Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC

We are a general practice firm, providing legal services in corporate law, commercial transactions, real estate, contracts, estate planning, business litigation, local government representation, divorce, privacy protection, personal injury litigation, and a wide range of other legal areas. Our attorneys also serve as general counsel to many families, businesses and organizations.

Website: https://www.napervillelaw.com/
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Latest from Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC - Page 2

Intellectual property, from formulas and brand names to distinctive logos, are becoming a more valuable asset for many businesses. Their value can vanish or decrease if they are not protected from misappropriation, and the type of intellectual property usually determines the best type of protection. Some of the ways to best protect intellectual property include:

  • Non-Disclosure Agreements. NDAs prohibit the signer from misusing your intellectual property and obligates them to return or destroy it on request.
  • Digital Protections. Strong passwords, encryption, limiting access, and investing in cybersecurity tools prevent data breaches and intellectual property theft.
  • Copyright. Copyright protects original works

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Continue Reading Protecting Intellectual Property

Many multi-tenant commercial property leases not only describe what the tenant can or will do in the premises but may also contain a restrictive covenant prohibiting certain tenant uses. Landlords may also require its tenant’s business to be open certain times to promote foot traffic on the property and tenants may want to ensure that they are the only business of their type on the property. These restrictive covenants are strictly construed if they go to court for enforcement so careful drafting is needed. Recently a landlord had to ask a court to resolve a dispute over a restricted covenant…
Continue Reading Commercial Real Estate Restrictive Covenants

As digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs become more widely accepted your estate plan should be updated to incorporate these assets into your estate and address their transfer. These assets have little tangible evidence of ownership, being held in online wallets and secured by private keys and passwords. Without quick access and other information this wealth can vanish. Their highly volatile value, lack of regulation, and questionable location for purposes of legal jurisdiction also complicate estate planning.
The inheritance rules and tax requirements that apply to crypto assets generally treat them as personal property like artwork. Due to their value,…
Continue Reading Estate Planning with Crypto Assets

The mistake of failing to properly designate the beneficiary on your life insurance policies can have substantial consequences after your death. Some of the mistakes to avoid include:

  • Not naming a beneficiary;
  • Not naming contingent beneficiaries;
  • Not properly identifying beneficiaries;
  • Not removing beneficiaries when appropriate;
  • Naming minors as beneficiaries;
  • Naming multiple beneficiaries; and
  • Naming beneficiaries that could lose entitlement to other benefits.

The attorneys at Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC can assist you in determining the best way to designate beneficiaries on your life insurance, as well as advise you on all estate planning matters. Please contact us with any…
Continue Reading Life Insurance Beneficiaries

Various governmental and regulatory agencies such as the EPA can demand to inspect your facility, review of your records, request information, interview your employees, and initiate an investigation of your business, sometimes on short or no notice. When confronted with such an action, after contacting your lawyer, accountant or other consultants, you should:

  • Determine what is requested of you.
  • Understand the scope and consequences of the request.
  • Locate, review, and protect all relevant documents.
  • Conduct an internal compliance review.
  • Put together a defense/response team.

During any inspection you should:

  • Proactively engage the inspectors and technical personnel.
  • Use your compliance documents

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Continue Reading Handling Regulatory or Government Inspection

A recent court settlement disrupted the prior practice of residential real estate brokers automatically splitting the seller’s commission with the cooperating or buyer’s broker. As a result, residential real estate buyers need to negotiate a fee with the broker that assists them in finding a home and will be asked to sign an agreement with the broker before they assist you. The contract will identify who will pay and how much will be paid to the buyer’s broker. Buyers should require their broker negotiate a commission split with the listing or seller’s broker, eliminating a direct payment from the buyer…
Continue Reading Residential Buyer’s Broker

Starting a small business is the dream of many Americans, but it is also a financial risk. To ensure success, there are some pitfalls you should avoid to prevent or mitigate a failure, including:

  • Failing to establish the right legal structure. An improper or no business structure can expose you and you family’s assets to your business’ creditors. Each legal structure has different strengths and benefits, and selecting the right structure can have long-term financial, tax and legal consequences.
  • Not protecting what’s unique to your business. Recipes, formulas, brand names, logos, trademarks, slogans, and other proprietary information may be the

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Continue Reading Small Business Start-Up Mistakes

With the federal and other elections looming, non-governmental employers are often confronted with addressing political speech in the workplace. As these discussions can become heated and affect employee morale, employers should establish strategies and publish policies that may help protect the business and its employees. Any policy must consider federal, state, and regulatory worker protections applicable to private employees’ right to engage in political activities. While protecting your business and employees, candidate bumper stickers on employee vehicles in the parking lot is acceptable while employee use of the company e-mail and resources to solicit support for a particular candidate or…
Continue Reading Political Speech in the Workplace

Brooks Tarulis’ partner Elizabeth Bacon and her co-counsel Brandon Clark of Saul Ewing represented Kevin Jackson in a nine-year legal battle to vacate his wrongful conviction and win long overdue justice for Mr. Jackson. The First District of the Illinois Appellate court ruled on October 25, 2024, in favor of the groundbreaking exoneration of our client who served twenty-three years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the 2001 murder and shooting of two Chicago men. At Elizabeth’s insistence a 2023-2024 reinvestigation of the case by specially appointed counsel to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office confirmed Mr. Jackson’s assertion…
Continue Reading Press Release- Wrongful Conviction Reversed

Protecting your business is a full-time job. One method of protection is to acquire insurance. Listed below are the typical types of business insurance:

  • General Liability Insurance. Your business’s safety net against unexpected mishaps and third-party claims.
  • Property Insurance. Covers unforeseen events such as fire, hurricanes, tornadoes, and vandalism that damage your company’s real and/or personal property.
  • Fidelity Insurance. Covers damage due to internal or external criminal acts including those committed by your business’ people.
  • Worker’s Compensation Insurance.  Provides replacement and medical benefits to employees who are injured in the course of employment.
  • Director and Officer Liability Insurance.  Provides protection

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Continue Reading Business Insurance

While there are almost endless religious and cultural laws, requirements, and traditions applicable to the disposition of a loved one’s remains, many businesses promote and survivors appear to seek creative and often illegal ways to do so. Disposition of remains, bodies, and cremains is generally prohibited on private land not designated for that purpose. “Burials at sea” must be by permit and at least three miles offshore. Sport arenas, nature areas, and national parks generally prohibit it or require permits and restrict it to certain areas. While some states allow “human composting” and “bio-urns,” they are not universally accepted, nor…
Continue Reading Disposition of Remains

The affluent are 43% more likely to experience identity theft and are more likely to be targeted by fraudsters and scam artists. The primary scams are phishing (impersonating on online contact to evoke a response), ransomware (installing malware on your device or system to be removed for ransom), funds transfer fraud (causing you to unknowingly send money to a false account), and account takeovers (capturing usernames and passwords to access your accounts).
Some of the ways to protect your business and personal assets from such scams include:

  • Security. Protecting your network, using strong passwords, requiring multifactor identification, and installing all

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Continue Reading Avoiding Scams

With the increased popularity of purchasing automobile insurance online, without the advice of an agent or broker, and carriers allowing you to “pick your coverage”, many insured get an unpleasant surprise when they make a claim. Carriers are using unlisted driver, ride-share use, rented vehicle, and business use exceptions to deny claims when proper coverage was not purchased. Be sure you know the coverage you need and the coverage you bought.
This Bulletin is designed to provide our friends and clients with information regarding the various subject matters covered, it is not designed to take place of legal, accounting, or…
Continue Reading Loss of Auto Insurance Coverage

Despite how careful you are, accidents and other problems can arise, including those caused by third parties, that put your personal and family’s savings and assets at risk.  While you cannot absolutely protect all of your assets from the claims of creditors, even by giving them away, there are steps you can take to limit the exposure of your assets to creditor claims, including:

  • Tenancy by the Entirety. Title to your marital residence should be held in “tenancy by the entirety”, protecting it from the creditors of one spouse.
  • Joint Ownership. Select a method of joint ownership to avoid situations

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Continue Reading Personal and Family Asset Protection

No business is safe from an array of business scams including phishing, email compromises, vendor or customer impersonations, and misdirection of payments. Email is the most frequent method used and employees are often the weak link in your protection. Knowledge, training, policies, procedures, and preparation may be your best protection.
Some of the easiest protections to implement include:

  • Maintain good records of orders and purchases to detect bogus accounts, invoices and payment directives.
  • Double check your vendor and customer identities and their cyber security policies.
  • Don’t email payment or account information and double check before you send money.
  • Protect your

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Continue Reading Business Scam Protections

As your need for income decreases, you may consider sharing some of your wealth by gifting or donating to family or charities to reduce your estate on death or minimize taxes. If Medicaid may be in your future, their look back provisions for transfers for less than fair market value, and even small gifts may be aggregated to determine if your Medicare or other needed base benefits could be reduced, denied, or delayed.
The attorneys at Brooks, Tarulis & Tibble, LLC can advise you on such gifting and the impact it can have on receiving governmental and other benefits in…
Continue Reading Careful Gifting