Publications

23 Oct

The Legal Risk of DIY

By By Norris Echetebu Law

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THE LEGAL RISK OF DIY New Zealand is a proud Do-It-Yourself (“DIY”) nation whose people demonstrate what we Americans admiringly call “rugged individualism”. This national character trait likely takes its roots from the construction of a society so far away from the rest of the world thereby creating a unique mixture of self-reliance and communal…

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23 Oct

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MINIMUM RETAIL PRICE PROTECTION WHEN ENTERING THE US’ COMMERCIAL MARKETS Norris Echetebu Law – American Law Specialists It’s always a good idea to create and maintain a unified pricing strategy when taking your goods to market in the United States. However, protecting your retail price is more difficult than one might imagine…

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23 Oct

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Norris Echetebu Law – American Law Specialists Arbitration: Is It Really All It’s Cracked Out To Be? Most international commercial agreements contain clauses which provide for final and binding arbitration to settle any disputes between the parties. Many lawyers are inclined to tell their clients that arbitration is the best way to settle commercial disputes, as it is…

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23 Oct

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Have you been told that your US branch HAS to be incorporated in Delaware to take advantage of the management friendly laws, or that you NEED to incorporate in Nevada or Wyoming to escape state income taxes? Do you need to choose your State of Incorporation? Have you run across services boasting of the advantages of incorporating in…

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23 Oct

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Our Answers to your legal questions. Have Questions? We are happy to provide you with Answers. We have compiled a list of our answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for you below:*…

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23 Oct

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Perhaps no one wants to say it, or admit it, but there seems to be a crises in some state courts in the US. As part of our business in New Zealand, we regularly return to the United States to go to trial for my clients in both the US and NZ. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain…

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26 Oct

US Workplace Safety Standards

By By Norris Echetebu Law

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US Workplace Safety Standards. Imagine that a New Zealand business’s US subsidiary has been sued in the United States. One of its customer’s employees was injured by its operations on the job site. The CEO of the subsidiary has been placed on the witness stand and is being grilled by the plaintiff’s attorney as to why business…

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26 Oct

US Intellectual Property Protection

By By Norris Echetebu Law

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PROTECT YOUR NEW ZEALAND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Understanding the protection afforded to your intellectual property by US law is of key importance when doing business in the United States. Many a hopeful entrepreneur has found his or her ideas stolen or their intellectual property copied because they did not take the necessary steps…

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26 Oct

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US Employment Issues – Part 2 – The Independent Contractor* In our Auckland practice we have the privilege of working with many New Zealand clients that are expanding their businesses into the United States. Often times these clients enter into contractual relationships with American distributors or sales agents/marketing representatives rather than sending…

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26 Oct

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US Employment Challenges – Part 1 – The At-Will Employee* New Zealand businesses expanding into the US often face the following decisions of whether: (1) to directly hire employees in the US; (2) to hire a third-party contractor who acts as the Kiwi business’s agent, (3) to hire a third party employment agency to…

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26 Oct

Jurisdiction Selection Clauses

By By Norris Echetebu Law

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Most agreements contain clauses which select the law of the jurisdiction, the Jurisdiction Selection Clause, which controls the interpretation of the agreement. Many business people fail to realize that this selection will also, for the most part, determine the law which controls any dispute over the contract as well. We have run into several cases…

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26 Oct

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The Monsanto Protection Act Bill – Is All the Hype True? Recently there has been a lot of misinformation floating around the Internet regarding what is dubiously referred to as “The Monsanto Protection Act”, giving rise to such claims as “the US Government has granted Monsanto absolute immunity from prosecution in US courts.” This claim is not exactly true…

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26 Oct

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The United States Supreme Court recently issued an opinion regarding the US Alien Tort Claims Act. Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (No. 10-1491, April 17, 2013). In this case, Nigerian nationals residing in the United States attempted to sue Shell Oil Company for violations…

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26 Oct

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One of the most striking differences between the US and the NZ legal system is the rule regarding the payment of attorney fees by the litigants. In New Zealand, and in most other Common Law courts, attorney fees of the litigants are controlled by the English Rule. The English Rule provides, in general, that the party…

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26 Oct

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About US Employment Law: The Family Medical Leave Act is a federal US law which applies to businesses with 50 or more employees. It provides an employee with 12 weeks unpaid leave who has a serious medical condition or a close family member with a serious medical condition. The employer…

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