Business Books - Page 5

Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants

Stephen Fishman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Be your own boss -- easily, efficiently and successfully -- with this bestseller!

Whether you're an independent contractor, freelancer, or consultant, it all adds up to the same thing: You need to be more aware of laws and taxes than the average person.

Fortunately, Working for Yourself provides all the information you need to stay on top of it all. An independent contractor himself, Stephen Fishman shows you everything you need to know to:

meet business start-up requirements

pick a business structure

set up home or outside offices

obtain permits and licenses

price your services or products

comply with strict IRS rules

establish sound business relationships

avoid unfair contracts

draft good agreements

keep good records

get paid in full and on time

and much, much more

The 7th edition is completely revised to provide the up-to-date information you need, including the most current tax rates and changes in the law.

Whether you already work for yourself or are thinking about making the move, Working for Yourself will help make sure you do it right.

List of Forms

Asset Log

Expense Journal

Income Journal

Invoice

General Independent Contractor Agreement

Contract Amendment

Nondisclosure Agreement

Legal Writing in Plain English: A Text With Exercises

Bryan A. Garner

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Subjects -> Law -> Law Practice -> Writing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Admirably clear, concise, down-to-earth, and powerful-unfortunately, these adjectives rarely describe legal writing, whether in the form of briefs, opinions, contracts, or statutes. In Legal Writing in Plain English, Bryan A. Garner provides lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The book encourages legal writers to challenge conventions and offers valuable insights into the writing process: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. In essence, it teaches straight thinking—a skill inseparable from good writing.

Replete with common sense and wit, the book draws on real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through more than a decade of teaching in the field. Trenchant advice covers all types of legal materials, from analytical and persuasive writing to legal drafting. Meanwhile, Garner explores important aspects of document design. Basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section reinforce the book's principles. (An answer key to basic exercises is included in the book; answers to intermediate and advanced exercises are provided in a separate Instructor's Manual, free of charge to instructors.) Appendixes include a comprehensive punctuation guide with advice and examples, and four model documents.

Today more than ever before, legal professionals cannot afford to ignore the trend toward clear language shorn of jargon. Clients demand it, and courts reward it. Despite the age-old tradition of poor writing in law, Legal Writing in Plain English shows how legal writers can unshackle themselves.

Legal Writing in Plain English includes:

*Tips on generating thoughts, organizing them, and creating outlines.
*Sound advice on expressing your ideas clearly and powerfully.
*Dozens of real-life writing examples to illustrate writing problems and solutions.
*Exercises to reinforce principles of good writing (also available on the Internet).
*Helpful guidance on page layout.
*A punctuation guide that shows the correct uses of every punctuation mark.
*Model legal documents that demonstrate the power of plain English.

Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens: Earn Safe, Secured, and Fixed Returns Every Time

Larry B. Loftis

List Price: $19.95 By: Kaplan Business Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $8.97

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An investment alternative that gives fixed returns of 10 to 25 percent.
Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens introduces an investment alternative that is safe, secured by real estate, administered by the government, involves no brokers, is enforced by state law, and gives fixed returns. Selling tax liens or tax deeds (depending on the state) are the two ways that counties across the country bring delinquent property taxes up-to-date. This investment is one of the least publicized and safest ways of investing in real estate, designed to give the investor either a fixed return, as in the case of investing in tax liens, or a property for 10 to 50 cents on the dollar, as in the case of a tax deed sale. In most situations, the property is ultimately transferred free of any liens, such as mortgages. Profit by Investing in Real Estate Tax Liens also debunks the common myth that tax delinquent properties are run-down and shows that liens exist on every type of property. Author Larry Loftis, an attorney and active investor, has purchased liens on properties owned by Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Hector "Macho" Camacho (world champion boxer), Chase Manhattan Bank, LaSalle National Bank, and even a building whose major tenant was the local sheriff's department! In this authoritative guide, Loftis helps investors avoid the pitfalls while answering all the key questions they need to consider:
* What's the difference between investing in tax liens and tax deeds?
* How does an investor go about bidding at tax sales? And what is the process?
* What are the different requirements in each state?
* Where are the greatest risks in this kind of real estate investing? For investors eager to get started, Loftis's action plan provides details on the next steps to take, while real-life examples in every chapter bring the concepts down to earth.

Coping with Difficult People

Robert Bramson

List Price: $29.00 By: Simon & Schuster Audio Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $2.18

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Never an easy task 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 28 people found this review helpful.

For the first time I am reviewing a book that I did not completely read. In fact, I read only the first two chapters. But at the time--several years ago, those were the only chapters I needed. Robert M. Bramson, management consultant, found that the number one problem in all the businesses he worked with was people trying to cope with difficult people. So he wrote this book.

He identifies six types of difficult people:
Hostile-aggressives: those who bully and throw tantrums to get their way;
Complainers: those who gripe incessantly but do nothing to change things;
Super-Agreeables: those who are supportive and agreeable but fail to follow through;
Silent and Unresponsives: those who respond to every question with yep, no, or a grunt;
Negativists: those who deflate any optimism you have;
Know-It-All Experts: those who know everything about anything worth knowing-- their goal is to make you feel worthless;
Indecisives: those who stall major decisions until they are made for them, often causing loss of jobs and opportunities.

The problem I had to work with was the Hostile-Agressive, of which there are three types: the Sherman Tank, the Sniper, and the Exploder. The Sniper makes deeply cutting comments under the guise of humor so that the victim is always slightly off-balance. Was it a joke or not? The Sherman Tank bullies verbally and physically if necessary to see that things go his way. He can be very intimidating. The Exploder is frightening in his vociferous behavior. Of the three the Exploder is the only one who cannot be persuaded to calm down. The victim must wait for that.

The husband, now ex-husband, was the Exploder and also a Complainer, Negativist, and a Know-It-All. The most difficult to deal with is the Exploder. Once he started, his temper and voice became louder and louder. The first step in dealing with this behavior is to get their attention by saying STOP! Stop!. That never worked for me. I thought surely if I break into his monolog he would stop and listen to me. He just got louder and louder. If I yelled, he yelled louder. If I talked, he demanded that I stop sassing him.

The method that always worked for me was to allow him time to calm down. The best way for him to achieve that calmness was that I leave the house. I would drive around for at least 30 minutes, then return home. He was always over his tantrum and usually friendly. He never apologized for anything (it was ALWAYS my fault). We would just start talking again as if nothing had happened. The big deal is that this method worked every time. He needed to be away from interaction with other people until his anger faded.

I have recommended this book to a number of people over the years and tout its efficacy in working with difficult people, especially the Exploders.

Editorial Review:

Using numerous illustrative vignettes, Bramson tells how to deal with anyone--from uncooperative, unresponsive types to irritating complainers, pessimists, and intimidating bullies. 4 cassettes.

Distressed Debt Analysis: Strategies for Speculative Investors

Stephen G. Moyer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Recently, reorganizations, restructurings, and bankruptcies have replaced IPOs as the common financial vehicle of the times. However, these distressed companies can still provide an avenue for profitable investing. This eagerly anticipated new reference helps guide you through this treacherous landscape in order to master the multi-move chess-like strategies required to achieve financially advantageous results for your portfolio. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive book on the market to deal with the myriad of issues surrounding a distressed company.

Providing theoretical and practical insight, Distressed Debt Analysis: Strategies for Speculative Investors presents a conceptual, but not overly technical, outline of the financial and bankruptcy law context in which restructurings take place. The book covers the broader financial environment of the reorganization and the basic process of investment analysis and investment strategies. The author uses numerous real-world examples and case studies to emphasize important concepts and critical issues.

The developments that have created these extraordinary investment opportunities have also created tremendous demand for professionals with experience and knowledge in the restructuring process. Distressed Debt Analysis: Strategies for Speculative Investors addresses the complete knowledge needs of investors and professionals in the burgeoning world of financially distressed companies. It is perfect for bankruptcy departments of law firms, restructuring advisory groups, turnaround consulting firms, and reorganization and distressed securities departments of investment banks.

A Civil Action

Jonathan Harr

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 342 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Civil Action, A Review by SpeekNDaTruuf 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A Civil Action 502 pgs.
by Jonathan Harr
Review by SpeekNDaTruuf


What happens when two of the nation's largest companies are brought to court? All hell breaks loose... and it is into the depths of hell that we traverse in Jonathan Harr's nonfictional court drama A Civil Action.

1960s. The age of youth, the age of revolution, and, yes, the age of cover-ups and
conspiracies. In the small town of Woburn, Massachussettes, two companies, W.R. Grace, a chemical plant, and the J. J. Riley Tannery, a division of Beatrice Foods, are polluting the town's water supplies, commonly referred to as Wells G and H. As a result, a leukemia cluster develops, taking with it the lives of several small children and middle-aged adults.

1980s. The age of selfishness, the age of self interests. Jan Schlichtmann, a prosecutor at the top of his game, along with his cohorts, have decided to represent the plaintiffs in the Woburn environmental crisis. But they soon find out how greed, how hopes of fortune and fame, can cause those at the top to fall.

There were several aspects of this novel that I loved. One, for instance, was the number of significant characters. Usually, a book has a hero, and it focuses on that one person throughout the entire novel. A Civil Action, however, does not. Yes, it has a main character, but to me, the other characters' interaction with the main character allows readers the ability to actually like the protagonist. I found myself often rooting for Jan Schlichtmann. And I wasn't just rooting for him because he was the "hero." Although he has the title, we see him slipping into what I like to call "nervous breakdown" mode during this novel, and it's not often that we see a main character as fleshed out as Jan. We see his highs, his lows... we hear about his hopes and dreams, and we watch them as they crumble around him. From what I have gathered, he is a good man, albeit only a character in a novel that I have just read.

Another aspect that I loved about A Civil Action was Harr's inclusion of the average reader into the world of legal procedures. Now, as a fan of TNT's Law & Order, I like to think that I am up-to-date on the matter of criminal procedures. But Harr showed me just how much I had to learn (and subsequently, how much more I need to learn). Readers are rewarded with insight into both the prosecutorial and defense procedures, and even though I was rooting for Schlichtmann, I couldn't help but somewhat admire Facher (one of the defense attorneys for Beatrice Foods). I will not lie, though; I hated Judge Skinner!


Of course there's more, but I might end up giving away half of the novel by detailing everything that I liked in this book. So, that being written, I have decided to reward Harr with FOUR STARS for A Civil Action. But don't let my review speak for the novel. Here's what others thought:

#1 National Bestseller
Winner -- National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
Cleveland Plain Dealer: "The legal thriller of the decade."

Here's something else you may want to check out:
"A Civil Action", the movie, starring John Travolta, is now out on DVD. It came on one of the premium stations tonight, and I watched it for the first time. Although it wasn't as detailed as the book (most movies never are), it was actually worth watching. It was good to put faces to the characters I've read about. I think you should check it out also. It didn't get my 4 stars, but it did receive 3 from the "t.v. people."

Editorial Review:

"The legal thriller of the decade." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

Now a Major Motion Picture!

In this true story of an epic courtroom showdown, two of the nation's largest corporations stand accused of causing the deaths of children. Representing the bereaved parents, the unlikeliest of heroes emerges: a young, flamboyant Porsche-driving lawyer who hopes to win millions of dollars and ends up nearly losing everything, including his sanity. A searing, compelling tale of a legal system gone awry--one in which greed and power fight an unending struggle against justice--A Civil Action is also the story of how one determined man can ultimately make a difference. With an unstoppable narrative power, it is an unforgettable reading experience.

The Independent Film Producer's Survival Guide: A Business and Legal Sourcebook

Gunnar Erickson, Mark Halloran, Harris Tulchin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent book - idiotic title 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is a serious but very readable approach to educating filmmakers on the maze of legal hoops that must be jumped through in order to create a film. Indispensable resource to have.

Lawyers not producers 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

It was a book with that gave you a good background on how film production works from a legal perspective. So you should read it if that is your concern. The authors are lawyers, not producers.

Great Resource 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If it's not already, this book will soon become the industry standard for substantive knowledge of the film business for independent filmmakers. Deal points, standard contract provisions, the often technical and confusing jargon, and the historical context for many industry practices are all covered here in comprehensive yet concise fashion. Topics of interest that are covered in depth include standard talent and producer agreements, developing a screen play, financing, and digital distribution. The book was a tremendous asset to me when I had to help an independent filmmaker comply with complicated federal securities laws in order to raise $200,000. Highly recommended.

jeffbrownlegal@gmail.com

Editorial Review:

In this comprehensive guidebook, three experienced entertainment lawyers tell you everything you need to know to produce and market an independent film—from the development process to deal making, financing, setting up the production, hiring directors and actors, securing location rights, acquiring music, calculating profits, digital moving making, distribution, and marketing your movie. This all-new second edition has been completed updated.

Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes

Stephen Fishman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book! 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Great book. Just one comment. A lot of the text in this book is identical to the text in Tax Deductions for Professionals. You don't need both books; choose one.

Editorial Review:

From start-up to success, you need to Deduct It!

Completely updated for 2008

Make more money for your small business by paying the IRS less. Let Deduct It! show you how to maximize the business deductions you're entitled to -- quickly, easily and legally.

This comprehensive, yet easy to read book is organized into practical categories featuring common deductions, including:

start-up expenses

operating expenses

health deductions

vehicles

travel

entertainment

meals

inventory

equipment

and many more

The 4th edition is completely updated with all the latest tax information and numbers for 2008, and provides new information on tax planning. Whether your business is just starting or well established, Deduct It! is indispensable to your venture.

CrunchTime: Property

Steven L. Emanuel

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Emanel's Property 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This was a very helpful supplement to the course material for the semester. It explains complex property theories in easy to manage summaries.

very useful outline 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Property can be extremely dull and difficult to memorize for your law school exams...this book provides a great outline of the concepts and good example problems to practice on. love it that so many people sell their used copies so cheap...can get great deals in law school supplements through amazon!

Editorial Review:

The most trusted name in law school outlines, Emanuel Law Outlines support your class preparation, provide reference for your outline creation, and supply a comprehensive breakdown of topic matter for your entire study process. Created by Steven Emanuel, these course outlines have been relied on by generations of law students. Each title includes both capsule and detailed versions of the critical issues and key topics you must know to master the course. Also included are exam questions with model answers, an alpha-list of cases, and a cross reference table of cases for all of the leading casebooks.

Gilbert Law Summaries: Contracts

Melvin Aron Eisenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Supplement 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I just finished my Contracts final, but I will not blame my grade on this book.

This does what it is supposed to. It supplements the material that the Prof. presents in class. If you are not sure what the modern rule is, this is where you go. If you are not sure if there is an exception, this is where you go. If you are not sure what the basic functions of the rule is, this is where you check. If you are not sure what Restatement or UCC section applies, this is where you check.

If you want to know the reasons Why, this is not where you go. The book explains the rationale behind the rule in only a few situations. If you have an exam that is only multiple choice, you could skip every class, read this cover to cover three times and do pretty well. Unfortunately, most exams are not like that.

This book is great for supplementing your notes and filling in the gray areas. For that, it is invaluable, but like all commercial outlines, it cannot replace your notes.

As the previous reviewer says, the flow charts are excellent. This certainly facilitates understanding, I would just recommend not putting all your eggs in this basket.

Editorial Review:

Gilbert Law Summaries are America’s best selling outlines and have set the standard for excellence since they were introduced more than thirty-five years ago. It’s Gilbert’s unique combination of features that makes it the one study aid you’ll turn to for all of your study needs! Walk into class prepared with a comprehensive outline of the law, a concise capsule summary perfect for a quick review before class, charts of every kind, a text correlation chart so that you can match your specific reading assignment to the relevant pages in the Gilbert outline, and an index and table of cases. Ace your final exams with a step-by-step approach to attack your exam, exam tips, and sample multiple choice, true-false, and essay questions.