GETACLUE

I have been asking a question prev. (2) different ways, cannot seem to find appropriate catagory to place this question and now I this is about the adjudication of a guy's newspaper. He will then be able to Publish Legal Documents in his paper, DBA's/Fict. Bus. Names, Bulk Sales, Trust Sales, etc. Before he was working FOR a newspaper doing sales FOR that newsaper, NOW he has had his own tiny local ppr. on the side and it's going to be ready for Adjudication next week (after a year of circulating the ppr he's able to do this)!! This means he will be able to go incredibly low on rates and since we work at the same place for over (5) years I hear he has vowed behind my back that he will be the big boss and take all of my clients! Ruin my biz!! He denies it innocently to my face but this guy exemplifies dirty-tricks and I know he means it. That is what I mean. I know there is a fair business practices code, does anyone know the code #? also any wisdom/info would be greatly appreciated!I am not the owner/publisher of a newspaper. I work as a field agent for a large adj. legal newsppr and make minor duketts/stipend on each legal ad...so I do volume, volume, volume. I am gettiing absolutely no positive feedback of constructive advise in the first (3) answers. I've been targeted by this control-freak for so long and now he's going to be on steroids with it. Thanks if anyone can offer positive feedback, options not brick walls.

farien3

Unless you have some kind of non-compete clause in your contract with him, and you can then prove that he purposefully attempted to use YOUR client list as his own, you don't have much of a case. He's permitted to compete against you with his own paper. It's the core principle of capitalism. The 'fair business practices code' that you speak of varies from county to county and usually not enforceable in a court of law.

BarryC

Aside form all your panic, I have seen some small papers find a steady source of advertising revenue doing that sort of legal advertising. It can keep a paper in business - I think the San Francisco Examiner is a good example, or perhaps it was the SF Bay Guardian ( a weekly paper).Nothing wrong with what you described - it seems the guy saw an opportunity and seized it. that is called entrepreneurship. Nothing shady about it - your paper had the same opportunity and either decided to not pursue it or was not awarded the contract for competitive reasons.So what?You may have noticed that newspapers are a tough business getting tougher and that circulations, revenue, and staff are shrinking rapidly.You have far more reasons to be worried about your job then if a competitor arose on the basis of competing for legal ads.If you are the owner of a a newspaper yourself, then you need some serious business help and quick if you really are of the mind displayed in the question. Three is plenty of discussion of all these issues and much more in the newspaper trade journals - perhaps you should start by looking there.

laughter_every_day

This is what is known in commerce as "competition." There is generally no law against competition. Instead, the response is to compete against the competitor by providing better service or a better price. If you had a contract with an anti-competition clause, and it was reasonable in scope and duration, then the court's would enforce it. Without such a contract, all you have is the great american way of learning about a business and launching such a business.