In the next few weeks, my colleague Yev Muchnik and I will be posting some of our thoughts on legal aspects of DAOs. Yev has been in the blockchain world for a long time and is a renowned expert in the subject. Providing legal support to cooperatives and social enterprises adopting democratic governance is a …
Jacqueline Radebaugh
The Department of Labor “new” final rule for gig workers
On May 5th, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the withdrawal of the “Independent Contractor Rule” which had been adopted by the Trump administration. The rule was expected to be effective on March 8, 2021, but a presidential memo, dated January 20, 2021, has postponed it for two weeks and is expected to open …
How patronage is really paid out to cooperative members: qualified and nonqualified written notice of allocations (2/2)
Patronage dividends represent a unique opportunity for cooperatives to avoid taxation on some of the cooperative’s earnings.[1] Early this month I highlighted the concept of patronage dividends. Generally, when members receive taxable distributions of earnings from a cooperative, such as patronage dividends, they are included in the patrons’ gross income along with other income the …
How patronage is really paid out to cooperative members: qualified and nonqualified written notice of allocations (1/2)
Recently, I had a few clients asking about the distinction between qualified and nonqualified written notice of allocation. Tax season being right around the corner, it feels like a good opportunity to talk about those. The USDA has some wonderful material[1] explaining the definition and use of both notices of allocation, this post and the …
Thoughts from a new economies’ attorney: distinguishing cooperative governing structure
In my previous posts, I discuss how traditional businesses and cooperatives diverge from a capital (and return on capital) point-of-view. Another common misconception is that cooperatives function like nonprofits, typically from the perspective of governance structure. They don’t. Cooperatives are businesses, and, as such, business principles and governance, and business governing structure apply to them. …
Thoughts from a new economies’ attorney: patterns that create different kinds of (business) ownership – cooperative capital
In my last post, I talked about how capital looks like in a traditional business. As a recap, traditionally, capital is invested in the business with a goal of extracting profits and controlling how the business is done – the more money an investor (owner or shareholder) puts in the business, (i) the more return …
Thoughts from a new economies’ attorney: patterns that create different kinds of (business) ownership – traditional capital investment
If you are reading this post, chances are you are an innovator, you are looking for guidance on alternative business forms, you run or are part of a mission-driven organization, you are considering adopting democratic governance models in your business or nonprofit, or some combination of those. I have to alert you that this is …