Have you heard about Asher B. Edelman?  He did a ton of valuable research to help him find the perfect acquisition target.  He analyzed their finances, he poured over their business operations and ownership structure and he also retained a company to help him arrange for financing and identify a potential business partner to join him in the acquisition.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is that Edelman’s research, marked confidential, was shared with the potential business partner on the basis of a hand shake agreement.  After reviewing the proposal, the partner decided not to join in Edelman’s venture.  Now fast forward six years later.  The potential partner of old buys the same acquisition target in an auction and Edelman is not too happy about it.  In fact, he was so unhappy that he sued.  He claimed the would-be partner improperly used and profited from the information shared years earlier.

The court, however, made Edelman even more unhappy.  It didn’t buy his claim for misappropriation of proprietary information.  They said he didn’t make sure that the information stayed secret.  He didn’t take sufficient precautions.   How’s that for a slap in the face?

Your confidential business information and trade secrets are too important to let fall into the Edelman trap. 

Find out what you need to do to keep your trade secrets and confidential information protected by joining me on February 3, 2010 at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific when I interview attorney Mark Saloman on my teleseminar program, Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer.  Mark is a member of the Non-Compete & Trade Secret Group at the law firm of Proskauer Rose and an expert on protecting and enforcing business confidentiality.  Best of all, the program is free.  There is no registration fee.

Don’t wait.  You could be leaving your business wide open to trade secret theft and not even know it.  Click here now to learn more about this free and informative teleseminar.  Space is limited, reserve your spot today.

Making sure your business “family jewels” are protected is one of the best business investments you’ll ever make.   

Copyright © 2010, Corporate M.O., LLC. 

Only one day left to submit your most important question about the legal aspects of doing business internationally to Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer in advance of my hosting international legal expert Carol Emory tomorrow night at 8pm Eastern and 5 pm Pacific.  For more information click here.

Legal systems develop in response to the needs of economic growth.  It’s therefore little surprise that as China’s economy has mushroomed, so too has its corresponding body of laws and regulations.  Among its newest additions is an anti-monopoly law that went into effect last year.  While from a purely legal perspective, the adoption of such anti-monopoly principles represents a significant step in the harmonization of the rule of law between countries; its implementation has led to some business surprises.

Why?  Well, it was originally thought that the new law would be a factor in the burgeoning mergers and acquisitions area.  Yet, some lawyers are creatively applying the new law on behalf of consumers to file private actions against large Chinese companies. 

By way of comparison, in the U.S. private antitrust suits are usually filed by companies or similarly situated plaintiffs who file as a group in a class action suit.  They are not typically filed by individual consumers.  As a result the Chinese application of the anti-monopoly law could lead to some interesting liability exposure.  If these suits are sanctioned by China’s Supreme People’s Court it is entirely possible that such consumer actions could be brought against foreign companies operating in China too. 

You might say that that’s the way the fortune cookie crumbles, but, the creative use of anti-monopoly is but one example of how the assumptions we may have about our own legal system may not translate well when conducting business internationally.  With more businesses going global every day, understanding the legal playing field and developing confidence in your ability to successfully navigate it can make the difference between business success and failure.

If you would like to learn more about the common legal mistakes managers and executives make when dealing abroad and how to avoid them, please join me on December 3^rd at 8 pm Eastern (5 pm Pacific) when I’ll be hosting international legal expert Carol Emory on Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer.  Better yet, if you have a question that you’d like me to ask Carol on Thursday evening click here to submit it and you’ll receive the call-in information to this complimentary program. 

Copyright © 2009, Corporate M.O., LLC 

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