Information security in the family office context needs to a collaborative effort between the family, the office, and any intertwined vendors. This article from Plante Moran’s IT security consulting group discusses key factors in improving the security of the family office’s confidential information.
Many business managers include arbitration provisions in their companies’ contracts. The prevailing philosophy being that arbitration is preferable to traditional litigation via the court system because it’s private, speedier and less expensive. Under certain circumstances, however, a party may prefer to litigate a particular dispute in court even though it previously included an arbitration provision in the relevant contract. Smart Business spoke with Liebman about choosing traditional litigation despite the existence of an arbitration provision.
“Internet message boards and review sites provide a venue where users- customers and pretenders alike- can offer anonymous evaluations and judgments about restaurants, hotels, medical and legal professionals and businesses," says Mitchell L. Marinello, a partner with Novack and Macey LLP. "Unfortunately, sometimes these reviews cross the boundary between mere opinion and defamation." When they do, they can cause great damage, because they can linger on the Internet for years. But if a company is the victim of internet defamation, it has remedies.
If your organization still doesn't have a social media policy, it is time to create one. "Every organization should have a social media policy that enables it to optimize the opportunities that interactive social media sites present while minimizing the attendant risks," says Kristen Werries Collier, a partner with Novack and Macey ILP. Smart Business spoke with Collier about those risks and how to develop a workable policy to minimize your exposure.
"A surprising number of us who work with business organizations or professional service firms - in offices that are otherwise orderly - let emails just pile up in our inbox, sent folder and trash bin," says John F. Shonkwiler, a partner with Novack and Macey LLP. "Don't do this. It is not a smart business practice and, if your company becomes involved in litigation, it can cost an awful lot of money to sort through the mess.
For those considering a PFTC or in the early stages of developing one, this session provides the core information needed to get started, including identifying the right state and right structure for your family, chartering or licensing, and insight on the day to day realities of operating a PFTC.Attendees will learn:
Poor trust risk management and family disunity remain major if not the major threats to families seeking to remain together from generation to generation. Often embraced hesitantly by families, the most important risk management actions are basic and logical, only requiring families to understand and commit to them. Communication is often the key to both trust risk management and overcoming family disunity.Attendees will learn:
Private Trust Companies were created and constantly evolve to meet the needs of wealthy families for trustees not adequately met by the traditional alternatives of institutional and individual trustees. The foundations for choosing the right trustee for a family are(i) identifying the role they need their trustee to play, and(ii) understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each type of trustee for filling that role.
A founder of the modern private trust company industry will provide a brief history of the industry and where it is at today: its strengths, growing maturity, challenges and how it must evolve going forward. Attendees will learn:
Regulated PFTC’s are licensed and supervised by state banking regulators. In exchange, families are given the only non-federal, permanent corporate/LLC charter allowing them to provide trust services and, without registration with the SEC, act as an investment adviser. The main price they pay is the burden of state regulations and examinations. This session makes transparent the supervisory regime.Attendees will learn: