Worth Considering: Money market funds and return-free risk

Money Management: How employers can help with retirement savings

By David P. Angeline
POSTED: May 21, 2013
Tags: David P. Angeline, Money Management

The Washington, D.C.-based Employee Benefits Research Institute’s latest Retirement Confidence Survey reported 49 percent of American workers are either not at all confident or not too confident they’ll have enough money for retirement. One of the hindering factors is that more than 50 percent of workers haven’t established an end goal for retirement, and consequently [...]

Legal Bytes: Small estate musings: When real property is the estate

By Jennifer Weidner
POSTED: May 21, 2013
Tags: Jennifer Weidner, Legal Bytes

No doubt, people are living longer these days, and that means that more people are living on their Social Security and pensions in their senior years, having outlived their retirement accounts. If they are lucky, they own their own home, which they maintain with their monthly income. However, complications arise when a homeowner dies and [...]

Commentary: Small word, big impact: 3 letters that should drive you

By Joe Mechlinski
POSTED: May 21, 2013
Tags: Commentary, Joe Mechlinski

When business leaders talk to prospects, clients and employees about their companies, they often focus on the least compelling elements without even realizing it. It’s second nature to describe our businesses in terms of “what” we do and “how” we do it. The problem is there is no magic in “what” and “how.” They do [...]

White Collar Corner: ESI: Spoliation and obstruction of justice

By Alan J. Bozer
POSTED: May 20, 2013
Tags: Alan J. Bozer, Christopher L. Hayes, White Collar Corner

Overview Destroying information, or “spoliation,” can lead to severe penalties, including imprisonment and hefty fines. The duty to preserve information, including electronically stored information (ESI), exists in all litigation in New York. Breaching this duty can forfeit a New York civil case before the merits are reached and even force the spoliating party to pay [...]

Commentary: Arguing the relevance of LinkedIn

By Jane Pribek
POSTED: May 20, 2013
Tags: Commentary, Jane Pribek

Is LinkedIn past its prime? I would argue yes. In 2008, I gave LinkedIn a positive review, but now I’m starting to find it irrelevant. As a journalist, I formerly used LinkedIn to find people to interview. Recently, that’s been limited substantially, when LinkedIn started allowing access to the complete profiles only of people I’m [...]

Legal Loop: When is social media contact criminal?

By Nicole Black
POSTED: May 20, 2013
Tags: Legal Loop, Nicole Black

The online world is simply an extension of the offline world. So it’s no surprise that people’s behavior on social media sites can result in criminal charges. But the complexity of the relationships and privacy settings on different social media sites can sometimes complicate the process of proving that the conduct that occurred was in [...]

Civil Litigation: Substantial sanctions can be imposed on unwitting holders

By Scott D. Shimick
POSTED: May 20, 2013
Tags: Civil Litigation, Scott D. Shimick

Historically, assets could be hidden in offshore bank accounts without significant risk of exposure. Due to the efforts of the federal government over the past decade, Swiss bank accounts no longer provide a safe haven for hiding assets from the Internal Revenue Service. The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 requires individuals to report their foreign [...]

Commentary: Top tips for creating a ‘BYOD’ strategy

By Elizabeth Millard
POSTED: May 20, 2013
Tags: Commentary, Elizabeth Millard

Back before middle school students had cell phones, a corporate mobile device strategy usually went something like this: You’ll use what we give you, don’t download anything personal on it, and we’ll scrub it clean whenever we like. With the huge surge in device usage, though, this strategy soon became obsolete, and what most companies [...]

Keeping Your Balance: What Obamacare has in store for 2014

By James C. DeRidder
POSTED: May 16, 2013
Tags: James C. DeRidder, Keeping Your Balance

Now that most of us have filed our 2012 tax returns, the last thing we want to think about is taxes, but it is never too early to begin thinking about tax law changes and how they will affect us in the current year and beyond. New taxes for 2013 As a result of the [...]

Managing Risk: Cases that are unfit for human consumption

By Louis B. Cristo
POSTED: May 16, 2013
Tags: Louis B. Cristo, Managing Risk

My first piece of advice to you is to refrain from reading this article on your lunch break. It examines the evolution of cases in New York addressing liability for the sale of contaminated food products. The “mouse in the soda bottle” case is not an urban myth. It and variations of it have appeared [...]

Commentary: Employers should follow tip pool law

By Aaron Graf
POSTED: May 16, 2013
Tags: Commentary

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Is my practice of tip pooling rendering my use of the minimum wage tip credit improper? Well, is it? Sure, the analysis of whether you (or your client’s ) tip pooling practices are negatively affecting your ability to claim the minimum wage tip credit isn’t as dramatic as [...]