Attig Law Firm P.L.L.C

Seriously - this guy can’t be hurt again. But alas, he appears to be headed for an MRI on his foot. From what I can tell, Pava-No-Pitch was hit on the foot by a batted ball during batting practice.

Joe Torre’s comment was insightful: “He had a shoe on, all that stuff is a good sign,” Torre said. I’m sure that if Pava-No-Pitch was pitching without a shoe, he most certainly would be back on the DL.

In case you’ve missed the latest from spring-training camp, here’s a quick update. This is the big news that the sports media wants us to know about the approaching 2007 Spring Training:

1) Randy Johnson said the New York media are poo-poo heads and made him feel icky.

2) Sheff said that Joe Torre was a mean daddy.

3) A-Rod told his mommy that he doesn’t want to go to his buddy Derek’s place for sleepovers anymore.

4) Carl Pava-no-pitch asked Moose to be his best friend again.

5) Carl Pava-no-pitch immediately went to the nurse’ station with lead in his ass.

6) Bernie wants to stay in Mr. Torre’s class FOREVER!

7) Mo wants his teacher to give him an A+ for an exam he hasn’t taken yet or he’s going to transfer to Boston Elementary.

Mr. Swindal, the Vice-Principal, is hiding whiskey in his lower desk drawer and taking swigs during social studies. Naughty naughty.

9) Bubba Crosby is mad that he was the last one picked for dodge-ball every day at recess. So he took his ball and went to play with his real friends in Cincinnati.

I’d be willing to bet that none of these players are talking about this stuff - it’s all the sports media dredging for stories because they have forgotten how to talk about baseball.

As for me, I’m kinda curious if the Phillies really are the NL East favorite. If I was a sports-writer, I’d do some reporting about that.

The 2007 Republican budget contains an interesting proposal for the self-proclaimed political party for business. The Son of George Bush wants to eliminate government backed small business micro-loans.

Micro-loans are loans of $35,000 or less that are subsidized by the US Government’s Small Business Administration (SBA). Because the loans are subsidized by the U.S. Government, the interests rates are often the best interest rates available. According to the Dallas Business Journal, 90,000 businesses borrowed $13.5 billion in micro-loans in 2006.

If the SBA does not subsidize small business micro loans, then interest rates and fees will skyrocket, and fewer small businesses will have access to the small bursts of capital needed to get their businesses running. Since these types of loans traditionally help lower income and middle class enterpreuneurs the most, it stands to reason that once again, the Republicans are pinching the middle class out of economic opportunity.

But here’s the real motive - the cuts in the SBA subsidies are being used to increase micro-loans for businesses in Iraq. Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t help folks overseas if we can. And I’m not saying we should help Americans before we help anyone else.

What I am saying is this - when forced to choose between American small business and Iraqi big business, the Son of George Bush and Company have shown their true colors.

Wells Fargo and Gallup released the results of a Small Business Survey last week. The survey concluded that the top concern of Small Business owners in 2007 is insurance. Taxes, usually the primary concern of small business owners, came in second.

Here are some typical insurance needs of many small businesses:

• Property Insurance - Home based business owners need to make sure their homeowner’s policy covers their business activities. Business owners on a lease often need additional insurance, as the landlord’s policy rarely covers the tenant’s business assets.
• Worker Comp Insurance - If you have employees, this is a necessary expense. For small businesses, learning the ins and outs of workers compensation insurance can be a nightmare.
• Liability Insurance - Every business should consider the possibility that its products and services might injure someone.
• Key Person Loss Insurance - the most overlooked insurance for small businesses. If a key person (owner, salesperson, etc) dies or becomes disabled, will the business have capital available to continue operations or replace lost volume? Will a business have capital to buy out the heir that inherits an interest in the business but has no desire to actually operate the business?
• Business Income or Interruption Coverage - what happens if the business has a shortfall in revenue because of a disaster like a fire, flood, or some other disaster? Â Often, small business owners discover the need for this type of insurance in developing a Business Continuity Plan.

The key to taking the hassling out of your small business’ insurance needs is to realistically confront the risk your business is exposed to most frequently, and determine the business ability to financially protect against that risk.

A small business attorney can assist in assessing your business risk and insurance needs or goals. The Attig Law Firm provides objective legal advice to small business owners about their risk and insurance levels.

My bold prediction for 2007: Alfonso Soriano will become the first 50-50 player in the history of baseball.  For those of you that don’t follow much baseball, that’s 50 Home Runs and 50 Stolen Bases in a single season - nobody’s ever done it before.
Soriano has his share of critics - it seems to me that no matter how well this kid performs, there is a group out there that wants to tear him down.  If you laughed at my prediction, there’s a good possibility that you have spent too much time listening to those critics and not enough time looking at some of the things Sori has done.

• When Soriano set a record for the highest salary ever awarded in arbitration (receiving $10 million), the nay-sayers said he wouldn’t live up to it.  Instead, he became only the 4th player in baseball history to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.
• When he was traded to the Nationals, “they” said his power would suffer in the great expanses of RFK stadium.  He went on to hit 46 home-runs in 2006.
• “They” say he has no work ethic, but he became the fastest man in baseball history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases.
• “They” said he couldn’t play left field, and wouldn’t survive the transition from infield to outfield.  However, in 2006, Sori had 20 outfield assists from left field.  [This is an amazing feat - left fielders don’t typically get a lot of assists, or opportunities for assists.  I looked at Bill James’ list of the top 10 left-fielders in the history of the game, and found that only 2 have ever had more than 20 assists in a season: Tim Raines had 21 assists in 1983, and Shoeless Joe had 3 consecutive 20+ assist seasons from 1911-1913. Please shoot me an email if you find a left fielder that 20+ assists in a season]
• “They” say he strikes out to much.  Well, each year that he’s played (with the exception of 2006), he’s reduced his total number of strikeous.  In 2006, Sori took a different tack, and more than doubled the number of walks he received (67 in 2006, 33 in 2005), showing the baseball world that he may have learned to lay off the low-and-away pitch that is his “kryptonite”.

Soriano is, very quietly, going to put up numbers over the next 5-10 years that guarantee him a spot in Cooperstown.  My worry is this: because sportswriters have given him an undeserved reputation as lacking a work ethic and having a bad attitude, he won’t ever get the recognition he deserves.

Good luck in Chicago, Soriano.

According to the New York Daily News, A-Rod spent the 2006 season writing a children’s book.  The article states that the book is a motivational story for kids - meant to teach the moral that if an under-dog like A-Rod can make it, anyone can.

Psychologically speaking, it’s interesting that while most of the baseball world has viewed A-Rod as one of the premier “five-tool” players in the game, he views himself as an under-dog.  Perhaps it is that lack of objectivity about his own skill and talent that causes him to bat .154 in the playoffs.

Putting that aside, however, this quote from the article jumped out at me:

“During the [2006] season, [A-Rod] would arrive at his Manhattan apartment after games to find the latest sketches, staying up for hours as he went over every detail.”

Okay, A-Rod, I really do respect you for writing a children’s book, and I truly respect your desire to inspire children to do things they think they can’t.

But please, during the season, focus on your game and your team.  Save the book-writing for the off-season.

Over the past two months, I bet that 80% of the calls I get from small and micro business owners involve not getting paid.   All too often, small businesses are getting “stiffed” on the payment by a customer, another business or vendor, or a party with whom they contracted.

Here are some ideas that might help your small business avoid the problem of getting “stiffed”:

1. Have all contracts for services and all contracts for goods over $500 in writing.
2. Get your payment up-front.  If you collect all money owed before delivering a good/service, you will never have to worry about collecting past due amounts.
3. Sometimes the “up-front” option isn’t feasible - when it isn’t, try using credit-card authorizations and automatic bank account deductions (but be sure to have the proper legal documentation before you do this).
4. If you can’t do the first two options, have a clear policy with your customers regarding non-payment. Tell them when payment is due and what will happen if they don’t pay.
5. If a customer stops paying, stop providing the good/service immediately.  Those who want your good/service will pay right away; those who don’t will go away, and you won’t take any more loss.
6. Start calling for payment the first day payment is late.  Statistics have shown that you are likely to collect 75-100% of a debt that is less than 3 months old, 50-60% of a debt that is 3-6 months old, and less than 30% of debts that are over 6 months old.
7. Don’t have the person who does the sales also do the collections.  Often, the person who sold the product/service has an emotional interest in collecting the money, and is more likely to agree to extensions on payment, reductions in the amount owed, etc.
8. Offer incentives for early payment and incentives for late payment.  A common approach is to offer a 5% discount if a bill is paid within 10 days of invoice and a 10% penalty if it’s paid after that time.
9. If you are dealing with another business, always check out their credit history - do not do business with companies that have bad credit ratings.   Check out your clients and customers when you can, and if it makes sense for your business to do so.
10. Talk to an attorney before you decide to go to send out a demand letter, go to small claims court, file suit in civil court, or pass the account to a collection agency.  These options may not always be right for every business, and there may be important considerations for your particular business.

There are many other things you can do to reduce your overdue accounts and keep from getting  “stiffed” in the future.  Contact a small business attorney if you are having consistent problems with non-paying customers or vendors.

Shaun Powell, I couldn’t disagree with your article more:

‘Once you remove the product on the field and Monument Park in the outfield, the “Yankee experience” is like the death of Barbaro: overrated and overplayed.’

Personally, I don’t go to Yankee Stadium to eat peanuts or use the restroom. I certainly don’t go to Yankee Stadium to hang out in the concourse, or find some great parking spot in the Bronx.  I go to see the divets on the right-field porch from a Mantle home-run.  I go to hear the “Voice of God”.  I go for the game.

Moreover, your comparison of Yankee Stadium to Dodger Stadium is just silly - especially the part about Dodger Stadium being a “Grand Old Stadium” of baseball. There’s three “Grand Ole Stadium’s” left - Yankee Stadium, Wrigley, and that one up in New England.

I’ll agree with you on this point, though - Yankee Stadium is not on the cutting edge of ballpark technology. There’s no “Speed Pitch” or “Kiddie Park”. There’s no fancy waterfall or hot-tub-box-seats. But there’s no place I’d rather watch a baseball game.

Tell me the truth, Shaun…did you cast your Hall of Fame ballot for Jose Canseco?

I recently read a survey that compared the market factors that men and women prefer when looking for a location to open their business.

Here is what the report said that women-business owners prefer in their target markets:

• Low crime rate
• Low property tax rates
• High household income
• Modest real estate prices
• Rapid population growth
• Pedestrian-friendly

Here is what the report said that male-business owners prefer in their target markets:

• pro-business government
• having a major city nearby,
• high quality of life

I haven’t thought enough about the differences to draw any solid conclusions, but I did notice that the factors important to women business owners were a lot more defined than those important to men. Not only are they more defined, but they all appear to be key factors in generating immediate cash flow or providing immediate access to customers.

I have read (but have never seen quantified studies) that it is harder for female enterpreneurs to get financing than male enterpreneurs. If that is true, then perhaps the female owners try to compensate for the greater unavailability of financing by locating their business closer to clusters of potential customers.

On the other hand, the opposite may be true - perhaps because women business owners are better at placing businesses near their customers, they have a reduced need to seek out financing.

Women-owned businesses account for half of new startups in the U.S, and 1 out of 11 women own a small business. If you are thinking about starting a business in 2007, it is best to consult with a small business lawyer to discern the legal obstacles and opporturnities you may face.

The Attig Law Firm represents small businesses and those seeking to start a small business in Texas.

Ever since visiting Miller Park last year, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Milwaukee Brewers. This is a great young team with a lot of potential, playing in a division where anything could happen. Worth commenting on, however, is what could be the Brewers “Achilles’ heel”: relief pitching.

The Brewers starting rotation has the potential to dominate - each of the five (Capuano, Vargas, Sheets, Suppan and Bush) has potential to throw 200+ innings. These 5 threw an average of 7 strikeouts per outing, and have a collective WHIP of 1.27. One problem, though - the Brewers’ Starting Five averaged under 6 innings per outing in 2006.

That’s not a big problem, if your offense can score runs: with more runs on the board, the starters can leave the game with a bigger lead and a relief squad of Capellan, Turnbow, Wise, Shouse, and Coco have an easier time shutting down any late inning threats.

However, the Brewers scored fewer runs than most teams in the National League last year - in fact, only Pittsburgh and San Diego scored fewer runs. That means that the Brewers relief squad is likely to come into the game with a small - or no - lead. This is the relief squad that had one of the highest ERA’s in the National League last year - so they will likely need a big lead to close out the game with a “W”.

If Coco isn’t in perfect form in 2007, and if Turnbow can’t return to his 2005 form, then it’s likely that the Brewers won’t be the surprise contender that everyone thinks they can be.

And that would be very disappointing - this is an exciting small-market team whose management is making the right moves - a team whose time is due.