Have you heard about the lawsuit actress Lindsay Lohan has filed against E*Trade seeking $100 million in damages?  She claims the talking baby commercial that debuted during the Super Bowl about a “milkaholic” named Lindsay was about her, misappropriating her name, characterization, and personality. 

To prevail in court will require Ms Lohan to prove that she is in the league of single name celebrities such as Oprah, Cher, Prince or Madonna.  (You be the judge on that one.)  It will also require proving a penchant for excessive drinking behavior, the kind associated with the suffix “holic.”   Most folks would prefer to put their youthful indiscretions behind them, not broadcast them or have to offer proof of them in open court in a vain attempt to “win” a suit.  After all, dirty laundry is well . . . dirty laundry.

Some will say that even bad publicity is better than no publicity.  But to them I offer the case of Welch v. Welch.  It’s the case about “Jack.”  Or was he not famous enough to be the one name CEO?  Doesn’t matter, this case wasn’t about fame.  It was about divorce. 

It was the case of former General Electric CEO Jack Welch that played out on the front page of the Wall Street Journal back in 2002 and the lesson is one about the unintended consequences of publicity associated with litigation.

Here’s what happened.  Determined, in his iconic way, from having to pay Jane Welch more than he thought was fair, Jack refused to negotiate a higher settlement.  That’s when the soon to be ex-Mrs. Welch, a former corporate lawyer who gave up her career for marriage, unpacked some dirty laundry in court papers.  She exposed the very generous retirement perks Jack was enjoying complements of GE, including the use of a company owned New York apartment overlooking Central Park, free dry cleaning, flowers, wine, country club memberships, tickets to sporting events, a charge account at a posh restaurant, a cook, limousine service, even vitamins.

Occurring in the aftermath of the Enron, Tyco and WorldCom scandals, the news of Jack’s royal lifestyle, compliments of GE did not sit well with investors.  There was a public backlash.  As a result, two weeks after the perks made headlines Jack elected to give them up.   The same day the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it would launch an informal investigation into Welch’s retirement package.  It was a mess.

Who knows, had the details been kept out of the public spotlight, Mr. Welch might still be enjoying those perks today.  He would have certainly been spared a great deal of unpleasantness.

Disputes are a fact of life, yet sometimes we need the help from a neutral third party to help resolve our differences with others.  One way disputes can be resolved without going to court is through mediation. 

If you or someone you know is interested in a behind the scenes look at how mediation works and how you can use it to get great results, join me when I interview professional mediator David DeLugas on March 16, at 8 pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific).  For more information about this complimentary program click here.

And Lindsay, I hope you’ll join us too.

Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer invites you to a complimentary teleseminar:

 “How Mediation Can Fix Business Problems, Save Money and Preserve Relationships”

Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Time: 8 – 9 pm Eastern (5 – 6 pm Pacific)

Cost: No registration fee

REGISTER

The strength of your business relationships is critical to your continued business success.  If not managed properly, business disputes can destroy those relationships and turn into costly lawsuits.  Mediation is a proven and effective way to resolve disputes before they turn your business into a litigator’s chew toy.  When done right, it helps you save time, money, and protects valuable business relationships. 

In this teleseminar, professional mediator David DeLugas will

• Explain the mediation process and how it differs from arbitration
• Tell you why a mediated agreement can yield better results than a court ordered judgment
• Show you how mediation saves time and money
• Describe how to select a mediator that’s right for you
• Provide tips on what you can do to optimize the mediation process

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
 –  Lou Holtz 

“If we manage conflict constructively, we harness its energy for creativity and development.”                       

– Kenneth Kaye

Having more legal literacy in your business tool kit helps you squeeze out avoidable costs.  In today’s uncertain environment controling avoidable costs is more important than ever.

The law touches every aspect of business.  Identifying those touches and prioritizing them lets you make minor course corrections early in your decision making.  It can make the difference between hitting a bull’s eye or missing the mark altogether, between protecting business profits and preventing business meltdowns.  Sometimes it can be a simple as identifying what your confidential business informations is and taking the proper steps to protect it. 

To learn more about the small steps you can take to make the law a valuable and practical business partner listen to the replay of my interview with Alex Mandossian here.

I was sitting in the dermatologist’s office this morning and among the magazines in the waiting room were several stacks of one page fliers.  The one that caught my “legal” eye was labeled “Notice to our patients regarding pathologies”.  Hmmm.

A closer look revealed that it was a one page explanation about the billing practices associated with laboratory services.  Apparently these services are broken down into two components: a technical component that consists of preparing a tissue biopsy for analysis as well as a professional component that consists of actually reading, analyzing and interpreting the specimen plus issuing a report.

Different service providers provide each of the different components and different skill levels are required for both steps.  While this type of delegation makes business sense and can result in a cost and time savings for everyone, you can imagine how to patients like us seeing the same “lab test” on two different bills creates the impression of double billing and thereby sows the seeds of conflict.

By issuing a simple one page explanation up front this doctor’s office provides useful information that helps explain the value of its services and how such services enhance the quality of their diagnoses and treatment of patients.  It helps manage patient expectations in a mutually beneficial way and probably saves them a lot of time having to explain the same thing over and over again.

Are there common misunderstandings that crop up in your business? Is there something that you have to keep repeating to a customer, client, patient, or even an employee?  If there is, finding ways to inform and educate them can save you time and avoid conflicts that can spiral into lawsuits.  It can also improve your business relationship by underscoring the value of your goods and services.