[PLUG] OT, sorta..: consulting question

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On 23 Aug 2002, Randal L. Schwartz wrote:

> >>>>> "Shannon" == Shannon C Dealy <dealy at deatech.com> writes:
>
> Shannon>   5 - Liability!!  As a sole proprietor, if you are sued over your work,
> Shannon>       everything you own is up for grabs, so you can lose your house, car,
> Shannon>       bike, and latest Linux CD's :-)  As a corporation, so long as you
> Shannon>       are careful to follow all the rules and keep a strict separation
> Shannon>       between your business and personal life/finances/etc., it is
> Shannon>       very difficult for anyone to successfully go after your personal
> Shannon>       assets as a result of things you did for them through your
> Shannon>       corporation.  There are some exceptions (like theft), but done
> Shannon>       right, you should be pretty safe.
>
> Careful, this is a myth, according to my sources.  More and more,
> even if you are very careful to follow all the rules, there's one
> thing that case law has pointed time and time again:
>
>     If *you* do the work, *you* are liable.
>
> Piercing corps to get at the actual actors is routine now.  So,
> beware.

It's not a myth, but it isn't bulletproof either.  In most cases that I
have looked at, the people who got nailed, got it because they did
something to pierce the corporate shield.  Usually this means they did
something illegal, or they mixed business with personal.  I am not
implying that this is the only way, sometimes all it takes is a bad judge
or a lousy attourney,  In either case, you are still MUCH safer as a
corporation than a sole proprietorship, since as a corporation the law
assumes that you are not personally liable until proven otherwise, where
as a sole proprietorship, the law assumes you are personally liable, no
proof required.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
                      |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
   or: (541) 451-5177 |                  www.deatech.com