Things are Tough All Over…But Needn’t Be

This Thanksgiving weekend I did something I'm a bit embarrassed to admit:  I caught up on all the business magazines and WSJs sitting in my "to read" pile.  It's Sunday and the workweek begins tomorrow, but I wanted to make this comment based on a consistent underlying theme I fo...

Jose E. Latour Nov 25, 2007

Why GCs are Embracing Workforce Compliance

InsideCounsel magazine recently reported the results of an innovative study undertaken by another publication, Corporate Board Member magazine and FTI Consulting.  In the survey/study, over 1000 General Counsels and board directors were asked about the steps they are taking to mitigate risk wit...

Jose E. Latour Nov 20, 2007

Workforce Compliance: Outside Counsel vs. Outside SOLUTION

Counsel to Counsel magazine ran an interesting article in its October 2007 issue entitled "Choosing the Right Outside Counsel"  The article is a helpful analysis of what GCs should look for when reaching outside of their own corporate resources for the solution of a legal matter.The a...

Jose E. Latour Nov 01, 2007

Reinventing Lawyers

I've noticed that as one grays around the temples, some sort of phenomenon gives others the impression that you know more than you knew before.  Suddenly, people who might never have listened to a word you had to say consider you a "resource" or, even worse, a "mentor".In th...

Jose E. Latour Oct 30, 2007

Unions in Check: NLRB Permits Faster Challenges by Members

As the National Labor Relations Board hustles to clear its docket, corporations are being pleasantly surprised...while unions cry "foul".Dozens of recent case decisions show a definitive intent by the Board to further limit organized labor. The Bush administration has long been the target ...

Jose E. Latour Oct 26, 2007

Metagaming, Economics, and Global HR Compliance

Today I am going to talk about the LEAST talked about 2007 Nobel Prize, the one in Economics, awarded to three U.S.-based economists - game theory pioneer Leo Hurwicz, Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson. After half a century of work in a little-known but massively cool area of game theory, it’s about tim...

Jose E. Latour Oct 25, 2007

As if Compliance isn’t a Big Enough Headache…

The EEOC is reporting that HR departments are being targeted for bogus emails containing a Trojan Horse virus.  According to the department, the email's subject matter features precisely the kind of wording that makes the heart of an HR Director or GC leap:"Harassment Complaint Update For&...

Jose E. Latour Oct 24, 2007

2007 in Enforcement: Business in the Bullseye

Back on August 9th, ICE -- U.S. Customs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- released a five page memo euphamistacally entitled "Protecting National Security and Upholding Public Safety".  The memo, signed off by Asst. Secretary of Homeland Security Julie L. Myers, attempts to s...

Jose E. Latour Oct 22, 2007

The Fear Factor Hits HR

Why, oh why, am I always right? Like some latter day Nosferatu infused with the wisdom of the immigration elders, I've been calling this whole "Attack on U.S. Employers" deal for about four years...and once again my voice calling in the regulatory wilderness proves prophetic.The call came ...

Jose E. Latour Oct 17, 2007

Simplifying Workforce Compliance for Inside Counsel

Political tides shift, and the historical benevolence extended to corporate America by Republican administrations has given way to an enforcement-driven policy designed to salvage conservative voter discontent.  The losers, of course, are not just the corporations suddenly facing a barrage of p...

Jose E. Latour Oct 16, 2007