Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (December 2019)

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the terms of the contract, providing you rate corporate entity or subsidiary can

Mr. DeMarcay is a partner in the law ? rm with an additional layer of protection. be eliminated by spending a little time of Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer. His areas of practice include Commercial Litigation,

If the company is not willing to add while negotiating the contract to make

Admiralty, Personal Injury, Transportation, the parent company as a party to the sure that the company has the resources

Real Estate, Construction and Corporate agreement, you could add a provision needed to satisfy the obligations of the

Law. Prior to attending law school, Mr.

DeMarcay served on the Washington based where the parent company agrees to contract and that it is not simply a shell legislative staff of Congressman Jimmy guarantee the contractual obligation company that will leave you holding

Hayes. On the WEB: www.bhbmlaw.com in the event of a breach of contract by the bag if the relationship falls apart.

the subsidiary. If such a provision is added, a representative from the par- ent company must sign the agreement accepting such responsibility.

The risks of dealing with an ‘asset- less’ corporate entity could be allevi- ated by adding contractual language that forces the corporate entity to pro- cure adequate insurance or a bond that would cover the company’s liabilities or guarantee the company’s performance under the contract. Under this sce- nario, the insurer would be available to satisfy any liabilities that may arise or the bonding company could be called upon to guarantee the company’s per- formance under the contract.

All is not lost if you have a claim against an assetless corporate entity. You can still pursue a claim against the par- ent company by attempting to pierce the parent company’s corporate veil of protection. You can argue that your day-to-day dealings were with the par- ent company’s employees, the parent company provided