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The legal system is a serious place for people to resolve serious disputes. Still, we hear about presumably ridiculous lawsuits brought for ridiculous reasons. Our legal system gives lawyers tools to weed out frivolous lawsuits. Here’s the catch: The legal system does not protect you if you don’t act to protect yourself. Sound familiar? “The Lord helps those who….” The case that follows shows how one might turn a small problem in to a huge one. In 2012, a woman was sued by he

It is well known that corporate fraud and embezzlement is rampant. Companies spend billions on financial controls, auditing, and internal investigations to prevent this conduct. A good prevention program mitigates risk. A good internal investigation develops support for a civil suit or criminal prosecution, or at least grounds to fire the bad guy(s). However, at least in London, companies recently had a bit of trouble firing employees who stole for them, via foreign exchange

I’ll fail to answer that question later. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants and maintains trademarks. What is a trademark? USPTO lawyers helpfully tell us a “‘trademark’ protects the use of a word, name, symbol or device that is used in the trade of goods to identify the source of the goods, distinguishing the goods from those produced by another.” What? In plain English, a Mark (a trademark) can be a word or phrase, a symbol, or a combination. It is intended

Most of us know that people manipulate us to sell stuff. Lawyers categorize this manipulation as either “puffery,” which is legal, or “misrepresentation,” which is not. And, even in instances of illegal misrepresentation, the law does not help people who don’t use common sense to see through a pitch. You might call this the, “it’s not the liar’s fault that the guy is stupid” defense. Believe it or not, the law also allows claims against a stupid liar. [Maybe there is a “st

Following the serenity of Thanksgiving, many of us immediately pivot to the contemporary joy of Christmas - shopping. The day after Thanksgiving, many of us wake in the dark at 4 a.m., grab a coffee, and join the pilgrimage with our community to the local big box store. We patiently stand in the cold, waiting. Yes, we are talking about Black Friday. We discuss Black Friday because when the doors open, and the crowd floods in, shoppers are injured by the pushing and shoving m

“Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” – Sophocles Some people live by Sophocles’ principle. Others do not. As a consequence, good, smart, and successful people ask our Firm and forensic team to figure out whether they are or have been ripped off and, if so, what to do about it. Being good at business is not enough. Fraud is rampant. The numbers vary, but reports estimate that fraudsters steal between $27B and $50B each year. Heck, Bernie Madoff apparently stole $50B

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” “I don’t much care where –” “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland “The only thing worse than no-deal is a bad deal.” A close friend and client shared this homily with me. It struck a cord, maybe “B Sharp” (get it?). I share B Sharp or as I now call it, “Shaffer Rule # 1” with “start-up clients, when it appears th

We assist clients to productively manage their workforce. A couple of weeks ago, I discussed ways to mitigate the risk of embezzlement. Today, I am writing to discuss the use of "Paid Time-Off Banks" ("PTOB"s) to reduce human resource management costs, while improving employee job satisfaction. Employees are a critical asset. They are also a substantial expense. Human Resource policies should both enhance employee job satisfaction and control employment related expenses, inc

It is not enough to make money. You have to protect it. A few times each year we receive a request that we investigate an apparent fraud, either from a client or from a referral. We investigate and, if the facts support it, we either prepare a civil complaint or present the claim to law enforcement for prosecution. This has become a pleasant morphing of our white collar criminal defense practice. The sleuthing and analysis are professionally satisfying but probably not gr