Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law Attorneys

» What Mutual Funds Don't Tell You
Last-minute fund moves can't fool you if you're prepared.

» “Child Reduction Act” Trailer
The year is 2016. The President signs the Child Reduction Act. Families with more than one child under the age of 18, must pay a multiple child tax. Families unable to afford the tax, must send their extra children to the CHILD CONSERVATION CAMPS. The Pearce family has two teenage children - and can only [...]

» 5 Hidden Benefits of Designing It Yourself
Creating your company logo will reflect the core message you want to send to your customers.

» More on the Referral Problem -- ADR

I spoke yesterday about the potential conflict of interest that arises when a third party (like a financial planner or accountant) refers a lot of business to an estate planner. A similar, but perhaps more serious, problem arises in the context of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and referrals.

More and more companies make their employees and/or customers sign documents stating that disputes will be settled through the ADR process. That's fair on its face, but as a practical matter, I have some questions about how this works. There are only so many ADR professionals out there -- how is the person who will handle the mediation and/or arbitration chosen? If the person is chosen by the company, then we've got a problem -- if I'm referring 100 cases a year to Bob's ADR Shop, aren't I going to be monitoring closely the outcome of those cases? And aren't I going to hire someone else if I find that Bob's ADR Shop isn't favoring my company as much as I'd like?

Carried to its logical extreme, you get situations like the one detailed in this article (thanks, Tim), about the National Arbitration Forum

» Torzewski joins Norris McLaughlin as tax partner

Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A. has announced that Thomas N. Torzewski has joined the firm as a member of the taxation and estate planning & administration groups.