News & Events >

How are your employees using Facebook, Twitter, blogs, posts, tweets, and emails in the workplace?  What are the legal impacts of social media and social networking for employers and employees?  Do I need a social media policy?  Susan Ellinger and Steven Carr will discuss these topics at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Public Housing Authorities directors Association September 26, 2011 in Wilmington, NC.  Their presentation addresses emerging legal issues and “breaking news” about how these important legal issues emphasize the need for an organizational social media policy.

Steven Carr is now participating as a collaborative lawyer, representing patients, physicians and other health care providers in a revolutionary new program designed as an alternative to medical malpractice lawsuits and to facilitate health care settlement agreements when medical errors occur or when a patient suffers an adverse outcome from a medical treatment or surgery, whether an error has occurred or not.

For more information about the IACT program, visit http://www.iactprogram.com and view the video describing the IACT program and how the program will be beneficial to all of the participants and will help to improve health care outcomes and to resolve cases without the cost and pain of litigation. Call Steven for more information.

Susan Ellinger and Steven Carr will be featured speakers November 7^th at the Southeastern Regional Council-National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (SERC-NAHRO) in Point Clear, Alabama November 6 through November 8, 2011.  Assessing the risks and rewards, protecting the agency, the board of directors, and staff in community development transactions will be a topic of discussion and updates.  Other topics include the relationships between public housing authorities and nonprofits and their respective boards, as well as the executive director’s role during the transaction process.

Continuing Legal Education program with Steven Carr as course planner and moderator.Experienced panel members discuss best practices in designing, implementing and administering Corporate Ethics and Compliance programs, an overview of recent changes in federal and state law and questions raised by these changes including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the status of proposed incentives for corporate whistleblowers in a new Securities and Exchange Commission rulemaking, the key elements of an ethics program, and much more. Steven will be presenting this CLE program at the NC Bar Center in Cary on April 1, 2011.  You can find more information on the upcoming program at http://www.ncbar.org/cle/programs/810ETH.aspx

Recent amendments to the federal Sentencing Guidelines for organizations concerning new ethics and compliance program requirements are a reminder that all organizations – for-profit and non-profit, large and small — need to have in place an effective program designed to prevent and detect violations of law.  The attached article provides a brief summary.

Does your organization need a compliance check-up, in light of these recent changes and new requirements?  Are there standards and procedures in place to prevent and detect criminal conduct?  Is your board of directors knowledgeable of and directing the oversight of the program to assure its effectiveness?  Is your organization doing periodic risk assessments, and providing appropriate training at all levels to give legal updates, periodic training and refresher courses?  Does the organization have a process in place for internal investigations and appropriate responses to criminal conduct, if it is discovered? 

Let us know if you have questions about these recent changes in the law and the guidelines, and about how we can help you with a cost-effective compliance checkup for your organization.