DR-LAW CONSULTING BY MARTIN E. SEGAL

		DON'T BLINDLY ROLL THE DICE HOPING THERE WILL BE NO LEGAL PROBLEMS IN YOUR PROPOSED TRANSACTION. DON'T GIVE UP WHEN YOU MAKE A BAD BUSINESS DECISION AND IT APPEARS THERE IS NO WAY TO GET OUT OF YOUR CONTRACT. DON'T PLAN A FUTURE DEAL WITHOUT TESTING IT FOR HIDDEN BUSINESS LAW TIME BOMBS. CONSULT WITH DR-LAW FOR DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT - LET HIM WRITE YOU A PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS - TODAY! DR-LAW IS THE "DEAR ABBY" OF THE WORLD OF BUSINESS AND COMMERCE. E-MAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO HIM ABOUT YOUR PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE BUSINESS LAW PROBLEMS AT: askdoctorlaw@yahoo.com . WATCH FOR OUR "ASKDOCTORLAW" COLUMN THAT APPEARS MONTHLY IN THE "BUSINESS MONDAY" SECTION OF THE MIAMI HERALD: http://www.herald.com/ ONE OF AMERICA'S GREAT NEWSPAPERS. YOU CAN ALSO SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS FOR POSSIBLE PUBLICATION AT: askdoctorlaw@herald.com HERE IS A TYPICAL QUESTION AND ANSWER EXCHANGE FROM "ASK DOCTOR LAW": 1) Elizabeth C. writes: “I signed a contract to buy a new house and paid a deposit toward the purchase price. The money to buy the new house was coming from the sale of my old house. But when the time came to close on the new house, the sale of my old house wasn’t completed, so I had to default and lost my deposit. Could I have avoided this problem?” Dr- Law replies: “What Elizabeth needed was a clause in her purchase contract that made it contingent upon the successful completion of her sale. In business law terms, this is called a “condition precedent”, where you are not legally obligated if the condition isn’t satisfied. What Elizabeth could have done, if she had been aware of this time bomb, was to word her purchase offer accordingly, such as, "I agree to purchase the (new house) subject to/conditioned upon the closing of the sale of my (old house) now pending."