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September 2024 The Contractor’s Advantage
HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000 jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
Preparing for Every Possibility in Court AN ATTORNEY’S BEST PLAN
When it comes to litigation, covering all of your bases is important because you never know everything a court will throw your way. Recently, I had a case that demonstrated this well. Two guys decided to partner up and start an electrical business. Unfortunately, it did not work out, and the business ended up falling apart. I represented one of the owners who proceeded to start their own successful electrical business. The other owner, however, did not find success, or much work at all, after the former business collapsed. Instead, he decided to sue my client to the tune of $600,000. My opinion on this case was and always has been that the claims were frivolous and illogical. Despite that, I was still diligent in defense of my client. Lack of Discovery Typically, litigation begins with the filing of a complaint. Then, there are motions, and both sides go through a process called discovery. Discovery is about learning what is going on with the other side. Everybody has to show their cards. You can request documents, information, and deposition, a witness’s sworn testimony taken out of court. However, throughout the entire discovery process, the plaintiff was exceedingly arrogant and never gave us anything. He didn’t hand over a single document, agree to sit for a deposition, or even respond to a single question we posed. His only consistent response was, “You don’t need all of this. You already know what happened.” That, however, did not cut it. We were approaching the end of the discovery period, and the trial was approaching. We needed to take action. Further Motions An attorney can respond in two ways when someone refuses to cooperate during discovery. You can either ask for the schedule to be extended or ask for a sanction. The sanction in this case would be that the case should be dismissed and a judgment made in favor of my client. However, courts typically do not want to get involved in every little dispute in a case — they are busy and prefer both sides to try and work out their own issues. In this case, I decided we needed to do both . This would require hours of work, but I counseled my client that we needed to prepare for any potential outcome, and he agreed. We asked for an extension to the schedule and put forth a motion for
summary judgment, arguing that since the plaintiff never handed over discovery, my client should not have to pay damages.
Ultimate Result As it turns out, the court summarily denied our request to extend the discovery schedule. That put us in an awkward position since we would have to go to court without learning what the plaintiff had in store for us. However, the court never responded to our motion for summary judgment. So, when we were finally in front of the judge, and he asked if we had everything we needed to proceed, we told him we still needed a response on our motion. We made our argument, and then it was the plaintiff’s opportunity to respond. Fortunately for us, he was just as arrogant before the judge as he was during discovery. For one, he kept referring to me as “Jeremy.” Now, that didn’t bother me in the slightest, but court is a formal place, and it was atypical behavior. He also repeated the same line to the judge he had given us: “We already know what happened.” That was the exact wrong thing to tell the judge, who wants the whole process to move smoothly. He granted our motion, we won, and the case did not go to trial.
This case reinforced the lesson that litigation can take many forms. It is our job, as attorneys, to anticipate and analyze those possibilities to ensure our preparedness. And that is exactly what happened in this case.
-Jeremy Wyatt
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Revolutionizing Adulthood The Realworld App Can Be Your Ultimate Companion
Technology has come a long way in recent decades. The software and smart devices kids have access to now are light-years ahead of what many of us had growing up. Nowadays, if you have a pressing question, you can ask Siri or Alexa, or look it up yourself on any number of connected devices. But even with modern conveniences, we still missed out on many practical lessons while growing up, whether we have a college education or not. That is where the Realworld app, created by Genevieve Bellaire, comes in handy: It’s the tool we wish we had growing up because it answers many questions young adults have. Genevieve’s Reprieve Even after earning her bachelor’s degree from Princeton and her MBA and law degree from Georgetown, Bellaire entered adulthood with glaring gaps in her knowledge. Despite her impressive education, Bellaire experienced challenges managing her finances, health care, and living arrangements. Although well-studied, she was not well- prepared for life — and she wasn’t alone. When she talked to friends about these difficulties, they could all relate. Everyone felt they did not know enough about filing taxes,
managing a 401(k), building credit, how insurance works, or many other critical facets of adult life. Bellaire saw a gap in the market for people like her, which inspired her to create Realworld, an app aimed at simplifying adulthood.
Designing Demonstrations Realworld provides resources that make it easier to
understand major “adulting” topics not covered in formal education — things like balancing a budget, filling out employment paperwork, setting up a credit card, etc. When setting out to create the app, Genevieve interviewed more than 1,000 people — from recent college graduates to business owners — to understand the problem areas and then identify and create “playbooks” for dealing with them. Playbooks contain step-by-step lessons that guide users through the topics and their myriad intracacies. The app now has nearly 100 instructional playbooks to prepare its users for many tasks. The app can help provide a refresher or identify other facets of adult life you may want or need to know about. Community of Peers Since Realworld is a platform meant for the next generation, it is focused on building a community. After all, learning is easiest when you have other people to bounce ideas off of. The users, along with the team of researchers, writers, designers, and educators working on the app, all benefit from its lessons. During COVID-19, Bellaire changed its pricing model and made the app free. Since then, the app has grown exponentially, amassing over 1.7 million users as of 2023. More people than ever have access to the resources they need to face adulthood head-on. The Realworld: Simplify Adulthood app is available now for free on Apple’s App Store. Bellaire told Forbes magazine that the app’s objective is to empower young adults, especially recent graduates and minorities, with its resources. “This is the reason we made the decision to make the platform free. We want to be part of leveling the playing field for everyone and provide our members the opportunity to set themselves up for success,” she said.
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of paying thousands of dollars per post, you’re probably only going to spend a few hundred dollars at most, which helps keep your social media strategy within budget. Why should your business hire a micro-influencer? You might think that an account with a few thousand followers isn’t worth your time and money, but building a platform is incredibly challenging. You’ve probably already experienced this with your personal or business social media accounts. These individuals have already amassed a following, and now, you can take advantage of their hard work. Additionally, most micro-influencers have a targeted audience that aligns with their views and words. If their
what you want to gain from this social media campaign. Search keywords and use filters to find the perfect account for your business. From there, you need to search for influencers who fit your brand and then inform them of your campaign goals so they can create the proper content. Once you’ve found the perfect influencer, determine which platform is best for your campaign. Each platform provides unique advantages. The influencer may be able to guide you through which option is best depending on your goal and content idea. Remember that you’ll likely have to give content direction to the influencer to ensure you get the content that fits your brand’s
targeted audience shares the same circle as your potential customer base, you have a recipe for boosted sales and growth. How to find the right micro-influencer for your business. Finding the right influencer to represent your brand will take some effort. If you hire someone whose audience doesn’t relate to your business, you’ll be wasting time and money. Start by determining
image and accomplishes your goals. This includes promo codes, product samples, or information about your business. Influencers can be a powerful tool for driving business and growing your brand. Consider using a micro- influencer if you’re struggling to find new clients through social media. It might be the best thing you can do for your business this year!
HAVE A Laugh
Many past careers weren’t glamorous, and some are the worst professions in history. Let’s look at four foul jobs that no longer exist (and we couldn’t be more thrilled about it). Purple Dye Makers Back in ancient times, the hue of the royals was made by crushing thousands of snails, extracting their glands, and then heating the material being dyed in a pot full of brine for 10 days in an incredibly odorous process! Dripping Men A dripping man back in Victorian England would go to homes and businesses to collect their fat drippings to sell to the public. Childbed Linen Warehouse Keepers According to an 1842 book of trades, a job involved supplying, collecting, and cleaning bed linens specifically used for birth. Honey Dippers, Toshers, and Purefinders Honey dippers collected waste from homes, toshers scavenged sewers for valuable items to sell, and purefinders collected dog poop (to be used in the process of tanning leathers). An interesting question to ponder: Which jobs of our era will be considered weird history in the future? UNMASKING SOME OF HISTORY’S WORST JOBS Careers You’ll Be Glad Are Extinct
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Jeremy Wyatt jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000
40 West Chesapeake Avenue, Ste. 600 Towson, MD 21204
Inside This Edition
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Thoroughness Is Power in Litigation
2.
The App Every Adult Needs 3. Bizarre Jobs That Time Forgot 4. A Guide to Micro-Influencer Marketing
SMALL FOLLOWING, BIG IMPACT How Micro-Influencers Can Drive Business Growth
Social media has changed the way businesses market themselves and their products. Instead of relying on word- of-mouth or spending exorbitant sums of money on television, radio, or print advertising, businesses can now create social media pages, giving customers a direct line to everything going on with the company. Many businesses focus on amassing more followers on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. However, having an account isn’t enough to bring more attention to your business. You must utilize a carefully crafted social media plan to maximize your presence and potential. With the rise of social media came influencers, people with large social media followings who used their platform to drive attention to ideas, businesses, and products. Influencers aren’t anything new; companies have used celebrities to advertise
their products and services since the 1800s. These days, hiring a well-known celebrity to showcase your product or service costs an astronomical amount, likely more than the average business owner can pay. That’s where social media influencers come into play. Social media influencers are everywhere; you can’t scroll through Instagram for more than 10 minutes without one of their sponsored posts showing up in your feed. Some of these influencers have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers, but you don’t need to hire the most prominent influencer to connect with potential customers and promote your brand. Realistically, you only need to find the right micro- influencer to get the most out of your social media marketing efforts. You’re probably wondering, “What is a micro-influencer?” They’re lesser-
known influencers with followers between 10,000 and 100,000 across various platforms. While they might have a smaller audience pool, micro- influencers often have a much more engaged following, with many followers commenting, sharing, and reacting to their posts regularly. Businesses wanting to hire micro- influencers for their marketing efforts will be pleased to learn that they charge significantly less than a well- known influencer or celebrity. Instead
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