New York SBDC Research Network

At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a federal court has temporarily halted an operation that took more than $14 million from consumers seeking to start their own online business. The operation misrepresented that its purported business coaching program would enable consumers to earn substantial income, such as “six figures  in 90 days  or less.” According to the FTC,  the defendants induced consumers to pay  for a series of tiered memberships with increasing fees, falsely claiming that consumers would learn how to make substantial income with an online business. They promised consumers they would receive individualized coaching from successful marketers that would provide what they needed to build a successful business, but, in reality, these were merely salespeople selling higher membership levels in the defendants’ program. The defendants promoted their scheme via webpages and social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, and offered thei...

From the Business Journals : The Supreme Court of the United States begins its 2016 term Monday. Virtually by definition, cases that reach the land's highest court are historic in nature, but there are plenty of prominent and divisive cases to go around this term. The session will be further complicated by the court still being down a member after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. If the court splits 4-4 on a ruling, the lower court's ruling effectively stands. Here are some of the key business cases before the court this term — with what's in dispute and what's at stake. Samsung Electronics v. Apple Inc...

If you think that the 21-cent swipe fee that bites into your profits each time a customer pays with a debit card is too high, you'll be pleased to learn that a federal district court judge agrees with you. The calculation of the amount was determined to be fundamentally flawed and the Federal Reserve Board regulations that established it were vacated—although the regulations remain in effect until a new fee structure is established. More info from Business Owner's Toolkit

Each of the 94 federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters, and in almost all districts, bankruptcy cases are filed in the bankruptcy court. But if you were trying to figure out which court had jurisdiction over which county in states that have more than one court, such as New York, which has four, you won't find the info in the bankruptcy section, only an annoyingly overbroad map. Instead, look in the general federal district court section where you'll find this link for all counties in a district. The Eastern is Long Island plus three NYC boroughs. The Southern is Manhattan, Bronx up to Dutchess, but not Ulster County. The Northern extends due north of there. The Western is the, er, western part of the state.