Big Growth and Changes in Massachusetts Solar Market

By Eric J. Krathwohl on June 5, 2013

Over the past couple of years, following Massachusetts' announcement of its Solar Carve- Out program, there has been a tremendous flurry of development of large and small solar generation facilities.

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Massachusetts Liquor License Applications Faster Under New Regulation

By James B. Heffernan on May 29, 2013

The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) has just adopted a procedural change for approval of liquor license applications to speed the process for applicants.

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Why start-ups shouldn't skimp on IP documentation

By Robert G. Schwartz on April 25, 2013

You run a technology company. Imagine for a moment that I am a prospective investor or buyer of your company. As I perform my due diligence, among a lot of other questions, I want to find out if I can trust your intellectual property chain of ownership. By that I mean, can I trace a contractual link between your company and all the sources of the technology that you use and distribute, and can I verify that you haven't given away ownership or destructively broad rights to someone else?

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Two places a start-up shouldn't skimp documentation

By Robert G. Schwartz on April 18, 2013

Here’s a story you might have heard before. Fantastic Start-up, Inc. built a nice little business, from two founders and no revenue to 37 employees, 20 paying customers and revenue of $3.8 million last year. It took four long, hard years to get here, but now a VC firm wants to invest, and Fantastic Start-up could do some good things with that money. Due diligence started last week. And it doesn’t seem to be going all that well.

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Restricted Stock Basics

By Robert G. Schwartz on March 25, 2013

Restricted stock is a common way that companies put equity in the hands of their employees. Like stock options, the employee receives a grant (also called an award) from the company, in most cases he doesn’t pay anything for the grant, and usually it vests over time. But there are important differences between stock options and restricted stock. What is restricted stock? Restricted stock is shares of a corporation, issued by the company to a service provider (an employee, director, consultant, advisor or other person), with restrictions on transfer and a risk of forfeiture until specified vesting conditions are met.

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