ARTICLES

6/8/2016· Education & Schools

Another Fraternity Tragedy, When Will They Ever Learn?

By: David Easlick

News of the tragic suicide of Marquise Braham and the resulting lawsuit against Penn State Altoona and Phi Sigma Kappa brought to the surface some very painful memories. Earlier in my career I spent several years as the Executive Director of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a midsize International fraternity founded at Yale in 1844. Five or six US Presidents have been members(FDR was a member of the Harvard Chapter which was thrown out for not paying dues). Deke, as it is known, was international in that it had a few Canadian chapters.

6/1/2016· Discovery & Electronic Discovery

A Primer on Electronic Discovery

By: Darryl Horowitt

As the owner of a business that may be a party to a lawsuit, you need to know about the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI), also known as e-discovery. Why? Because the requirements to preserve and produce ESI are quickly evolving and have often taken over lawsuits as if e-discovery has a life of its own. This article will address the basics of e-discovery so that your business can start taking steps to minimize its impact.

5/25/2016· Cosmetology: Hair / Makeup

The Dangerous Combination of Hair Dyes and Tattoos: What Every Cosmetologist and Tattoo Artist Must Know

By: Susan Maccoy

The exponential growth of tattoos/body modification has broken virtually all cultural barriers. Formerly the mark of sailors, prison inmates and gang members, now fashion designers, photographers, perfumers and cosmetic companies have seized and leveraged this form of expression. Hollywood actors and celebrities function as high-profile ambassadors of the tattooed lifestyle...further shifting tattoos into accepted social mainstream. Today, tattoos more body real estate than any other time in history.

5/23/2016· Transportation

Bad Regulations and Better Responses Part 7: Conclusions

By: Ned Einstein

This final installment of this series provides the rewards for reading the first six: Starting-point ideas about things the motorcoach industry can do defend its density against intrusion from Transportation Network Companies (like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar), which have already begun plunging into the charter and tour sectors, mostly with medium-sized, body-on-chassis vehicles. It also includes things that would help increase profits and create new service opportunities - and compete with new, legitimate players penetrating the market.

5/20/2016· Accident Prevention & Safety

"Work Related Vehicle Accidents - The Overlooked Hazard At Work."

By: Greg Gerganoff

Use fall protection; Use trench boxes when excavating; Lock out Tag Out any time repair or maintenance of equipment involving stored energy is performed; Slips, Trips and Falls are one of the most expensive types of injury. For my sixteen years in safety these safety hazards were always in the forefront of safety concerns for businesses and safety professionals. Guess what? Work related road way crashes is the number one serious/fatal injury cause for U.S. workers. OSHA recognizes this. CDC/NIOSH has generated a white paper studying this fact. Who knew? So here is some info on this number one safety hazard in the US work place.

5/10/2016· Construction

Lawyers Guide to Cranes: Crane Identification

By: D. Larry Dunville

It is absolutely critical in the evaluation of a legal case involving cranes, to determine what type crane is involved. The word "Crane" is a generic term that covers virtually anything that lifts with a hook, but each crane type is a whole different industry with different industry associations (which compile the industry product specifications), different governing specification and different OSHA requirements. As a matter of fact, some cranes don't even have hooks!

5/9/2016· Real Estate

A Reasonable Standard of Care for Commercial Properties

By: Jeffrey Lapin

Tenants, visitors and vendors who enter upon commercial properties (office buildings, retail centers, apartment communities, industrial buildings, etc.) are entitled to the presumption of safety when traversing public spaces. They should, and do, expect that the owner of that property, by making it accessible to the public, will maintain the property (parking areas, lobbies, hallways, grounds, pools and the walkways that connect these elements) to a reasonable standard of care.

4/13/2016· Transportation

Bad Regulations and Better Responses, Part 6: Industry and Association Responses

By: Ned Einstein

As NATIONAL BUS TRADER readers following this series have noted, our judicial system seems to be "running the table" with TNC-related issues. The $220,000,000 settlement of a case against FEDEX effectively eliminated the notion of an "independent contractor" in its six states. And the California courts are soon likely to boot out Uber. The FEDEX case in the U.S. Court's 10th Circuit effectively rippled a TNC's ability to deprive its drivers of a regular employee's costly array of fringe benefits. This settlement is likely to soon play out in the other nine "Circuit" encompassing the other 44 states. And if Uber is booted out of California altogether, on top of the FEDEX settlement, the TNC threat will be diminished significantly.

4/11/2016· OSHA

"Ignorance of Safety, or No Ostrich Zone."

By: Greg Gerganoff

In the safety world hazard recognition plays a vital role in keeping your people safe from unsafe behaviors and/or conditions. Some hazards are easily recognized, for example an employee climbing up a 20 foot ladder with tools held in both hands. (This is a fall hazard by the way.) Common sense right? The safety guy who taught me safety had a great response to this attitude, "Few people have any sense (read knowledge) in common (read shared alike)". So while some safety hazards are immediately recognizable others require training to spot and avoid. Training is a key method in avoiding the "Ostrich Zone". One such hazard is Hydrogen Sulfide. You don't want to bury your head facing this hazard. (Won't do much good anyway, Hydrogen Sulfide is heavier then air!)

3/30/2016· Environment

AIG's Brownfields Insurance Debacle: Policy Language Should Be Negotiated by Coverage Experts

By: Dr. Susan Neuman

The world of brownfield insurance (BI) was recently shocked to learn that AIG was non-renewing its site pollution liability (SPL) book of business. AIG's Pollution Legal Liability Select (PLLS) policy, issued in 1995, was environmental insurers' first response to the Brownfields Movement. It allowed them to modify previously restrictive and inflexible policies so that they could be used to facilitate transactions. The idea of the policy was that the insured would be able to "select" specific coverages out of a number of modules based on distinctions of time, location, and types of damage, for instance On Site Cleanup Costs due to Pre-Existing Pollution Conditions. However, in addition to this selection process, specific policies also need to be manuscripted or tailored to fit specific risks. They are negotiable contracts, and, as illustrated by most of the cases involving such policies over the last 10 or 15 years, need to be negotiated by coverage experts.