ANY AND ALL AMOUNTS DUE BY THE ABOVE BUSINESS….

Mr. Smith signed the Credit Application as “R. Bryan Smith, President.” This manner of signing is typically referred to as signing in a “representative capacity” to denote that it is being executed by the company only, as compared to signing your name without a title to indicate that it is being signed personally.

However, the  Court ruled that the attempt to sign in a representative capacity did NOT  trump the unmistakable language of the Application, and held that Mr. Smith was personally liable for the debt as well.  This same logic would presumably apply not just to company presidents like Mr. Smith but also even to junior employees who might have signed such an agreement.

Credit Application Best Practices

So what should you do if faced with this situation?

  1. Strike through offending language. In order to avoid personal liability, you would at a minimum need to physically strike through the personal guarantee language AND then also sign the document in a “representative capacity” (i.e. name + title).
  2. Make an Informed Decision.  Many suppliers and vendors require a personal guarantee in order to do business, and so you may have to decide whether to go ahead and sign the agreement, shop around, or try to negotiate a better deal (e.g. perhaps provide for a maximum limit on the guarantee, or secure a bank letter of credit instead, etc.). At least you will be making an informed decision.
  3. Ask a “Higher Up” to Sign. If you’re just an employee or junior officer of the company then you should probably take the agreement to a superior to make certain that the right person is signing the agreement. A regular employee (i.e. someone with no ownership interest) should not fairly be expected to personally guarantee the obligations of his or her employer.
  4. Go see an attorney! The above tips are intended only as general legal advice. Each agreement, contract, and situation is different, and you should seek legal advice tailored to your specific situation.

We are Small Business Lawyers.

Check out our team at Patterson Bray.  If you need help with your small business contracts, agreements, or forms, or if you have a question about business litigation, please call us at 901-372-5003 or email us here. We have offices in Memphis and Nashville TN.

Are Oral Contracts Enforceable?

oral contracts

Elements of a Contract in Tennessee

With a few limited exceptions oral contracts are enforceable in Tennessee just like a written contract.  Of course, a written contract is much easier to prove because there is hard evidence of the agreement.  However, an oral contract IS enforceable in most cases.  The parties and/or their witnesses can testify about the terms of the agreement, and things such as partial performance or “normal course of dealing” can serve as powerful circumstantial evidence of the terms of the deal.

A contract is a contract – oral or written – so long as it has the following elements:

  1. A legal purpose (e.g. Tennessee courts will not enforce a contract between neighbors to illegally use one cable box);
  2. A mutual agreement that is free from fraud or undue influence;
  3. Terms that are definite enough to be enforced (e.g. a promise to work for a person’s lifetime would be too vague because a lifetime is not a definite duration); and,
  4. Adequate value exchanged by both parties (referred to as “consideration” in legal terms).

Contracts Required to be in Writing

There are certain contracts that are required to be in writing under a legal doctrine called the “Statute of Frauds.”  In Tennessee, the six types of contracts that must be in writing include contracts for the following:

  1. Marriage;
  2. Contracts with a term greater than 1 year (i.e. a 2 year lease must be in writing);
  3. Sale of land/property;
  4. Executor’s/Administrator’s promise to pay debts of the estate;
  5. Sale of Goods/Personal Property that costs $500 or more; and
  6. Suretyship agreements (i.e. a promise to guarantee payment of the debts of another person).

Even after you have successfully navigated all of the above requirements, you should still be careful to file a lawsuit for a violation of an oral contract within 6 years in Tennessee – the same statute of limitation as a written contract.  Additionally,  oral contracts often require the testimony of a witness to verify the terms of the agreement.

We advise avoiding oral contracts.

While oral contracts are enforceable, you should avoid them, if at all possible, simply because written contracts are so much easier to prove and enforce.  Contracts can be difficult to navigate, and if you have any doubts when drafting or entering into a contract, it is best to consult an experienced contract attorney.  If you need help in negotiations, contract drafting, or even contract disputes, please give us a call at 901-372-5003.

 

Patterson Bray

8001 Centerview Parkway, Suite 103

Memphis, Tennessee 38018

(901) 372-5003 Office

www.pattersonbray.com