Fire your accountant, financial advisor and lawyer too?
A thought-provoking column in the Wall Street Journal here that argues in favor of routine changes of auditors got me thinking. If we should change our auditors on the grounds that they get too close to us and are afraid to displease us for…
Low-Cost Background Checks Ruin Lives
An enraging story by the Associated Press spells it out: computers used by background checkers mix up two people with the same name. Blameless woman gets tagged with a criminal record that isn’t hers, can’t get work and ends up homeless.…
What the Judge Rakoff Decision Says About Investigating Settlements
Federal District Court Judge Jed Rakoff shook up the securities bar with his widely reported rejection of a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup. The decision and order has thrown into turmoil decades of what…
Thinking About Divorce? The Essential Checklist
It happens all the time. A divorce lawyer calls us and says his client is thinking of suing her husband for divorce, but knows very little about the family’s finances. What are the sources of income? Where is the money invested?…
World on a String
The world is getting smaller in many ways, including for fact finders looking to get information about companies. Sometimes, the company across the street will file more information about itself halfway around the world than it will in its own…
Is There a Spin Doctor in the House?
This story on the Huffington Post sneeringly treats a new offering in the financial world: negative publicity insurance. The policy will be offered by a division of AIG, and will give companies in crisis access to PR damage-control specialists…
Shock! Rogue Trader was Polite and Well Educated
Police have arrested another suspected rogue trader at a big investment bank, a man named Kweku Adoboli who is alleged to have lost $2 billion for UBS in unauthorized deals. A story about Adoboli in the Wall Street Journal describes him…
Can You Hear Me Now? You’re Fired.
Getting fired is never pleasant, and it’s even worse when it comes as a complete surprise. Getting fired as a surprise while you’re driving your car must be really awful. That’s how Yahoo! Inc. reportedly fired its CEO Carol…
A Fact-Finding Test for Lawyers
Law schools have known for years that they turn out lawyers without training on how to gather facts. What’s changed recently is that law schools are starting to think this isn’t such a good idea. My colleague Peter Tillers, with…
Talk Isn’t Cheap Even When Offline
A quick reflection on the executive at Allstate, who according to the Wall Street Journal lost his job in part because of profanity-laced comments about a superior to colleagues in a bar. How did the Journal get the story? Not by crawling around…
