Situation checklists - I’ve started an online reading notebook
July 23, 2008
Like most lawyers, I do a lot of legal reading. I often run across information that I think to myself, this would be good to keep in mind when X happens. The problem, of course, is that when X does happen, I might or might not remember to think about the information I read.
As an experiment, I’ve started putting together an online notebook of situation checklists. The idea is that, when I run across useful stuff in my reading, I’ll take a minute to write a quick summary, copy the link, and then update (or start) the appropriate checklist of things to think about when X happens. To do this, I’m using the same software (MediaWiki) that powers Wikipedia.
Negotiating a customer’s code-of-conduct compliance request in a contract
July 9, 2008
I just posted to the Drafter’s Choice blog a short piece on “Negotiating a customer’s code-of-conduct compliance request in a contract.” It tells of a client negotiation I helped with last week.
Eight unconventional reference-check questions
July 8, 2008
The Business Pundit blog suggests eight questions, going beyond the usual ones, for hiring managers to ask when they check a candidate’s references.
On a related subject, here’s a list of legal and illegal interview questions by the University of Albany Office of Human Resources Management. I don’t know how current or accurate it is, but it looks like it might be a useful guide.
Outsourcing contracts: Six suggested clauses
July 5, 2008
In researching something, I happened upon an article in CIO Magazine from March 2007: "Outsourcing Contracts: Clause Control," by Stephanie Overby. The article talks about several clauses that outsourcing customers might want in their service contracts:
- Benchmarking - the right to renegotiate pricing if a benchmark survey shows that the contract pricing is significantly above market
- Most favored customer [ugh]
- Cost-plus pricing
- In-sourcing / re-sourcing right
- Continuous improvement
- Mandatory reference - the outsourcer must use the customer as a reference at least X times a year
Employee fired, charged with bringing former employer’s confidential information with him
July 2, 2008
An executive asks and is given for confidential sales information, marked as “confidential” and with a request not to distribute it. Not long afterwards, he quits and takes a similar position with a competitor of his former employer. Shortly after that, on his own initiative, he gives the confidential information to his new employer. That gets him fired by his new company, and then charged with criminal theft of trade secrets by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
In a nutshell, that’s what allegedly happened with Atul Malhotra, who has been indicted for giving IBM confidential information to HP. See the write-up in Wired magazine and the charging document filed in court.