Are March Madness Office Pools Legal?

Brace yourselves, employers: March Madness is upon us. Thursday, March 20, was the first full day of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship Tournament games, and the tourney does not conclude until the Championship Game on Monday, April 7, in Arlington, Texas. During the tournament’s three weeks, the US economy will lose an estimated $1.2 billion in productivity as employees watch early round games, participate in office pools, and discuss the outcomes with co-workers. The question remains, are these office pools legal?

The

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Attorney Reprimanded for Criticizing Out-of-State Judges

Attorneys are expected to show the utmost respect when appearing before the judiciary.  There is a line that differentiates zealous advocacy and disrespect. In a recent decision, a New Jersey attorney learned a valuable lesson about bad mouthing the court, even if that court sits in another jurisdiction.

The case arises from a New Jersey attorney who tried a case in Pennsylvania state court against a company that provided dispute resolution services.  When the state court trial and appellate court judges ruled against the …

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Attorney-Client Privilege Put to the Test

Although many attorneys may hate to admit it, the attorney-client privilege has its limitations. Of course, this long-standing privilege protects confidential communications made by a client to her attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice.  By protecting these confidential communications, clients are encouraged to disclose all pertinent information to their attorneys. Particularly in the private sector, the attorney-client privilege enjoys wide latitude.  However, a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision suggests that the issue of whether the privilege extends to government entities and the attorneys …

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Settlement Voided due to Facebook Post

Facebook strikes again! Just ask a settling plaintiff who learned that his negotiated settlement payment was deemed void as a result of his daughter’s Facebook post.  According to a recent decision out of Miami, an $80,000 payment was presumptively waived as a result of a post from the plaintiff’s daughter broadcasting the “victory” due to a confidentiality clause within the settlement agreement. This is just another example of the serious consequences of inadvertent disclosure of confidential information and the risks of social media.

In the …

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Criminal Exposure Arising from Secret Recording

A fundamental risk management pointer is to properly document your file. As a result, many professionals are great note-takers; they follow-up conversations in writing, confirm strategy and clearly document instructions. These are all risk aversion tools to protect the professional, to hold others to oral commitments, and provide clarity in future disputes.  But, professionals cannot take this too far. There is a difference between jotting notes or confirming conversations on the one hand, and secretly recording or transcribing conversations on the other. Such secret recordings …

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Double Covered but Uninsured

Prudent professionals maintain different types of insurance to protect against various risks. Some typical policies for professionals may include D&O, cyber, and/or E&O policies. The foregoing policies and others may overlap, while others allow gaps for claims that would not be covered. It is incumbent upon each professional to purchase the perfect mix applicable to her practice; there is no one size fits all and more is not necessarily sufficient. Although multiple policies may fit together seamlessly to form a safety net, other policies allow …

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The Ethical Limitations of Blogging

Some of the critical ingredients to professional “success” include some combination of skill and marketability.  Either, on their own, are insufficient for professional’s to meet their goals. Today, marketing takes many forms – whether through social media, television, or traditional print.  Developing an effective message and reaching the right audience are just as important as developing the skills of your trade.  Many professionals have turned to blogs and other forms of social media as a form of marketing. However, these avenues of communication are not …

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Good Samaritan or Workplace Liability?

Your colleague begins to choke on his sandwich at lunch. The courier trips on loose carpet in your office lobby. Your co-worker goes into anaphylactic shock. What to do? Good Samaritan laws are designed to indemnify individuals who provide reasonable assistance to others in a time of emergency. The laws are intended to encourage assistance without fear of legal repercussion for unintentional injury or wrongful death. These laws have an interesting role in the office setting.

Generally, in order for an individual who renders aid …

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Promptly Disclose…Don’t Promptly Confess

Professional Liability Matters would have little to discuss if professionals were perfect. Needless to say, we are not. Often, it is how the professional responds to the inevitable error that can mean the difference between soon forgotten mistake and malpractice. Upon the discovery of an error, some professionals are confronted with a difficult conflict: their interest in confronting the error and discussing it with the client on the one hand, without making an admission that could jeopardize insurance coverage on the other. This conundrum places …

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First Circuit Enforces Arbitration Clause in LPL Suit

Professional Liability Matters has previously advocated the benefits of a well-drafted mediation or arbitration agreement in the professional engagement letter. The judicious application of alternative dispute resolution can help to mitigate costs, expedite conflict, and preserve business relationships. Although an ADR provision can lead to efficient resolution of the substance of a professional liability suit, invoking the provision itself can sometimes lead to contentious litigation in its own right.

The question of the enforceability of an arbitration agreement in a professional engagement letter was recently …

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