In a surprising decision, on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit validated the 2011 Rule by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) prohibiting tip pooling programs that include “back of the house” employees and other workers who are not customarily and regularly tipped (e.g., cooks, dishwashers).

The state House of Representatives may soon send noncompete agreements down the way of the dodo bird . . . toward extinction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is taking a fresh look at the “accredited investor” definition with regard to Rule 506 (the securities registration exemption upon which most startups rely when raising angel and venture capital money). This could affect your ability to raise money for your startup.

There is a tried and true structure for capitalizing a technology startup: conventional common stock to the founders, conventional common stock reserved for employees in a stock option pool, and preferred stock to investors.

The federal Department of Labor (“DOL”), the agency charged with enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), recently published an Administrative Interpretation clarifying the test businesses must apply to determine whether workers are properly classified as independent contractors or if they are, in fact, employees.

For most high growth emerging technology startups, equity is cheaper than cash when it comes to compensating employees.

In most jurisdictions, all you need to do to legally incorporate is submit your articles of incorporation to the Secretary of State of the jurisdiction in which you want to incorporate and adopt a set of bylaws, and many online companies (and attorneys) will take care of these two things for you for a nominal price.

In the world of convertible debt, arguably the single most important term for both the startup and the investor is the provision concerning when and how the investor’s convertible promissory note converts into equity.