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... will have recourse if bad advice is given to them by their consultants' attorneys. One solution is for the company to establish a contractual relationship directly with the consultant's law firm. In addition, all agreements between a company and its consultants should be reviewed by the company and its counsel to determine if the agreement with the consultant allows the consultant to hire counsel. Second, the company may be well served by including in their agreement with their consultants a provision that establishes a link between the legal services rendered to the consultant and the company. Third, the company could provide in its contract with the consultant that a copy of all correspondence between the consultant and the lawyer hired by the consultant must be sent to the company. Finally, the company could require that any legal opinion letters from ... a known party on the statement in furtherance of that purpose; and (3 ) some conduct by the lawyer linking him to the relying party and evincing his understanding of that reliance. Even though these criteria may be satisfied, a company will still only have the ability to establish liability against its consultant's lawyer in a handful of jurisdictions. Therefore, companies that deal with consultants and their consultants' counsel should not rely on the possibility of the courts to relax the privity requirement. Instead, companies should take certain steps to ensure they will have recourse if bad advice is given to them by their consultants' attorneys. One solution is for the company to establish a contractual relationship directly with the consultant's law firm. In addition, all agreements between a company and its consultants should be reviewed by ...

...nce of critical-incident stress counseling and strongly recommend that anyone ...pfulness. Far from being an extra, counseling is the right thing at a bad time...

... why are they still there? When counseling employers I often find that there ...

... as the primary contact for counsel. With one contact, extraneous charges will be significantly reduced. 5. Monitor the case on a monthly basis. Examine fees and settlement opportunities closely. 6. Adjusting attorney fees after counsel has been engaged is expensive, time consuming, and distracting. Doing so beforehand not only conserves your economic resources, but promotes the long-term interest in your products or services as well. Developing a strategy and implementing tactics to manage claims and litigation requires general counsel or personnel with the knowledge and time necessary to succeed. If this is not possible through in-house staff, consider retaining an outside litigation management professional. John M. Beringer, Jr., LPCS, RPA , is CEO and Senior Litigation Manager for Beringer & Assoc., Inc., a claim and litigation ... conceding cases because of the anticipated defense expenses. John Beringer stresses the importance of developing an effective strategy to anticipate defense costs and prepare for the process before it occurs. 1. Create an internal litigation management profile with an outline of what fees and expenses you will and won't pay, the acceptable rate, and how the fees will be paid. 2. Create a contract for the engagement of counsel and then use it to manage counsel. Include provisions for dispute management through arbitration/mediation, an agreement as to the payment of travel expenses, and policies on experts and consultants. 3. Use a careful selection process to create a counsel panel before it's needed. Remember, it's not the hourly charge that determines counsel's value; it's the performance in the task given. 4. Once ...

...ice' PR. What you can expect is counseling as to how to spot and cultivate PR ...ion of support materials. 3. Media counseling: If you are not a knowledgeable media user, you might want counseling to complement the press release service. The counseling would help you establish PR goal...

...nt. Building relationships, not counseling to determine why they aren't workin...

...o that fact and suggest outside counseling. If the problem is with an employee...rely qualified to provide personal counseling and opens himself to serious lia...

... flags' and opportunities to diagnose the health of their own insurance and risk management programs. New challenges bring new opportunities and, in this light, the policyholder can transform the coverage issue into a plan to patch up a possible hole' in coverage or consciously decide to retain or self-fund. In the Chinese language, the character for the word danger' connotes a double meaning of opportunity' as well. In a similar vein, reservation-of-rights letters carry overtones of danger, the danger of an uncovered loss. Viewed in a more positive light, however, such letters may flag an opportunity for companies to strengthen their own insurance and risk management programs, learning from the past to avoid future perils. This article originally appeared in the Risk Management Letter, published by risk management consulting firm Warren, ... hire a lawyer of your choice-not the insurer's-at the insurer's expense. When an insurer hires the lawyer and reserves rights, it creates a potential conflict of interest: the lawyer hired by the insurer may uncover some facts that if disclosed to the insurer might cloud coverage. To avoid putting lawyers in this position and to minimize the odds of mischief to policyholders, many courts allow insureds to retain their own counsel when an insurer reserves its rights. In California, for example, this has created a whole cottage industry of Cumis counsel, taken from the name of the court case. A reservation of rights might be a blessing in disguise, to the extent it opens the door for you to hire a lawyer who works for you and is not beholden to any insurer, but whose fee is still ...

... paid promptly and efficiently-and conversely, that questionable claims are resisted effectively. Follow reserves to see that they're not excessive and that they're removed from the record immediately after final payment. Check claims-adjusting personnel for adequate training, experience, and exercise of good judgment. Ensure that subrogation (recovery) procedures against outside parties are being efficiently pursued. Record Keeping. The risk manager's basic tool is a complete, well organized set of records detailing insured and uninsured losses. Other important records include: Property valuations, broken down by location Insurance policies, current and expired File of management decisions On larger properties, building layouts showing fire separations Files of correspondence and telephone calls concerning coverage and other important subjects Creation of Risk Management Manuals. Firms with many locations may want a book of instructions on how to handle claims ... official may be responsible for maintaining building values and informing the risk manager of any changes-deletions or additions of properties and change in costs or values. This person will also frequently supervise the issuance of contracts to contractors. These contain insurance and indemnity provisions that should be carefully worded and supervised. The chief engineer may also design and maintain loss-prevention equipment, so close cooperation with the risk manager is essential. Counsel. The chief legal officer writes contracts that usually contain indemnity or insurance provisions. His work strongly affects risk assumption. He may also have a responsibility for supervising liability or Workers Compensation (except for large liability claims), although this is a specialized function better handled by specialist claims adjusters. Whoever carries the mantle of risk manager will need to communicate closely with all the officer just mentioned. ...

...cident critical-incident stress counseling. Research has shown that individual...onger, if not attended to. Provide counseling for the witnesses and the projec...