As a small business owner, you want to develop and protect your brand, but you don’t yet have the funds to file for trademark protection. In this webinar, Attorney Christina Licursi of Wolf Greenfield covers steps you can take to have some level of protection from the beginning as well as when to take the plunge and file for protection.
Topic: Other Legal Issues
Farm Succession Advising: An Attorney Training Guide
Among beginning (and other) farmers’ biggest challenges is accessing land, including land and farms in the hands of older farmers. Therefore, how those farmers transition their farms to the next generation (family or unrelated) is of utmost importance. Land For Good’s Training Guide provides attorneys with solid legal background material and technical tools to use in assisting farmer clients to develop their farm succession plans.
Labeling Your Food Product
Small food businesses and farms with value-added processing often sell their products locally, but understanding the Food and Drug Administration’s rules for labeling those products can be challenging. This webinar will prepare you to feel confident creating a food label and selling your product.
Presenters: Rachel Gartner & Zac Maciejewski, Faegre, Drinker Biddle and Reath.
Starting your Farm or Food Business: Succession Planning
When you’re forming your LLC or other business entity, it is important to plan for the future. This webinar will prepare you with key questions to consider about succession planning when forming your business.
Presenter: Kim Memmesheimer, Hoefle, Phoenix, Gormley & Roberts, PLLC.
Reorganizing a Farm Business with Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code: A Brief Guide
Farm reorganization through chapter 12 is a powerful tool for farmers seeking to restructure burdensome debt, change production models, or even transition a farm to the next generation. It can help farming and fishing operations avoid financial distress and allow them to transform their operation or transfer it to the next generation—without requiring liquidation or financial insolvency. This guide covers who is involved, who is eligible, the benefits, and how it works.
Resolving Challenging Issues through Agricultural Mediation
Sometimes, as a farmer, you find yourself stuck or facing a conflict. Whether your business has been threatened, a creditor is hounding you, or a neighbor is making complaints about your farm, you are not alone. The USDA’s certified Agricultural Mediation programs can help you through these situations.
The mediation program is a free service that gives all voices an opportunity to be heard and work together toward a solution that works for everyone. In this webinar, you will have a chance to meet Agricultural mediators in New England. They will give you an overview of the program and share some stories that illustrate the effectiveness of their work.
Presenter: Matt Strassberg, Director of the Environmental Mediation Center
What is Mediation?
Mediation is a voluntary process in which a neutral third party (the mediator) assists the parties in resolving their dispute or conflict by facilitating their negotiation. Mediation can be used as an alternative to a lawsuit. This guide will go through the ins and outs of mediation as well as the advantages of it as a tool for conflict resolution.
Home Delivery of Farm Products
Local farmers are adjusting their business operations to incorporate new ways of getting their products to customers and seizing the opportunity to add new marketing channels to their existing farm businesses. For many farmers, this shift has meant delivering products directly to the doors of their customers. If you are a farmer engaged or considering engaging in home delivery of farm products, this guide outlines some legal considerations to keep in mind.
Vermont Farm & Food Law
This guide to farm & food law in Vermont is a reference for attorneys, designed to orient you to key legal issues facing farmers in the state. It provides background on small-scale farming and food business practices in Vermont, reviews key food and agricultural laws and legal issues, and provides references for more in-depth information.
The guide contains chapters on the following topics: Vermont farming and the local food economy, business structures, food safety, intellectual property, farm transitions, farmland acquisition, and land regulations.
Massachusetts Farm & Food Law
This guide to farm & food law in Massachusetts is a reference for attorneys, designed to orient you to key legal issues facing farmers in the state. It provides background on small-scale farming and food business practices in Massachusetts, reviews key food and agricultural laws and legal issues, and provides references for more in-depth information.
The guide contains chapters on the following topics: Massachusetts farming and the local food economy, business structures, food safety, farm transitions, farmland acquisition, bankruptcy, and taxation.
Maine Farm & Food Law
This guide to farm & food law in Maine is a reference for attorneys, designed to orient you to key legal issues facing farmers in the state. It provides background on small-scale farming and food business practices in Maine, reviews key food and agricultural laws and legal issues, and provides references for more in-depth information.
The guide contains chapters on the following topics: Maine farming and the local food economy, business structures, food safety, farm transitions, and intellectual property.
New England Food Policy Advocacy Guide
This guide is designed to provide organizations and advocates with information, support, and inspiration to promote policy changes that build a more robust and resilient regional food system. The report is intended as a tool to guide individuals, organizations, coalitions, agencies, and policymakers to pursue supportive public policies and remove policy barriers. It was developed by American Farmland Trust, Conservation Law Foundation, and Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.
How to Work with a Lawyer
While there are a lot of legal needs you can tackle yourself, sometimes you need help or information from an attorney. Learn how to work best with your lawyer to get the results you want. Your lawyer will likely ask a lot of questions at the first meeting. Here’s how to be ready for them, and how to prepare relevant questions of your own.
Copyright Law Basics
Copyright law can seem complicated. But it’s simply a law that says that if you create something, then you own it. For businesses, copyright can apply to things you use everyday such as graphics used on websites and in advertising or blog content. Get to know how to create and protect your copyrights. This guide examines how to protect your own copyrighted materials and avoid improper use of copyrights belonging to others.
Connecticut Farm & Food Law
This guide to farm & food law in Connecticut is a reference for attorneys, designed to orient you to key legal issues facing farmers in the state. It provides background on small-scale farming and food business practices in Connecticut, reviews key food and agricultural laws and legal issues, and provides references for more in-depth information.
The guide contains chapters on the following topics: Connecticut farming and the local food economy, business structures, food safety, farm transitions, farmland acquisition, bankruptcy, taxation, intellectual property, and employment.
Cultivating Good Food Policy
This policy advocacy guide is aimed at farmers, food entrepreneurs, nonprofits, activists, and anyone interested in driving policy solutions to make long-lasting change. It is designed to be a tool to help you understand the policymaking process in Massachusetts and how to develop high-impact advocacy campaigns. Using these strategies, you and your allies can contribute to creating policy that helps the food system thrive.
Introduction to Trademarks
Your business offers fresh, high-quality produce and value-added foods and has built a good reputation in the community. But, can you protect your “brand” — the good-will and trust you have developed for your business? Can you prevent competitors from riding on the coattails of your good reputation? Learn to use strong trademarks effectively. This Lightning Guide sets out how to obtain and protect your trademark and how to identify trademark infringement.
Student Loan Basics for Farmers
Student loan debt has become a significant obstacle for young farmers who are trying to make a living in agriculture. This webinar, led by Erica Kyzmir-McKeon, former CLF Senior Fellow & Attorney, and Deanne Loonin, Attorney at the Project on Predatory Student Lending at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, discusses the different types of student loans and how borrowers can deal with them. The webinar begins with the basics of understanding your loans, including how to determine the type of loans you have and a review of types of federal loans and loan servicers. The webinar then discusses managing repayment, avoiding or getting out of loan default, and loan cancellation.