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

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.

In preparing to rule in the recent two week trial that ended between online auction titan eBay and classified ad giant Craigslist, the presiding judge reportedly noted that any ruling he would make would not be a “grand slam home run” for either side. 

“I have an uncanny ability to make everyone unhappy,” he said as he was encouraging the parties to reach a mutually acceptable settlement on their own.  If they waited for his ruling, in what turned out to be largely a clash of corporate cultures, it would be “the second best way to do it,” he said.

Touché.

The next time around, a little more due diligence up front would help too, because how you conduct business is just as important as what business is conducted.  The expectations embodied in corporate culture can make a huge difference between the success and failure of a deal.

If your business is engaged in international transactions you may be interested to know that law enforcement officials are increasingly collaborating across borders on investigations of a host of illegal activities ranging from the antitrust violations, to tax evasion, to bribery of foreign officials, financial fraud, and more.  No longer can you safely escape the clutches of Inspector Clouseau by crossing a border.

Due to this heightened scrutiny, companies with significant international operations are conducting more of their own multi-jurisdictional and cross-border investigations.  Of course every time you leave your home country you are bound to encounter some surprises and challenges. 

An interesting article, titled “Pitfalls of Cross-Border Investigations” identifies four important rules of the road that are worth noting: 

1. Secure relevant documents.  This may be easier said than done due to diverse document retention policies abroad, language barriers, and other technological challenges.
2. Beware of local rules when interviewing employees abroad.  Some countries have privacy laws that entitle employees to bring their own attorney or to decline your invitation to sit down and talk altogether.  Then there are additional hurdles created by language and other cultural barriers.
3. Recognize that the U.S. concept of attorney-client privilege is not universally accepted abroad.  European law in particular is at odds with U.S. law on this front.
4. Give consideration to a coordinated investigation if multiple governments are zeroing in on the same issue.

Conducting business internationally is a trap for the unwary, regardless of whether you have a substantial footprint overseas or are just starting out.  That’s why I’m delighted to be interviewing international legal expert, Carol Emory on December 3, 2009 at 8 pm Eastern ( 5 pm Pacific) about the potential legal pitfall of international business transactions. 

Click here for more information about how you can submit a question that I’ll ask Carol on December 3^rd and mark your calendar to join us for this valuable and complimentary program.

Copyright © 2009 Corporate M.O., LLC