September 19, 2013

Residents, retirees take center stage in Detroit bankruptcy fight – A parade of Detroiters and retirees tried to derail the city’s bankruptcy case Thursday, arguing the filing was not made in good faith and would slash constitutionally protected pensions.

US Commercial Real Estate: Will the Good Times Last? – The CRE market has experienced a gradual recovery in asset pricing since the 2008 financial crisis, but it is uncertain whether this will continue.

Copyright Industries Pushing for Search Engine “Voluntary Agreements,” – Despite Risks to Users A Congressional hearing and a glossy new paper published yesterday by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) both underscore a major push by the copyright lobby to establish extra-legal “voluntary agreements” with search engines, similar to the “Copyright Alert” surveillance machine already in place with some ISPs. These sorts of agreements represent a troubling move towards enforcement regimes that have the speech-squashing capabilities of actual law, but not the corresponding due process or accountability.

September 16, 2013

Beyond Obamacare: More Big Health Care Changes Ahead – Most Americans didn’t notice, but two big companies — IBM (IBM) and Time Warner (TWX) — recently changed their healthcare plans for retirees in ways that could become a model for how regular American workers get their healthcare. This could end up being the biggest change to private coverage since firms started offering health care benefits after World War II.

World marks fifth anniversary of largest US bankruptcy – In September of 2008, Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street investment house, went belly up

Hospitals’ malpractice costs drop by $3 million from last year – The city has paid $131 million in malpractice settlements in 2013, down from $134 million in 2012.

September 12, 2013

Why The Great Recession May Have Positive Impact On Small Business Retirement – There’s no way around it: the Great Recession was a dark period for many small businesses. But according to our national poll of business owners with 50 or fewer employees, it may have ultimately provided a silver lining that has led more to address an important issue they’ve been putting on the backburner for years –retirement.

Small Business Must-Reads — Thursday, September 5 - Alternative education: Business schools have been seeing competition from a number of programs — from General Assembly in New York to Starter School in Chicago — which have cropped up recently to cater to people seeking to launch their own companies or join fledgling ones. Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Small Business Lending Reaches Highest Level Since August 2007 – Small U.S. businesses took on more debt in July, pushing an index of borrowing to a six-year high and adding to evidence that the economic recovery is on firmer ground.

What Your Website Reveals About Your Practice

What Your Website Reveals About Your PracticeHistorians refer to our current times as the ‘digital age’ or the ‘new media age.’  The reason for this is obvious—at no other time in human history have we put so much of ourselves and our lives online, or in a digital format, for the world to see.  Clients are more likely to search for a mediation professional online than through other more traditional forms of searching, like the phone book or even word of mouth.  For this reason, whether you agree with it or not, a company that has not focused on a professional website is a company that, for many, will not be taken seriously.

You should think of your website as a more modern version of your business card. You will use it to reach thousands of potential clients and it will open doors for you when you seek to grow your business. The caliber of professionalism and the quality of your services will be judged by many based solely on your website, so you should also think of it as a first impression—and in many cases, the only impression—that potential clients will have of your business.

So take a minute and sit down with your partners or key staff members and ask yourselves—what does our website reveal about our business? Here are some “tough love” questions to get you on the right track of thinking:

1. Are there spelling or grammar problems with the content?

You would be surprised at how many businesses, even law and mediation practices, have spelling and grammar errors in their online content. This means that from the beginning, the discerning potential client will automatically avoid calling you because, put simply, you are letting them know from the onset that you are not the kind of mediator who “dots all his or her ‘I’s and crosses all his or her ‘T’s.” Having a professional editor look over your website to fix these errors will cost a little but will save you thousands in lost clients.

2. Is there too much content?

This is another common mistake that businesses, particularly law-related ones, make. Too much content not only makes the website look sloppy and unprofessional—it’s also wasted effort because most people won’t read it. Think about it: when you ‘surf’ the internet, how long do you tend to stay on a website? 5 minutes? 10 minutes, at most? What would you say if we told you that according to research, most internet users stay on a webpage for a minute or less? That’s certainly not enough time to read the pages and pages of content you have. Pare down the content and stick to only the basics of whom your mediation practice serves and why you are the best. If a client wants to know your life story, they’ll ask you in person.

3. Does the look and feel of the website reflect the main traits of your business?

If you want potential clients to see you as a professional mediator who is successful, make sure this is reflected in your website. A website that is full of errors, difficult to read and difficult to navigate will reflect poorly on your business. So take a good look at your online presence and ask yourself: what does your website reveal about your practice?

Why Contract Mediation Makes Sense

Why Contract Mediation Makes Sense

Image courtesy of Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net

Establishing and negotiating a contract can be a tricky task, particularly when negotiations reach a stalemate and neither party wants to budge.  It might be simple wording that stalls negotiations or something much bigger such as a disagreement over salary or benefits that keeps parties from reaching an agreement.  Whatever the reason, creating a contract that makes all parties happy can be a difficult task—and that’s where a contract mediator can be extremely valuable in the process.

Contract mediation allows both parties to sit down together and discuss their positions related to the details of the contract.  In contract mediation, a neutral, third-party mediator facilitates this discussion and assists with any legal questions either party might have regarding the law as it relates to contracts and business. Contract mediation is a cost-saving and time-saving alternative to litigation or arbitration because it ensures that both parties enter the negotiations with the goal of finding a solution that is mutually beneficial.  As an added benefit, contract mediation is completely confidential, helping all parties involved to maintain their reputation and keep any disagreement out of the public eye.

The most obvious benefit of contract mediation is that the parties involved remain in complete control of the outcome of the settlement.  While the mediator facilitates the discussion and helps both parties arrive at a solution, he or she doesn’t “take sides” and assists in the negotiations only as much as the parties involved allow.  The final resolution remains in the hands of the parties in dispute and litigation is always an option if the mediation proceedings are not successful.

As contracts become increasingly more complex, with each side attempting to mitigate its risk and foresee any possible problems from the onset of the business relationship, the contract negotiation process can be time consuming and costly.  Contract mediation helps the process along, ensuring that both parties are happy with the outcome while a middle ground is reached.