Archive for September, 2011

Amazon tablet piles pressure on prices

irishtimes.com – Last Updated: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 07:54The Kindle Fire, the seven-inch multimedia tablet unveiled by Amazon yesterday. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Asian technology companies came under pressure today to slash prices of their tablet computers after Amazon.com launched its Kindle Fire at a mass market-friendly $199.

From Samsung to Sony, major Asian tablet makers have ambitious plans to take on Apple , whose iPad is the gold standard in the booming market.

With their me-too type of products priced almost at the same level as the iPad’s starting price of $499, none of them have however been able to gain any significant market share from Apple.

So far, Samsung has been seen as the most credible challenger to the iPad and some analysts suggest it could lose its second position to the eagerly anticipated Fire.

The South Korean company’s tablet marketing campaign has also stumbled in recent months due to Apple’s legal attempts to ban Samsung’s tablet sales in Australia, the United States and Germany, over patent infringement, among other claims.

The Kindle Fire, while lacking many of the high-tech bells and whistles common on tablets from cameras to 3G wireless connection, may sound the death knell for a raft of devices based on Google’s Android operating system.

“The pricing is critical to gain traction in the tablet market… Rival manufacturers have failed to attract consumers as they have matched the iPad’s price point without matching its content offering,” said Adam Leach, an analyst at research firm Ovum.

“Amazon’s retail-based business model allows the company to subsidize the device on the premise that consumers will buy more from Amazon, be that physical goods or its digital content.”

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Sony’s S tablet, Motorola’s Zoom and many others from Acer and Asustek Computer Inc all run on Android, which Amazon’s Fire also uses and combines with its online store.

By pricing the Fire at less than half the iPad – yet stripping out costlier components and features – the internet retailer hopes to get the device into millions of consumers’ hands and then into Amazon books, movies, music and other content.

Samsung’s new tablet Galaxy 10.1 is priced roughly the same as the iPad. Even at that price, a slim profit margin of around 5 per cent makes it difficult for Samsung to cut prices sharply, analysts say.

Worldwide tablet shipments will more than triple to 60 million units this year and surge to 275.3 million units by 2015, research firm IHS iSuppli forecasts.

Apple dominates the North American tablet market, with 80 per cent of the 7.5 million units shipped during the second quarter of 2011, Strategy Analytics says.

Analysts had expected Amazon’s tablet to be priced around $250, roughly half the price of Apple’s iPad, which starts at $499.

Sony vowed in January to become the world’s second top tablet maker – behind Apple – by 2012 and Sony executives have since stuck to that ambitious claim.

“We expect the Amazon tablet to… put pressure on the other non-iPad competitors as they are unlikely to be able to compete on price and value,” UBS analysts said in a note.
“At the $199, we believe Amazon’s tablet has the potential to be disruptive to the market and, in particular, the non-iPad market…Other tablet vendors will find it difficult to match Amazon’s price point.”

HP’s firesale of its TouchPad tablet at $99 just six weeks after its launch created strong demand for its soon-to-be-killed product, a sign of just how critical prices are in the sector.

Reuters 

Article source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/851/f/10841/s/18eda696/l/0L0Sirishtimes0N0Cnewspaper0Cbreaking0C20A110C0A9290Cbreaking120Bhtml/story01.htm

Legal News

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• As Profits Dip, a Spate of Practice Leadera Defect
  A few years ago, Crowell & Moring was flying high, with double-digit revenue growth and record profits per partner of just about $1 million. […]
• Akin Gump to Open Hong Kong Office
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• Menu Labeling: Get It Right, or Get Sued? | Applebee's | Weight Watchers | Morrison & Foerster
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• Christine Quinn Hails 'Tremendous Victory' In Homeless Shelter Suit
  Today, City Council Speaker and likely 2013 mayoral candidate Christine Quinn won her lawsuit against the Bloomberg administration's policy of asking single adults seeking space in homeless shelters to prove they have no alternative housing. […]
• Is Lateral Hiring Frenzy by BigLaw Creating a Bubble?
  Lateral hiring at large law firms is expected to continue at a frenetic pace this year, a phenomenon that has created ever larger income gaps between equity partners at the top and bottom. […]
• Teradata taps Hortonworks to improve Hadoop story
  Data warehouse veteran Teradata has tightened its embrace of the Hadoop big data platform via a partnership with Hortonworks. […]
• Youth offender move on hold
  A potential legal issue could halt a plan for Rankin County to house youth offenders from Lauderdale County, leaving officials scrambling to resolve the issue before a March 1 deadline. […]
• PTO No
  Foley & Lardner attorney Andrew S. Baluch has his knickers in a twist over a USPTO power grab to pummel inventors by denying them their legal rights. […]

Kindle Fire may force Android tablet makers to cut prices

SEOUL (Reuters) – Asian technology companies came under pressure on Thursday to slash prices of their tablet computers after Amazon.com launched its Kindle Fire at a mass market-friendly $199.

From Samsung Electronics to Sony Corp, major Asian tablet makers have ambitious plans to take on Apple, whose iPad is the gold standard in the booming market.

With their me-too type of products priced almost at the same level as the iPad’s starting price of $499, none of them have however been able to gain any significant market share from Apple.

So far, Samsung has been seen as the most credible challenger to the iPad and some analysts suggest it could lose its No. 2 position to the eagerly anticipated Fire.

The South Korean company’s tablet marketing campaign has also stumbled in recent months due to Apple’s legal attempts to ban Samsung’s tablet sales in Australia, the United States and Germany, over patent infringement, among other claims.

The Kindle Fire, while lacking many of the high-tech bells and whistles common on tablets from cameras to 3G wireless connection, may sound the death knell for a raft of devices based on Google Inc’s Android operating system.

“The pricing is critical to gain traction in the tablet market… Rival manufacturers have failed to attract consumers as they have matched the iPad’s price point without matching its content offering,” said Adam Leach, an analyst at research firm Ovum.

“Amazon’s retail-based business model allows the company to subsidize the device on the premise that consumers will buy more from Amazon, be that physical goods or its digital content.”

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Sony’s S tablet, Motorola’s Zoom and many others from Acer Inc and Asustek Computer Inc all run on Android, which Amazon’s Fire also uses and combines with its online store.

By pricing the Fire at less than half the iPad — yet stripping out costlier components and features — the Internet retailer hopes to get the device into millions of consumers’ hands and then into Amazon books, movies, music and other content.

TOUGH FOR SAMSUNG

Samsung’s new tablet Galaxy 10.1 is priced roughly the same as the iPad. Even at that price, a slim profit margin of around 5 percent makes it difficult for Samsung to cut prices sharply, analysts say.

Worldwide tablet shipments will more than triple to 60 million units this year and surge to 275.3 million units by 2015, research firm IHS iSuppli forecasts.

Apple dominates the North American tablet market, with 80 percent of the 7.5 million units shipped during the second quarter of 2011, Strategy Analytics says.

Analysts had expected Amazon’s tablet to be priced around $250, roughly half the price of Apple’s iPad, which starts at $499.

Sony vowed in January to become the world’s No. 2 tablet maker — behind Apple — by 2012 and Sony executives have since stuck to that ambitious claim.

“We expect the Amazon tablet to… put pressure on the other non-iPad competitors as they are unlikely to be able to compete on price and value,” UBS analysts said in a note.

“At the $199, we believe Amazon’s tablet has the potential to be disruptive to the market and, in particular, the non-iPad market…Other tablet vendors will find it difficult to match Amazon’s price point.”

HP’s firesale of its TouchPad tablet at $99 just six weeks after its launch created strong demand for its soon-to-be-killed product, a sign of just how critical prices are in the sector.

(Editing by Anshuman Daga)

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/kindle-fire-may-force-android-tablet-makers-cut-060605900.html

Puzzling reference to legal privilege to ensure Norris letters stay in spotlight

The Irish Times – Thursday, September 29, 2011

CAROL COULTER, Legal Affairs Editor

ANALYSIS: DAVID NORRIS told RTÉ yesterday that he could not publish documents appealing for clemency for his former partner Ezra Nawi for legal reasons.

“I am absolutely restricted by questions of privacy,” he said. “I understand people’s interest but I’ve been told by my lawyers that these letters are subject to professional legal privilege and I’ve been told I cannot publish them.”

Nawi was convicted in 1997 of statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy.

There are two completely separate issues here, that of privacy and of professional legal privilege.

The reference to professional legal privilege is puzzling, as Norris also said the letters were written to senior politicians in Ireland and Israel.

Professional legal privilege attaches to correspondence between lawyers and clients, not between non-lawyers on a legal matter.

Professional legal privilege goes back to the 16th century and exists throughout the common law world. It is based on the assumption that people need skilled legal professionals when litigating or defending themselves.

Such representation can only work if the client is free to be totally frank with his or her legal adviser, without fear of disclosure.

Therefore, all communications between a solicitor or barrister and client are protected from disclosure, and the lawyer may not disclose their contents without the permission of the client.

The client may, of course, give permission for such disclosure.

The only exception to this is where the client discloses to the lawyer the intention to commit a crime.

Norris was not involved in the Nawi case and was not, as far as we know, the client of a solicitor or other lawyer in relation to it.

It is difficult to see, therefore, where professional legal privilege might arise, as the letters concerned are not between a lawyer and a client.

It is conceivable that Nawi asked his lawyer to contact Norris to encourage him to seek clemency on his behalf and authorising him to make disclosures to Norris about the case, in strict confidence and with the proviso that no one else received the disclosures.

Nawi’s correspondence with his solicitor would be covered by privilege, as any letter from the lawyer to Norris written on those terms.

It would, of course, be open to Nawi himself to lift this privilege. However, none of this would extend to letters written by Norris to third parties seeking an intervention or clemency.

The issue of privacy is quite different.

While the Constitution does not expressly guarantee a right of privacy, following the seminal case involving former Irish Times editor Geraldine Kennedy and fellow journalist Bruce Arnold, a person’s right to privacy in their private communications has been recognised as a constitutional right.

Norris is entitled to privacy in his private communications with other people.

If the purpose of such communications though was to seek clemency in a court of law, the matter would be in the public domain anyway and would, to that extent, not be private correspondence.

In addition, as the author of such letters, Norris can waive his right to privacy with regard to the correspondence.

The invocation of legal advice in this matter is not likely to make it go away.

Article source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/851/f/10845/s/18ec2654/l/0L0Sirishtimes0N0Cnewspaper0Cireland0C20A110C0A9290C122430A49341760Bhtml/story01.htm

Island Nation Girds for Legal Battle Against Industrial Emissions

Palau, which would like the court to find that nations have a responsibility to ensure that their emissions do not have a negative impact on other states, faces a long road to achieve its goal.

First it must persuade the General Assembly of the United Nations — which has the authority to request a legal opinion from the Netherlands-based court — to approve its proposal.

Legal experts on climate change say an opinion, while it wouldn’t have a direct effect on any individual nation, could help set the parameters for future climate negotiations and influence litigation both between nations and in domestic courts around the world, including in the United States.

In his statement to the General Assembly last week, Palau President Johnson Toribiong said it was essential that “we determine what the international rule of law means in the context of climate change.”

Palau, a chain of more than 200 mostly low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean, roughly 500 miles east of the Philippines, is among the group of nations most at threat from rising sea levels attributed to climate change (ClimateWire, May 25). The Marshall Islands, another Pacific Ocean state, has joined Palau in making the request.

Toribiong asked the General Assembly to “seek, on an urgent basis … an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the responsibilities of states under international law to ensure that activities carried out under their jurisdiction or control that emit greenhouse gases do not damage other states.”

It is not yet clear if Palau’s proposal will win the backing of the General Assembly. A spokesman for Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the assembly’s president, said Palau has not yet formally asked the assembly to take action.

Palau’s most likely allies would be other island states, which are represented by the Alliance of Small Island States, known as AOSIS.

The group’s chairwoman, Desima Williams, Grenada’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the issue has not yet been discussed by members.

“However, AOSIS supports its member states in seeking positive responses to and outcomes for climate change,” Williams added.

If the General Assembly supports Palau’s request, lawyers say a legal opinion from the court could help shape international law on the impact of climate change.

“I think it would have considerable significance,” said Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. “A decision such as requested would greatly help the bargaining position of the small island states.”

‘Building block’

Although it “would not have automatic or direct effect,” an opinion — if it came out the way Palau wanted — would make it clear that developed countries “have a legal obligation to increase their mitigation measures,” he added.

Attorney Matt Pawa, who has represented plaintiffs in climate cases, said an opinion could act as a “building block” for establishing legal principles.

He used the same term to refer to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in AEP. v. Connecticut, in which the court ruled that the Clean Air Act and the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate emissions had displaced the argument made by several states and other plaintiffs that emissions should be regulated as a public nuisance under federal common law (Greenwire, June 20).

Pawa, who represented some private plaintiffs in that case, noted that the Supreme Court “not infrequently will look to principles of international law in resolving domestic law cases.”

For Palau and other island states, an opinion from the international court also “raise the very real specter of state liability” over climate change, he added.

Even if the court is tasked with delivering an opinion, Carroll Muffett, president of the Center for International Environmental Law, said what it comes up with “depends heavily on how the question is asked.”

That may determine, for example, whether the issue of state liability is even touched upon, he added.

If the judges did reach that point, it does not mean the international court would eventually rule that certain nations are liable for climate change because disputes can only be resolved if the countries involved agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the court.

Muffett conceded that fact but noted that an opinion could nevertheless have “far-reaching consequences” in other contexts, including international arbitration and trade negotiations under the umbrella of the World Trade Organization.

Reporter Nathanial Gronewold contributed.

Copyright 2011 EE Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/09/28/28greenwire-island-nation-girds-for-legal-battle-against-i-60949.html

‘First credible framework’ to analyse legal market

Wednesday 28 September 2011 by Catherine Baksi

The Legal Services Board today unveiled what it described as the ‘first credible framework’ to analyse the changing legal services market.

Consultancy Oxera was commissioned to help the board evaluate the impact of the Legal Services Act 2007 and the LSB itself. Its approach considers the provision of legal services with reference to three characteristics – type of client, type of problem and the legal service activity.

Firms are grouped for analysis with others that provide the same services for the same types of client, and can then be differentiated within those groups by more traditional data, including number of employees and turnover.

LSB chief executive Chris Kenny said: ‘We believe that this represents a step forward in thinking for the sector, providing for the first time a credible framework for analysis and supports the development of new industry nomenclature, to understand and describe the changes taking place.’

He added: ‘It also provides guidance on how to isolate, as far as possible, changes in the market driven by the LSB’s actions from those occurring as a result of unrelated market trends.’

Kenny said the legal services market is hugely complex, with customers ranging from an international corporate entity to a child, and the types of services they require differ widely.

The report is ‘an essential first step’ to understanding systematically how the provision of legal services is changing, he added.

Kenny wants frontline regulators to consider how the data they collect might fit in to the new framework, so that common regulatory risks can be identified and resolved.

The LSB will be carrying out pilot studies looking at the market for legal advice for firms based in and around the City of London and the provision of legal advice by third sector bodies.

The LSB has invited firms to provide feedback by email to: Alex.roy@legalservicesboard.org.uk.

Article source: http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/first-credible-framework-analyse-legal-market

Norris reveals letters legal advice

Presidential hopeful David Norris has claimed legal advice is standing in the way of him disclosing controversial clemency letters he wrote for an ex-partner convicted of statutory rape.

The Senator said he would examine the possibility of reading the correspondence into the Seanad record but lawyers had warned him against their publication.

Mr Norris made appeals to Israeli authorities on behalf of his former partner Ezra Nawi, who was found guilty of the rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in the late 1990s.

On the first day of campaigning after nominations closed, the renowned academic and Joycean scholar said the legal case was held in camera (in private hearing) and he had been told by Irish and Israeli lawyers that he should not reveal unpublished letters he wrote appealing on behalf of Nawi.

“I have been legally advised that I could prejudice the situation if I revealed information because this was held in camera,” he said.

“This was legal advice, I abide by it.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny increased the pressure on the Senator to ignore his legal advice and reveal the details of all the clemency letters.

“I think this is a case of where the people are going to have their say about who they want to represent this country in Aras an Uachtarain,” the Taoiseach said.

Meanwhile Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness said he would bring his skills honed while working with unionists in Northern Ireland during the peace process to the presidency if elected on October 27.

He said he wanted to further open up the Aras to unionists and victims of conflict, accelerating the work started by President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin, while giving leadership at a time of unprecedented selfishness and greed.

Article source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/norris-reveals-letters-legal-advice-171057727.html

Football legal expert: There is a chance Carlos Tevez could be sacked and sued by Manchester City (Goal.com)

EXCLUSIVE

Manchester City would face a difficult task in winning a legal battle against Carlos Tevez despite him refusing to play against Bayern Munich, according to a sports contractual law expert.

One course of action open to City is that the club could sack the striker for gross misconduct and sue him for damages in breach of contract but a lawyer told Goal.com that both cases could be hard to prove in court.

Manager Roberto Mancini claims Tevez refused to come on as a substitute in his club’s 2-0 defeat at the Allianz Arena, a version of events later denied by the player, who said his non-appearance midway through the second half was the result of a “misunderstanding”.

Simon Gibson, managing partner for legal firm Kirwans, who advise Premier League players on employment and commercial contract issues, told Goal.com: “This boils down to the facts. There is a dispute between Tevez and Mancini as to what actually happened. Obviously, Mancini is clear that Tevez refused to play. Tevez seems to be disputing that. The legal position would be governed by what actually happened. Like so many legal disputes that would be down to a tribunal or court hearing evidence and making a decision on what occurred.

“If, what Mancini is saying is right, I could see an arguable point that Tevez is in breach of his contract with Manchester City, although the case could depend on whether it is deemed to be gross misconduct or a less significant breach.

“Depending on what happened, there is a possibility that he could be sacked and sued by the club. But if they sack him, what is in it for them? They would terminate his contract of employment, which would mean he could go out and do what he wants to do, which is sign for another club for no fee. I would question if that is in Man City’s interests.”

Staying put? | Tevez ignored his manager’s calls to warm-up

Despite the almost universal criticism of Tevez’s actions in Munich, Gibson believes that it is by no means inevitable that City would win a constructive dismissal case against the player.

“In terms of sacking him, they would have to prove that they had suffered some form of loss as a result of Tevez’s breach of contract. If City could prove that if he had gone on the pitch they would have got something out of the game and, by getting something out of the game, they would have progressed in the Champions League, and they didn’t because he wouldn’t go on, they might have a case.

“But that would be extremely difficult to prove because they were 2-0 down at the time. Tevez is just one player. I think Man City are in an unfortunate position. Even if what Roberto Mancini says is right, it is legally a difficult position, and practically an even more difficult position.

“If there are a number of witnesses of fact who are able to confirm what Mancini has said is true, then if they terminated Tevez’s contract they would have quite a strong defense of any such action.

“But why would they want to terminate his contract? It would be better for them to manage him out of the club as soon as possible and benefit financially. I don’t see how they could do that if they terminated his contract.

“If I was advising Man City the club’s best interests would seem to be served – if relations have broken down to the extent that a player has refused to play – by managing that player out of the club quickly and at the highest possible value.”

Chelsea won a five-year legal battle against Adrian Mutu last year after suing the player for damages after he tested positive for cocaine, but Gibson does not believe that Tevez’s actions will be viewed as dimly by the courts.

He explained: “Yes, it is possible City could try and recover their losses. Whether it is a breach of the same magnitude as Mutu’s is open to doubt. A professional footballer engaging in the taking of Class ‘A’ drugs is about as fundamental a breach of contract as you can imagine. I think that through his actions he damaged himself as an asset to the company and the value of Chelsea.

“If true, Tevez’s breach is of a different nature. I think Chelsea were put in an untenable position and had no option but to terminate his contract and sue the player to recover their losses. It could be argued that Tevez’s likely suitors might take the view that this is a complete breakdown with Man City rather than form a negative view of him.”

One possibility that has been aired is that Tevez could sue City if he is dropped from the first-team squad and ordered to train with the reserves until he is made available for a transfer in January.

Gibson said: “I don’t think he is in a position to sue them if he is out of the squad or the team, because that is the manager’s decision. Where there is a legal point is if he has been libelled.

“If he says he didn’t refused to play and has been libelled by this statement in the press, he could argue his reputation has been damaged and he could suffer a loss in the future because he is less marketable as a player. But if there are a number of people on the bench who confirm what Mancini has said, a libel action falls at the first post.”

Article source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/sports/rss/sow/SIG=12a86v9gs/*http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=goal-footballlegalexpertthereisa

Don’t Miss This Megatrend

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Investors, get ready to examine your stocks through a newly focused lens. A potentially massive new trend could make the difference between stellar returns and spectacular flameouts; how you vote your annual proxies will matter more than ever, too.

Ceres, which leads a coalition of investors, environmental organizations, and other groups that focus on sustainability, recently released the report “Proxy Voting for Sustainability.” The report can help investors navigate the environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues that increasingly require investors’ urgent attention — and votes on shareholder resolutions.

You snooze, you lose
Investors who shrug off the ESG side of stock ownership are making a major strategic mistake. Sustainability issues will shake up corporate managements and boards, and business as usual will no longer apply. Unaware, apathetic, passive investors could get blindsided as their stocks underperform.

Ceres cites Harvard Business Review‘s 2010 piece “The Sustainability Imperative.” Authors David Lubin and Daniel Esty called sustainability a transformational “megatrend” that’s altering the competitive landscape for businesses overall. Many variables are driving this change, including changing geopolitics, globalized workforces, growing public awareness of businesses’ effect on environmental and public health issues, and dawning recognition that what were once unfair negative externalities are now hitting real corporate bottom lines.

According to Institutional Shareholder Services, shareholder resolutions that zoom in on sustainability issues have been increasing in recent years; average support for such resolutions has jumped to 20% in 2011. That’s significant given the fact that shareholder attention to such issues used to be exceedingly rare.

Risk ripple effects
The sustainability megatrend has everything to do with investment risk versus reward. For example, Ceres said that in 2010 alone, climate-related lawsuits climbed to more than 100 here in the U.S., and the organization described recent year-over-year increases in that kind of legal activity as an “exponential trend.”

The dangers of poor corporate governance and oversight were made clear during the financial crisis, in which major financial companies relied on public bailouts to survive. This defines negative externalities: Somebody (like you and me, or your children or grandchildren) is left to foot the bill instead of the actual perpetrators of disaster. A sustainable, responsible marketplace shouldn’t let incompetent, irresponsible management teams get free rides for failure at everyone else’s expense.

BP‘s (NYSE: BP  ) Deepwater Horizon disaster makes another excellent example of risks of shoddy corporate management structures. Reuters recently reported that BP may shell out up to $42 billion all told to pay costs and settle related lawsuits, but some people who are knee-deep in the Gulf’s true economic fallout (lawyers, for example) suspect the costs will rocket even higher.

Even worse, tar balls recently surfaced that matched oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, meaning the spill still represents a long-term threat to the Gulf’s coastal ecosystems. Given recent reports that also spread blame to BP’s fellow contractors Halliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) and Transocean (NYSE: RIG  ) , existing shareholders have continued risks to fret about.

It’s time to care
Although Ceres’ report acknowledges that many investors still haven’t quite embraced the importance of proxy voting on these issues, the sustainability megatrend’s emerging progress is clear. In a marketplace where many still adhere to the conventional wisdom that most if not all investors are apathetic to these issues, some vote tallies tell a different story. This year, some shareholders votes on ESG-related issues reached majority or near majority approvals:

• Layne Christensen (Nasdaq: LAYN  ) ; 92.8% of shareholders approved a resolution on sustainability reporting
• Tesoro (NYSE: TSO  ) ; 54.3% of shareholders approved a resolution on oil refinery risk
• Ameren (NYSE: AEE  ) ; 52.7% of shareholders approved a resolution on coal ash
• Energen (NYSE: EGN  ) ; 49.5% of shareholders approved a resolution on fracking

Major shareholders like California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) are among the first working on awareness of these issues from the business point of view.

According to Forbes contributor Mindy Lubber’s recent piece on measuring environmental performance, Jane Ambachtsheer, head of Mercer’s Responsible Business unit, recently helped CalPERS’ board delve into the business angle of ESG awareness, since climate change and resource scarcity are looming problems that businesses will have to tackle. Furthermore, Ambachtsheer pointed to 36 studies that illustrated correlations between ESG integration and positive investment performance, giving all investors very significant food for thought on the issue.

Missing a megatrend sets the stage for mega-losses
The irrational myth that environment, social, and governance issues are insignificant, nonfinancial concepts that hardly ever impact long-term sales, profits, or economic strength (or lack thereof) is rapidly falling short in the face of real-life proof. Corporate managements who miss the opportunity to address this megatrend before it’s too late have a heck of a lot to lose when it comes to their companies’ competitive strength; apathetic, passive shareholders have a lot to lose, too.

It’s time to pay attention, and address these issues when we vote our proxies.

Check back at Fool.com every Wednesday and Friday for Alyce Lomax’s columns on environmental, social, and governance issues.

Article source: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/09/28/dont-miss-this-megatrend.aspx

Legal limbo and stigma continues for couple

If there is a silver lining to the physical suffering and mental anguish that Sooke couple Cam Cavaco and Marnie O’Neil have endured over medicinal marijuana, it is the support they have received and the awareness that has been raised.

The couple launched a lawsuit against the RCMP and Health Canada—both declining comment because the matter is now before the B.C. Supreme Court– last month for damages suffered after RCMP allegedly raided their home in late 2009, destroying their licensed medicinal marijuana production facility without a warrant.

“The effect from that day is ongoing and my husband has lost abilities he will not get back,” said O’Neil, who suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition that causes muscle and connective tissue pain that is alleviated through the use of marijuana. Cavaco, a former RCMP officer serving on the Mainland in the 1980s, has late stage progressive multiple sclerosis leaving him housebound and on a plethora of medication from muscle relaxants to valium–marijuana is the only treatment that doesn’t come with severe side effects.

Since taking legal action, O’Neil said there has been a “tsunami of correspondence” from people letting them know they are not alone in this experience, and that others are pursuing a similar course.

“We have just had an overwhelming amount of thank yous, you know, thank you for fighting when we can’t. Lots of support to help to get people to understand this is not just a bunch of 15-year-old kids smoking pot,” she said.

“These people are chronically and terminally ill, and stress kills. There has to be some kind of responsibility held to both Health Canada and the RCMP in this kind of process.”

The biggest reason the couple is turning to the courts is education, said O’Neil who also spoke on her husband’s behalf due to his worsening condition.

“A huge part of the responsibility lies with Health Canada. They have left patients in legal limbo that allow the RCMP a window (to raid), but there has to be some kind of responsibility to community policing. They had no understanding of our challenges.”

The problem is a lingering stigma associated with the drug, said O’Neil. Physicians have been quick to issue prescriptions, but the pharmacy doesn’t decide when, or if, they are filled. She waited over eight months for Health Canada to process her full license, and Cavaco still hasn’t received a proper renewal despite being one of the first Canadian license holders in 2000.

“It comes down to treating people kindly and communicating and understanding this is medication.”

Article source: http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/sookenewsmirror/news/130657358.html

Shpoonkle Services New Legal Paradigm for Changing Times

The Legal Force is being reinvented. With too many attorneys chasing too few clients, lawyers need to find ways to remain competitive while still paying their own costs and bills for the industry to survive. Shpoonkle is facilitating change to create opportunities for both lawyers and clients.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) September 28, 2011

To accomplish this, every aspect of the legal marketplace has to come under examination. Increasingly, the legal workforce is being redesigned by services that connect parties more efficiently with less infrastructure, helping both sides cut costs therefore helping more clients access lawyers and more lawyers access clients.

Innovation in the legal industry is exciting and challenging– particularly since both lawyers and consumers have been negatively impacted by an economic downturn. The portions of the legal profession who will not accept these challenges and realities are “bottoming out.” The portions of the legal profession that embrace new technologies and it’s ability are succeeding because they are responding to both problems in the legal field and what consumers have come to expect from other products and services they consume in the Internet age.

Lawyers are like many professional services- their product is valuable and everyone at least once in their lifetime needs one.

“The demand for lawyers has not decreased, but the supply has increased. Pricing has not followed suit,” stated Shpoonkle CEO Robert Niznik.

Even with services that are a matter of life and death, such as health care, consumers are forced to make decisions based upon costs. Consumers that are lucky enough to have health insurance, will only go to doctors covered by their insurance and will make further decisions based upon their copay and what their insurance will cover. Without health insurance, many consumers are forced to let their conditions deteriorate. Doctors are adjusting rates for consumers that pay out of pocket while insurance companies have long used their power to negotiate down rates. While larger corporate clients have not been shy about negotiating rates with the largest law firms, the majority of individual legal consumers have generally not had these options and instead have foregone necessary legal services. Lawyers’ rates for the general public have traditionally been guarded secrets that involve an office visit and questioning to discern.

Legal Services sites like HireanEsquire.com and Shpoonkle may target different demographics, but they have similar goals. Both seek to address the needs and challenges of the legal industry and make options, information, and the efficiencies of technology available to the legal industry.

Shpoonkle offers free services to both clients and attorneys to entice both sides to optimize the client and lawyer matchmaking process. Reception to Shpoonkle has been unprecedented, with almost 5000 members in six months and the site’s daily visitors averaging in the thousands. Shpoonkle’s model is as much about providing a time and cost sensitive rainmaking tool for lawyers as it is about helping the general public make informed decisions about their legal representation based upon cost and experience. From the success of Shpoonkle over the past year, we see that consumers are willing to try new and creative means to get affordable legal services and forward thinking lawyers are following suit.

Shpoonkle are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Shpoonkle, LLC. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, Press only:

Robert G. Niznik is available for interviews, for more information please contact D. Morgan, 305-712-2822, and/or Dani(at)shpoonkle(dot)com.

For more information on Shpoonkle:

http://www.shpoonkle.com

HireAnEsquire.com – Streamlined matchmaking for freelance attorneys and law practices.

For more information please contact: Julia Claire, Esq.

Phone: 1-800-757-3301

E-contact: Please contact through press form at http://hireanesquire.com/press/

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Robert Niznik
Shpoonkle
(305)712-2822
Email Information

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/shpoonkle-services-legal-paradigm-changing-times-110010095.html