This is an intensive one-day seminar that is designed to give businesses the tools that they need to avoid the lawsuits that can be avoided, and to win the ones that cannot.  During the course of the day, we cover several topics that are also covered in other, shorter presentations described elsewhere on this site.

If you are in business, sooner or later you will be sued--by an employee, competitor, customer, or by someone with whom you do business.  Such litigation can destroy a company both by costing ruinous amounts to defend or settle, and by monopolizing the time and attention of management.  Many, if not most, of these suits could be avoided if businesses took the time to learn and apply proven and practical methods of prevention.

This seminar is aimed at business owners and managers, corporate counsel, human resources administrators, and other business professionals.

We cover the following topics:

I. General Strategies for Avoiding Litigation
    A. How to avoid motivating the potential litigant
    B. How to discourage a plaintiff's lawyer
    C. How to preserve and document your defenses

II. Nightmlare Scenarios--Lessons from Actual Cases
    A. The employee from hell
    B. The customer with no brain
    C. A true tax audit nightmlare

III. How Not to Get Sued by an Employee
    A. The four most common way to get sued
    B. The one page document that you should not be without
    C. How to keep your employee manual from biting you
    D. How to hire and how to fire
    E. How to get a release that will stand up in court

IV. Claims for Wrongful Termination and How to Avoid them
    A. How to conduct an internal investigation that won't backfire
    B. How to nail down the "at will" relationship
    C. Establishing termination for good cause

V. Claims for Harassment and Discrimination
    A. How to prevent harassment and discrimination
    B. Protecting your company from the acts of employees
         beyond your control.

VI. Claims for Unpaid Leave and Overtime
    A. Who can and cannot be treated as an exempt employee
    B. Who can and cannot be treated as an independent contractor
    C. How to prevent surprise claims for years of allegedly
         unpaid compensation

VII. Competitive Torts
    A. What you can and cannot say about a competitor
    B. Legal competition vs. unlawful interference
    C. Antitrust issues

VIII. Avoiding Liability for Independent Contractors
    A. Protecting against the improper use of independent contractors
    B. How to keep from being held responsible for the negligence
         of your independent contractors

IX. How to Reduce the High Cost of Unavoidable Litigation
    A. The use of customized arbitration clauses
    B. Insurance policies--how to make the most of them
    C. The three most common litigation boondoggles and
         how to avoid them
    D. How to help your lawyer to reduce your legal fees
    E. Getting expedited resolution of disputes where it
         is appropriate

Selections from the Text for the Seminar

DISCLAIMER: I have entered government service and, as of September 1, 2008, am no longer engaged in the private practice of law.  Therefore, this site is no longer being maintained,  may not be accurate, and should not be relied upon.  It is not now and was not ever intended as legal advice.  It is being provided for historical purposes, and for the benefit of those lawyers who are capable of independently verifying the information and judging the opinions in it, and then reaching their own conclusions.  You are strongly advised to consult qualified legal counsel before adopting any of the ideas or suggestions in this material, which may or may not be applicable in your jurisdiction or to your specific situation, and may no longer be accurate or prudent in any case.  The opinions and statements at this site were solely my own.  They were not and are not those of, nor were they nor are they made on behalf of, any agency of government or anyone else.

Copyright © 1998-2008 Vincent DiCarlo