Home   Programs    Testimonials    Media
About Perry    Articles    Booking Info
 

   Programs
   Interactive, Practical, and Hilarious Keynotes & Seminars

       

     Dynamic Training Seminars:
Employee Blogging
     Ethics
    Risk Management
     Products Liability
     Sexual Harassment
 

1. RISK MANAGEMENT

Communication is the key for a company to manage its risk.  It is not enough for a company to implement policies and expect employees to follow through with them.  What is needed is a thoughtful, consistent dialogue among executives, managers, and employees about the importance of company policies, in a way which is not condescending or threatening.  It is only when employees feel a level of trust, commitment, and reassurance, that a company will reap the benefits of productivity through loyalty, teamwork, and motivation.

In Perry Binder's Risk Management seminars, you will get expertly tailored programs designed uniquely for your company.  Perry brings over 20 years of experience to the table with his role playing exercises, interactive feedback, high energy presentations, and knowledge of human relations and legal issues.

Seminar Participants will learn:


Sample Risk Management Topics
 

A.  SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Click here for
Sexual Harassment Workshop

 - Overview of Employment Law

- Discuss Federal Discrimination Laws

- Explore Sexual Harassment Issues in the Workplace

- Two types of Harassment – quid pro quo and hostile work environment

 a. Quid pro quo -  “this for that”

 b. Hostile work environment

 -         unwelcome sexually-related conduct that is “so severe or pervasive” that it creates a hostile, offensive or intimidating work environment

        -         hostile conducts includes:  racial, ethnic slurs; negative stereotyping; threatening, intimidating or hostile acts that relate to gender; hostile or demeaning jokes and pranks are included

- Avoid Liability with a Zero Tolerance Policy toward sexual harassment in the workplace

     -         policy – open door, complaint process, non-retaliation;  thorough investigation of complaints; prompt remedial action

 - Engage in Role Playing Exercises

 

B.  Corporate Blogs & Employee Social Networks:
       Managing the Impact on Company Brands

Course Description
(Always tailored to client's needs)

A current employee has started MySpace and Facebook sites, a "gripe site," and blog which are all critical of your company. Even worse, you discover that several workers have been reading and posting unflattering comments about the company on the sites.  Then, much to your dismay, you find company trade secrets and libelous comments posted anonymously on one of these sites.  You suspect it must be the work of an ex-employee, but what's a company to do to protect its most valuable assets - your good name and brand? 

This cutting-edge, hilarious, and practice-oriented session will:

- Educate you on social networking and blogging legal cases,

- Explain the ramifications of your company's actions,

- Reference specific PR blunders and success stories, and

- Suggest useful tips on communicating with employees and the online general public.

All attendees will receive a copy of Professor Binder’s article published in HR Executive magazine, Handling Employee Blogs.

CLICK HERE FOR CORPORATE BLOGS/SOCIAL NETWORKS PRESENTATION

 

C.  Litigation 101- for Law Firm Paralegals & Project Assistants

        Moving through the Litigation Steps in an Internet Age

Lunch Time Series

(One 2-hour session or Two 90-minute sessions)

Always tailored to client's needs
 

Professor Binder will:
-   Identify the basic steps in civil litigation: pleadings,
discovery, pretrial, trial, appeal.
-   Provide an Overview of Courts, including the federal and state
court systems
-   Learn Pre-Filing considerations:  How to sue the proper
parties, Secretary of State research, statutes of limitation, Internet
research
-   Examine Jurisdiction rules and forum selection, how to file or
research documents at the courthouse
-   Identify the most glaring mistakes made in writing Complaints,
Answers, and other pleadings
-   Discover the best document production strategies
-   Understand how "Cybersquatters" are diluting your clients'
"brand," and how to stop this practice without resorting to litigation
-   Experience the importance of a summary judgment motion, and its
impact on settlement
-   Learn best practices in creating witness lists, exhibit lists,
and trial notebooks
-   Examine your role as a team player in the trial and appellate
processes

Litigation 102:  Advanced Discovery Techniques

Lunch Time Series

(One or Two Sessions)

Always tailored to client's needs
 

 Lit 101 recap

            - Investigation, Pleadings, Discovery, Motions, Settlement, Trial

The vital role of project assistants and paralegals in litigation

Ethical discovery practices which facilitate settlement or victory at trial

-      The importance of discovery deadlines in Requests and Pre-Trial Orders

The mechanics of a document production from both sides of the table

-       How documents are used to impeach witnesses at depositions and trial

Attorney-client privilege

            - What does the privilege cover?

            - How to identify attorney-client privileged documents during discovery

            - How to catalogue attorney-client privileged documents in reply to a document production request

Specific cases dealing with the importance of document review

The new e-discovery rules and its impact on litigation

Discovery Sanctions – The high stakes of making sure that documents are reviewed properly

Identify the most glaring mistakes made in writing pleadings

Learn best practices in creating witness lists, exhibit lists,
and trial notebooks

Examine your role as a team player in the trial and appellate
processes

 

D.  DOCUMENT RETENTION PROGRAMS

Communicate!  Don't Litigate!! SM
   Effective Communication Skills will reduce corporate risk
     The Adverse Impact of “Lawyering Up” Your Company’s Contracts
     Click here to view the full day program

Why Corporations Swim in Legal Hot Water

The Ethical Role of Managers/Executives in the Discovery Process of a Lawsuit
   Simulated Depositions, Requests for Production of Documents, and the Attorney-Client Privilege

Document Retention in the 21st Century
   A Partnership Among Managers/Executives, Attorneys, and the IT Department
     Includes a discussion of Corporate Governance and Sarbanes-Oxley


E.  IP PROTECTION

Intellectual Property Law for Managers and Executives
-  Protecting Trade Secrets and Trademarks
-  What to do when an ex-employee sets up a “Gripe Site” or Blog on the Internet
-  Basic Contract Language and Negotiation for Non-Lawyers
       – Examination of a Confidentiality Agreement and a Non-Compete Agreement (Includes a discussion of Arbitration clauses)
-  Protecting Trade Names from competing Domain Names

Levels of protection:  Trademark Infringement

1-  common law

2-  state -          secretary of state's office - renewable every 10 years

3-  federal

-          renewable every 10 years

-          “Intent to use” within 6 months (not at state level)

-          ®,  TM, and SM

4-  international


F.  PRODUCTS LIABILITY

Reducing Risk in Products Liability Claims
- Recent Trends in Products Liability
- How can a Manager Assist his/her Company in Avoiding Liability in Products Cases?
- Legal Claims in a Products Liability Lawsuit
- Strict Liability for a Manufacturer

 Three types of cases involving a "defective product"

1.      Manufacturing defect - was the particular part made properly

2.      Design defect

                 -compare industry standards; government regulations; are there Federal Minimum Safety Standards?

                 -assess the probability of the design resulting in harm with the seriousness of injury to customers.  Then, balance the burden of safety costs or alternative designs

      -         Ford Pinto case;  GM side fuel tank cases; Firestone/Bridgestone-Ford SUV cases

3.      Inadequate warnings

                 -must warn of foreseeable, non-obvious risks; set forth the risk posed; are the warnings comprehensive?; how prominent were the warnings made?

 

2. ETHICS

Building employee trust takes time - it is not a process that will occur overnight. 

Perry takes a sensitive, frank, but humorous approach to discussing the importance of ethics in the business world, and the legal implications of unethical behavior.  He tailors this presentation to whatever industry he speaks to, with examples of ill-advised actions (and what executives and managers should have done in that scenario).

Perry's approach is to give employees a frame of reference or a set of tools to identify unethical behavior and how to react when placed in an unethical situation.  This message must come from the top down.  In a post-Sarbanes-Oxley world, it is critical for executives to set the tone with a policy on the importance of corporate ethics.
 

Sample Ethics Seminars

Have you found my ethics today?
   Building trust will prevent adversarial relationships from forming, and in turn deter unethical behavior.
     Includes a discussion the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and document retention issues
     Go to Perry's Ethics article in Professional Speaker magazine for further background.

Your Company Really Socks! SM
   Communicating with Employees about the ethical ramifications of Gripe Sites and Blogs

The Ethical Role of Managers/Executives in the Discovery Process of a Lawsuit
   Simulated Depositions, Requests for Production of Documents, and the Attorney-Client Privilege

 

Perry Binder's Dynamic Training Seminars:

Click Here for All Programs

Perry Binder, LLC
P.O. Box 3774
Alpharetta, GA 30023-3774
perrybinder@gmail.com
(404)402-1892