Archive of Presentations

Corporate Transactions and Finance

Preparing to Sell Your Business: Key Business and Legal Issues in Positioning a Company for Sale

Presentation date 6.25.2009

  • The double benefit of being prepared – why it's never too early to start
  • The sale-readiness audit – targeting potential problem areas
  • Protecting your business during preliminary discussions
  • Understanding the Letter of Intent

Designed for business owners, executives, directors, and others interested in early stage issues in the sale of a company.

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Nonprofit Board Governance and the New Form 990

Presentation date 2.4.2009

An overview of:

  • Responsibilities of nonprofit directors
  • A review of best nonprofit governance practices, including conflict of interest, whistleblower policies and codes of ethics
  • New requirements and reporting obligations under the revised Form 990

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Back to School: Basics in Board Governance

Presentation date 10.8.2008

A overview of the responsibilities of corporate directors, including a review of directors’ fiduciary duties, best corporate governance practices and a discussion of key issues facing board members today.

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Insurance and Risk Management

When Disaster Strikes - Considerations for Effective Claims Development

Presentation date 8.2007

Includes essential property loss determinants, key steps in any property loss, business interruption claims, impact on the legal community, and suggestions for law firm claim preparedness.

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Labor and Employment

Non-Compete and Other Restrictive Covenants: Reasonable and Necessary or Overreaching and Unenforceable?

Presentation date 11.17.2010
  • Drafting enforceable agreements
  • How to safely hire a competitor's employees
  • Exit interviews and dealing with departing employees
  • Litigation issues and strategies
  • Settlement pitfalls

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Bob Howie's 2010 Employment Law Update

Presentation date 6.9 and 15.2010
A review of all significant employment and labor law developments in the past year—cases, legislation, regulations and more!

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Employee Blogging and Social Networking - What's all the Twitter About?

Presentation date 11.18.2009
  • What are the most common legal pitfalls presented by employee use of blogs and social networking sites?
  • Can and should employers monitor employee use of blogs or social networking sites?
  • How can employers respond to employee blogs or posts that are harassing, defamatory, or disparaging?
  • What are the legal risks in using the Internet in recruiting and hiring employees?
  • What are the best practices employers should use for avoiding liability and protecting intellectual property?

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Walking the Wage and Hour Tightrope: Avoiding Missteps that Lead to Litigation

Presentation date 9.23.2009

Complying with complicated wage and hour laws is tougher than ever as employers struggle with fewer resources. In this briefing you will learn the essentials to avoiding falling into the trap of unintended wage and hour violations:

  • Who is exempt from overtime pay requirements?
  • Who can be legally classified as an independent contractor?
  • What time must be counted for overtime purposes?
  • What are the rules on meal and rest breaks?
  • What types of recordkeeping practices get employers in trouble?

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Bob Howie's 2009 Employment Law Update

Presentation dates 6.10.2009 and 6.17.2009

A review of all significant employment and labor law developments in the past year—cases, legislation, regulations and more!

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Advanced Workplace Investigation Seminar: Insights and Advice for the Experienced Workplace Investigator

Presentation date 4.15.2009

This seminar is designed to:

  • Enchance undestanding of when and why to investigate
  • Identify best practices for conducting investigations
  • Review common pitfalls and mistakes
  • Discuss how to reach and use investigative findings
  • Review lessons learned from recent cases

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The Gathering Storm: A Preview of Probable Changes to Employment and Labor Laws in 2009

Presentation date 2.11.2009

  • The Employee Free Choice Act
    • Equal Remedies Act
    • Paycheck Fairness Act
    • Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
    • Washington State Paid Family Leave

    Plus, two recent legal changes already in effect:

    • Revised FMLA Regulations
    • ADA Amendments Act of 2008

    For more information, contact:

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    50 Ways to Take a Leave of Absence: Making Sense of Federal and State Laws

    Presentation date 11.11.2008

  • FMLA Leave
  • Maternity Disability Leave
  • Military Leave
  • Domestic Violence Leave
  • Paid Sick Leave
    • And more!

    For more information, contact:

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    Top 10 Employment Litigation/Compliance Risks for 2008

    Presentation date 4.16.2008

    Are you familiar with the HR practices that are most likely to result in a lawsuit or compliance audit in 2008? Are you appropriately managing the most significant HR legal risks in your organization? Are you prepared for a surprise visit by the OFCCP or the Department of Labor & Industries?

    For more information, contact:

  • Laurence A. Shapero
  • Rebecca L. Andrews

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    Technology in the Workplace

    Presentation date 11.13.2007

    Current legal developments regarding employee use of email; Employee Internet usage - to monitor or not to monitor; Employer blogging policies - should YOUR COMPANY have one; Cell phones and PDAs - should employers regulate their use; Employment issues associated with teleworkers and employees working remotely; Strategies to comply with older laws (FLSA, NLRA) in the “Information Age”; and MUCH more!

    For more information, contact:

  • Robert M. Howie

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    An Employee By Any Other Name...?

    Presentation date 10.2.2007

    The risks of misclassifying employees, and when and when not to use independent contractor or non-traditional employment relationships in place of traditional employment relationships can be significant or even catastrophic.

    For more information, contact:

  • Laurence A. Shapero
  • Rebecca L. Andrews

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    Religion in the Workplace: Does Faith Have a Place at the Office?

    Publication date 4.18.2007
  • Learn how courts have addressed religious discrimination in the workplace
  • Understand rights and obligations regarding workplace accommodation of religious beliefs or practices
  • Improve your ability to anticipate, identify and prevent religious harassment and discrimination
  • Gain conflict management skills: How to respond when religious expression and workplace policies collide

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    For more information, contact:

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    How to Disarm the Meritless Claimant's Secret Weapon: Retaliation

    Publication date 2.7.2007
  • The threat of employer liability for a retaliation claim is often greater than the harassment or discrimination claim to which it is attached
  • Learn to help your managers and supervisors avoid the missteps that lead to employer liability for unlawful retaliation
  • Learn how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in BNSF v. White has made it easier for employees to prevail on a retaliation claim

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    Sidestepping a Wage/Hour Class Action: Top 11 Problematic Practices

    Presentation date 11.7.2006

    What are the most common employer mistakes that lead to costly litigation, and how can you avoid them:

  • Who is exempt from overtime pay requirements?
  • What hours count as working time?
  • What is included in calculating overtime pay?
  • When is training and travel time compensable?
  • When must an employer pay employees who prepare for work before their shift starts?
  • When must an employer pay employees who are on-call?
  • What are the rules on meal and rest breaks?
  • What types of recordkeeping practices get employers in trouble?
  • Do employers have to pay for work they didn’t ask the employee to do?

    • For more information, contact:

    • Karen F. Jones

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    The Americans with Disabilities Act—It’s Time to Get Reacquainted

    Presentation date 9.26.2006

    The Washington Supreme Court recently jettisoned its test for determining when an employee qualifies as disabled. In its place the Court adopted the standards used in the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. Washington employers who have paid only passing attention to ADA developments will need to brush up on this 15 year old law and its implications in the workplace. In this Breakfast Briefing, Larry Shapero and Skylar Sherwood presented an overview of the ADA's key provisions, describe recent case law developments, and presented several complex real world scenarios to show how this law works (or in some cases doesn't work) in practice for employers.

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    Internal Investigations: Getting the Job Done Right

    Presentation date 4.18.2006

    Employers must respond to complaints of workplace discrimination or harassment by conducting prompt and effective investigations. This presentation is designed to help front-line managers and human resources professionals conduct effective investigations and to properly document the investigation process.

    For more information, contact:

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    Mastering the Maze: Navigating the Family Medical Leave Act

    Presentation date 2.1.2006

    This presentation is geared towards experienced human resource professionals and in-house counsel seeking advice about how to interpret and apply FMLA and the other laws that govern employee leave and accommodation for medical conditions.

    • Best Practices in Administering FMLA Leaves
    • Common Pitfalls
    • Interaction of FMLA and Other Laws
    • FMLA Case Law Update

    For more information, contact:

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    To Catch a Thief: Strategies for Protecting Your Company’s Confidential Information

    Presentation date 11.1.2005

    This seminar reviewed current caselaw in the areas of trade secrets, non-competition and confidentiality agreements, and protection of intellectual property. It also included practical tips for employers about how to safeguard company proprietary information, including the drafting and enforcement of employment agreements.

    For more information, contact:

    • Karen F. Jones

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    Managing the Aging Workforce

    Presentation date 9.27.2005

    This seminar discussed aging workforce issues. People are living longer. Social Security benefits are not enough to fund the retirement lifestyle sought by most. The number of workers per retiree is declining, which may force Congress to reduce or delay the onset of benefits. Increasing numbers of employees cannot turn to traditional defined benefit pension plans for retirement income. Retirement health plan subsidies have disappeared as health costs have increased.

    • Age Discrimination and Harassment
    • Separation Agreements for Older Workers
    • Diversity Goals v. Retaining Older Workers
    • Benefits Plans
    • Disability Accommodation
    • Leaves of Absence
    • Part Time Work and Phased Retirement

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    Employment Law Update: Wage/Hour Class Actions: A Primer

    Presentation date 4.23.2005

    Presented at the annual meeting of Washington State Superior Court judges. The presentation provided an overview of federal and state wage hour laws and practical tips on issues that arise in managing class action lawsuits, including certification, class notice, settlement and attorneys’ fees.

    For more information, contact:

    • Karen F. Jones

    Fix It Before It Gets Broken: Interventions to Keep Lawsuits From Being Filed

    Presentation date 4.12.2005

    Presented at the annual employment law seminar, this presentation provided practical feedback on common mistakes that lead to litigation, how to avoid them, and how to mitigate risks in cases where employees make claims or threaten to sue.

    For more information, contact:

    • Karen F. Jones

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    Top Fifteen HR and Management Mistakes That Lead To Employment Litigation

    Presentation date 4.1.2005

    Our most popular employment-law presentation vividly and humorously describes the management and human resources mistakes that are so frequently the cause of expensive employment discrimination/wrongful termination lawsuits.

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    Litigation

    Email and Employment Cases

    Presentation date 7.26.2007

    A practical overview of the unique role that email plays in employment cases. Highlights include litigation tips for both plaintiffs' and defendants' counsel, how to navigate the new e-discovery rules, and overcoming evidentiary objections.

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    Managing Electronic Records for Success in Litigation and Business

    Publication date 2.28.2007
  • One of today's greatest litigation risks is ineffective management of electronic documents
  • Learn how amendments to federal court rules are raising the profile of electronic records and the risk of sanctions for litigants who fail to reasonably protect and produce them
  • Learn from a litigator's perspective flexible and cost-effective solutions to limit these risks while there is still time to correct problems

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    For more information, contact:

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    A New Era? The E-Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

    Presentation date 6.20.2006

    Why is this presentation important? New rules are effective December 1, 2006. “The biggest change in a generation or two.” More and more documents are stored electronically. Hefty sanctions for failing to preserve/produce electronic evidence. Zubulake and Morgan Stanley.

    • Understanding the New E-Discovery Amendments
    • Practice Pointers for Using the New Rules to Your Advantage

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    Goals of an Electronic Document Retention Program

    Presentation date 6.1.2006

    New trends that make sound document retention a high priority. Electronic documents make this a unique problem. At least 93% of all information is first generated in electronic form. 30% of that is never printed to hard copy. Experts predict that in 10 years, the number of electronic documents on the planet will double every 60 minutes. There are hefty sanctions for failing to preserve/produce electronic evidence. Zubulake.

    • Best Practices for Document Retention
    • How to Institute an Effective Litigation Hold
    • Conducting a Document Retention Audit

    For more information, contact:

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