Without knowledge of IT for e-discovery discussions, lawyers could run afoul of new Federal Rules amendments

Lawyers accustomed to what has been described by at least one federal district judge as “drive-by” meet and confers under the federal rules should get ready to park and prepare for an extended conversation. Whether one is a data producer (traditionally defendants) or a data requester (traditionally plaintiffs), the amendments to Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are going to profoundly affect parties’ discussions in “meet and confer” discussions concerning discovery.

For Luddite lawyers, these rule changes will require that they venture into a world that they dislike and perhaps on some level fear. But just as lawyers have survived past changes in the rules, they will survive these, too, and their clients and practices may well be better for it.

Watch for warning signs in older people who may be victims of exploitation or other forms of abuse.

Children aren’t the only vulnerable members of society who need protection. In Montgomery County alone last year, nearly 15,000 cases of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation were reported to the Department of Jobs and Family Services.

About 70 percent of those cases were self-neglect — elders who couldn’t or wouldn’t take care of themselves, said Charles Holderman, a supervisor at Adult Protective Services.

More and more, ever-cautious employers probe backgrounds

Twelve years may have elapsed, but Stockton business owner Chris Gorder says the theft by two employees of about $100,000 in raw materials from his former company, Advanced Milk Formulas, is still “fresh.”

The production and warehouse employees - hired from a temporary employment agency - secretly worked a third shift, manufacturing and bagging products in an illegal back door operation while diluting remaining materials to cover their tracks.

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which measures more than 200 companies as well as government agencies for customer satisfaction, businesses as well as governments are doing a poor job in providing quality customer service.

In addition, startling new statistics show that employee dishonesty costs business owners in the U.S. more than $400 billion each year. Up to a third of small businesses fail directly due to employee dishonesty. In fact, employee theft is 15 times more likely to occur than theft by external criminals. Despite this, many businesses rely only on surveillance - if that - in order to detect customer service and employee problems. read more »

Steven Rombom never got a chance to share the results of an hours-long experiment in getting someone’s background at a hackers convention in New York City last week.

Before he could sit down to lead a Saturday afternoon panel discussion entitled “Privacy is Dead . . . Get Over It,” federal agents moved in to arrest him for his methods of digging up information on people.

From behind a desk, Jerry Altieri collars some of the trickiest criminals of them all: insurance scammers.

Jerry Altieri isn’t your average crime fighter.

He doesn’t spend his days patrolling the streets and chasing down criminals — he doesn’t even carry a badge or a gun.

But from behind his computer at the Nationwide Insurance office near Peters Creek Road, Altieri, 52, has meticulously waged a statewide war against insurance fraud, a crime that nine out of 10 Virginians believe they are affected by, according to the Virginia State Police.

Altieri’s hard work was recently recognized when he was presented with the second annual Virginia State Police Fraud Fighters Award.

Ottawa police have charged an Ottawa man with several fraud-related offences totalling more than $2.3 million involving an insurance company he operated.

Police allege Jean- Pierre Groulx, 60, defrauded 34 clients from Ottawa-Gatineau between January 1997 and October 2005. Mr. Groulx was an independent insurance broker who operated Jean-Pierre Groulx Assurance on Canotek Rd. in Ottawa. The victims were retirees and widows who invested their life savings and life insurance settlements with Mr. Groulx.

Two licensed public adjusters who fraudulently collected more than $400,000 from two insurance companies by submitting bogus contractor agreements have been arrested in Miami by detectives in the Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud.

Jose Manuel Soler and Ariel L. Fernandez, of Coast to Coast Public Adjusters, allegedly submitted approximately 75 forged contractor agreements, resulting in an overpayment by Citizens Insurance of approximately $314,596.54. Detectives said an additional 29 such documents were submitted to the Tower Hill Group resulting in a loss of approximately $125,281.81.

Uncovering fraudulent claims such as for hit-and-runs, property damages from hail, and fake injuries and accidents saved Manitoba ratepayers $12.5 million last year, says Manitoba Public Insurance.

Some element of fraud was involved in about half of the 2,800 suspected cases investigated by MPI in 2005, the Crown insurance corporation said Thursday.

Ron Oliver, of MPI’s special investigations unit, showed a video Thursday of a man alleged to have bilked the insurer.

At a time when Pennsylvania’s senior citizen population is growing, state Attorney General Tom Corbett is forming a new elder-abuse unit designed to protect seniors and prosecute those who harm them.

At a news conference Wednesday in Johnstown, Corbett said the unit’s goal is to make senior citizens safer.

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