Fremstad Law Expands to Bottineau

Joel — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:32:10 +0000

The Fremstad Law Firm, a full service North Dakota and Minnesota law firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Bottineau Escrow Agency and the opening of its Bottineau office at 416 Sinclair Street in Bottineau, North Dakota. The firm will offer the full array of services at its Bottineau office that it currently offers to its Fargo, Bismarck and Valley City office clients. The Bottineau office will be run by Attorney Erin Conroy, who brings ten years’ experience with her. In addition to Ms. Conroy, Ms. Angela Bender, formerly of the Bottineau Escrow Agency, will work as a consultant on real estate transactions and other matters.

Fremstad Law’s expansion into the Bottineau area represents the firm’s optimism regarding continuing economic growth in the western part of the state. In addition to its full service law firm, the Bottineau office of the Fremstad Law Firm will offer escrow and closing services for all real estate transactions, including HUD, FHA, VA and conventional closings.

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Why Should I have an Attorney review my RFP?

Joel — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:26:40 +0000

Requests for Proposals (“RFPs”) are a great way to gain business, visibility and compete in an otherwise crowded marketplace. RFPs are invitations for vendors to submit bids, along with a proposal, which usually includes an overview of the business, a description of the product or services to be provided and other information about the supplying company. RFPs can be as simple as a request to have the vendor company answer a few straight-forward questions, or they can be complex and include questions regarding a company’s financials, history and future growth plans.

As procurement departments grow more sophisticated, RFPs are becoming more complex, too. Typically, the higher the risk, the more investment the company answering the RFP needs to make in its response. One danger in the race to submit RFP answers is that procurement departments these days often demand that suppliers commit to Master Service Agreements before they even submit an answer to the RFP, or worse, they require that by participating in the RFP process the supplying company is consenting to the terms of a template contract, which is non-negotiable. Some RFPs require consent to outside bidding terms, which may not be contemplated by the company answering the RFP.

Before any company submits an RFP, it should understand the terms of the RFP. In complex RFPs, businesses should have the answer reviewed by an attorney, especially when the company inviting proposals attaches a Master Service Agreement to the RFP. By submitting an answer to the RFP, depending on the terms of the invitation, a company may unwittingly bind itself to unfavorable terms and conditions, which cannot be negotiated. Companies invest a lot of time and energy into writing RFPs, but fail to look at the fine print of the bidding process to understand their rights and obligations.

Don’t get caught off guard by an RFP response that may negatively affect the bottom line down the road. Erin Conroy is an attorney with years of experience in advising clients in RFP writing, negotiation and strategy. Please contact her if you have questions on an RFP or other contract needs.

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Contract Management: What is it and why does your business need it?

Joel — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 05:09:15 +0000

In order to save on the bottom line, many companies often sacrifice on the front end by avoiding attorneys’ fees when it comes to their contracts, both small and large. For small companies, it may not seem worth it to invest the time or money into having an attorney review a contract for small amounts of money, especially if the company does not have a working relationship with a firm.

Contracts are one of the biggest legal and monetary risks to any company. Having an attorney working with companies to manage and review their contracts can save the company time, money and reduce legal risk in the near and long term. For example, recently a medium-sized real estate company failed to renew within the 60 day window on its property lease. The leasing agent recognized the opportunity and the company paid for its contract oversight by having to re-negotiate its lease at substantially increased rent or suffer the loss of losing a premium location. Having an experienced law firm review contracts and maintain a database of obligations saves businesses the risk of losing track and allows businesses to take advantage of new legal technology available through law firms.

Whether it’s vendor contracts, sales contracts, employment agreements or property agreements, always have a qualified attorney review your contract and explain your rights, limitations, obligations and remedies. If you have questions about your contracts and review and management process, please contact Erin Conroy at the Fremstad Law Firm.

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Tip Pooling and Tip Credit Seminar

Joel — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:01:48 +0000

On September 18, 2012, Fremstad Law attorney Lynn Block will team with the North Dakota Hospitality Association and Food Services of America to present a seminar on North Dakota’s tip pooling and tip credit regulations. Lynn emphasizes her practice in working with employers and assists many businesses with preparing employment policies and addressing employment related issues. To talk with Lynn, please call the Fremstad Law Firm at 701-478-7620 or 855-478-7620.

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Criminal Charges Dismissed

Joel — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:54:19 +0000

On September 13, 2012, Fremstad Law Firm attorney Erin Conroy successfully sought and obtained a favorable defense result on a Motion to Dismiss three class A felony charges. If you have been charged with a felony, misdemeanor or juvenile charges, please call attorney Conroy for a consultation. 701-478-7620 or 855-478-7620.

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Fremstad Law Serves the Bakken and Western North Dakota

Joel — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:13:03 +0000

The Fremstad Law Firm is pleased to announce that it is now accepting appointments for new clients and referrals in the Williston and Minot regions. Due to demand, the Fremstad Law Firm is expanding its practice region to accommodate rapid growth in Western North Dakota. Fremstad Law Firm has over 40 years of collective experience in business and corporate law, contract law, international law, employment law, personal injury, insurance defense, civil litigation, family law and criminal law. Fremstad Law currently has a number of oil servicing companies as clients and has represented a number of developers involved with projects in Western North Dakota. Fremstad Law is able to take appointments in Western, North Dakota, will soon be opening a physical office in Bismarck, and uses video conferencing and other technologies to work closely with clients. North Dakota is a small state, with a limited number of attorneys. While we know that our fellow attorneys in Western North Dakota are doing their best, we believe it is important to increase access to attorneys and Fremstad Law is especially proud of its ability to quickly respond to their clients and get work done.

Please contact us to discuss your case with one of our experienced attorneys and learn why we are a “different kind of law firm.”

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Just Got a Letter from my Internet Provider saying I Illegally Downloaded Copyrighted Materials!

Joel — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:05:27 +0000

Some lawyers have found a new way to make money–prey on people of being exposed for allegedly downloading copyrighted materials, especially allegedly pornographic movies. At Fremstad Law, we certainly do not condone any copyright violations. That said, often the allegations are without merit and simply an attempt to extort a settlement. It may be that a neighbor was using your wireless access or that it was some other unauthorized use. The basic gist of events is that you will get a notice from your internet provider saying your internet “IP” address is associated with the download of a movie or some other type of file that is allegedly copyrighted. You may also get a letter from an attorney representing the copyright owner seeking to settle with you. Before you take any actions, please call Joel Fremstad at the Fremstad Law Firm. We can quickly and cost effectively review your situation and advise you on how and or whether to respond or take any actions.

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Fremstad Law Successfully Defends Harassment and Discrimination Claim Before ND Dept. of Labor

Joel — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:09:45 +0000

Lynn Block, an Attorney with Fremstad Law, recently successfully defended an employer against a claim of sexual harassment.

An employer in western North Dakota was hit with a whistleblower complaint (under N.D.C.C. §34-01-20) involving a report of a violation of wage and hour law and a charge of discrimination (under N.D.C.C. Chapter 14-02.4) alleging hostile working environment sexual harassment, quid pro quo sexual harassment, retaliation in the form of adverse employment conditions for reporting sexual harassment, retaliation in the form of discharge for participating in a protected activity, and discharge for participation in a lawful activity. Fremstad Law investigated that matter and provided a thorough response on behalf of the employer to the North Dakota Department of Labor. The Department found for the employer on all of the allegations. The entire matter was resolved quickly (within 35 days from beginning to end) and at minimal cost to the employer.

The Department of Labor has been much more aggressive in North Dakota as of late. If you have questions about preventing charges of discrimination or need assistance in responding to a claim contact Fremstad Law at (701) 478-7620.

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Construction Liens–Warning to Contractors!

Joel — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:54:08 +0000

Most every contractor has faced the situation of a non-paying customer. Often times, the obvious answer seems to be the filing of a construction lien. It is cheap and fast and protects you. Unfortunately, because of some liens getting filed without grounds, the North Dakota legislature saw fit to amend the construction lien statute to allow a property owner to recover attorney fees if the owner proves a lien invalid or inaccurate. This is a huge problem for contractors. An owner can relatively easily argue that the amount of time spent on a job was unreasonable or that there were small errors in an invoice. The North Dakota Supreme Court in Northern Excavating Co., Inc. v. Sisters of Mary of the Presentation Long Term Care recently issued an opinion interpreting the attorney fee provision. The Court did help out contractors by holding that a lien that is “reasonably” accurate will protect a contractor from liability for attorney fees. In the case, however, where the owner succeeding in having the jury knock $17,000 off of the original bill, the Court agreed that the lien was inaccurate and that the owner was entitled to attorney fees. The attorney fees claimed were more than $30,000, but the issue of the lien was not the only claim. The Court agreed that only those costs and fees “reasonably expended contesting the lien” could be recovered. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court to review which attorney fees and costs were “related to the successful contest of the accuracy of the lien.”

What’s the take away from Northern Excavating? 1. Contractors beware. Unless you are very confident that there is no room for attacking your lien amount, you may want to consider other options. 2. Hopefully, the Legislature will be taking a look at cleaning up the Construction Lien statutes. Clearly one doesn’t want frivolous liens to be filed, but the current procedure leaves contractors in a precarious situation. Please contact the Fremstad Law firm if you have questions about Contstruction Liens or related contracting issues.

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Minnesota Unemployment: “Good Cause to Quit”?

Joel — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:52:39 +0000

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has held that where an employer encourage an employee to resign and to form own company, that such was good cause to quit and the employee was therefore eligible for unemployment benefits. Rowan v. Dream It, Inc., A11-1135 (April 2, 2012). In Minnesota and North Dakota an employee who resigns is generally going to be barred from recovering unemployment benefits. In both Minnesota and North Dakota, an employee generally may not resign even in anticipation of discharge or layoff and expect to be eligible for unemployment benefits. MSA 268.095, subd 3(e); NDCC 52-06-02(1)(f). In Rowan, however, the Court distinguished the situation noting that the employee had never been told she would be discharged. While this is a relatively narrow exception, it is something employers should be aware of when faced with having to let employees go and with the bargaining that may sometimes ensue. If you have questions relating to hiring or termination or need representation in response to a unemployment claim, please contact us.

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