PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Charitable Contributions / Holiday Parties / Family Law

Dec. 21, 2011

EXPERT ALERTS

1. Education: Financial Aid Advice in Response to Student Debt Issue

2. Law: Changing Child Labor Laws Is Far From Simple

3. Law: Exercise Caution in Recruiting From the Ranks

4. Law: Getting Through Company Holiday Parties Without Legal Hangovers

5. Law: Keeping Grandma Close After a Divorce Is Difficult

6. Law: Redistricting Headed to Supreme Court

7. Law: SEC's Whistle-Blowing Program Will Reduce Fraud

8. Law: Supreme Court to Take Center Stage in 2012

9. Privacy: Privacy and Security Issues During the Holiday Travel Season

10. Public Safety: Car Safety Agency Too Timid to Do Its Job

11. Taxation: Check Before Making Last-Minute Contributions

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

1. How to Beat the Holiday Blues

2. Handling Race and Ethnicity in News Stories

3. Career Advancement? Your Health Matters

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EXPERT ALERTS:

Via Expert Alerts, ProfNet members can alert reporters to experts who are available to discuss timely news topics. If you are interested in interviewing any of the experts, please see the contact info at the end of the alert. You can also find Expert Alerts online on ProfNet Connect at http://bit.ly/pncalerts

**1. EDUCATION: FINANCIAL AID ADVICE IN RESPONSE TO STUDENT DEBT ISSUE. Frank Palmasani, veteran admissions and guidance counselor, and founder of online financial aid resources ManagingCollegeCost.com and MyFinancialFit.com: "Student debt has surpassed credit card debt for the first time in U.S. history and the economic impact of the student debt crisis is one of the big unknowns that we are facing today in this country. The college financial aid system in the U.S. needs to dramatically shift its focus from figuring out how to finance college after a school has been selected to considering affordability first." Palmasani is available to discuss how parents and students are wasting time, energy and money by following the traditional college search timeline; why putting affordability first is the best option and how families can assess their affordability range; how parents and students can maximize use of net price calculators to determine which categories of schools are financial fits; and how to include your student in the college financial process. Palmasani is located in Chicago. News Contact: Liz Kelsch, [email protected] Phone: +1-630-536-0595

**2. LAW: CHANGING CHILD LABOR LAWS IS FAR FROM SIMPLE. Neil Martin, employment attorney from the Houston office of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP: "With his proclamation that current child labor laws are 'truly stupid,' GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has cast a light on an emotionally charged issue that has been complicated by a patchwork of regulations. Originally designed to protect Industrial Revolution-era children from working long hours for pennies, the federal government created the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. The act is still in effect today, but some have called for a reassessment of FLSA regulations, as well as the various child labor laws that each state has enacted. Permitting teens to work for lower than minimum wage is being proposed as an answer to jobs going overseas for cheaper wages, and as an answer to the myth of adolescence. However, these proposed changes focus on age alone and not intellect or ability. You have to balance protecting young workers and allowing them to become productive members of society, and that is neither simple nor evident." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**3. LAW: EXERCISE CAUTION IN RECRUITING FROM THE RANKS. Joe Ahmad, executive employment lawyer at Houston's Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C.: "It's natural for executives to want to take members of their team with them to their next jobs, but there are right ways and wrong ways to recruit from your former employer. Recruiting fellow employees to leave with you while you're still working for the company is not only bad form, but it's generally regarded as a breach of fiduciary duty or duty of loyalty. You simply can't maintain those duties if you're actively recruiting other employees away to a competitor. Once executives have moved to the new job, though, they are free to recruit from the former employer -- assuming the employees being wooed aren't constrained by noncompete or other agreements. It's a good idea to abide by both the letter and the spirit of those agreements. Litigation avoidance is often less about the law than it is about courtesy and conscientiousness." News Contact: Mary Flood, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**4. LAW: GETTING THROUGH COMPANY HOLIDAY PARTIES WITHOUT LEGAL HANGOVERS. Julian Wright, a litigation attorney with Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson in Charlotte, N.C.: "A resurgence in company holiday parties this year should spur employers to revisit policies governing these events and the activities they may invite. As an increasing number of companies plan holiday parties this season as a result of improved economic conditions, they should be reminded of the potential liabilities that can result from over-consumption of alcohol by employees and customers. What should be a joyous occasion could become a tragedy with long-lasting legal entanglements that are the worst of holiday hangovers. Many organizations may be surprised to learn that some states, including North Carolina, recognize a 'social host' theory of liability, and whatever harm an employee does driving home drunk from the company holiday party could -- or could not -- be attributed to the employer." News Contact: Michael Henry, [email protected] Phone: +1-704-926-1364

**5. LAW: KEEPING GRANDMA CLOSE AFTER A DIVORCE IS DIFFICULT. Amber Liddell Alwais, family-law attorney at McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing in San Antonio: "In Texas, like many other states, parents deemed fit have a fundamental right to parent any way they want, leaving grandparents very few rights and forcing them to jump through a litany of legal hoops when it comes to protecting the best interests of their grandchildren. To remain in the lives of their grandchildren after a divorce, grandparents must remain on good terms with everyone. If your divorced son or daughter does not exercise their rights to visit their child or shuts you out of their visits, then you have little legal recourse. For grandparents to secure visitation on their own, they must prove the child's health or emotional well-being will be impaired without the time together. There is a lot out of their control. It'll be much easier to just stay close to your children and their former spouse so that they will want to keep you involved." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**6. LAW: REDISTRICTING HEADED TO SUPREME COURT. Chris Gober is a Dallas-based political legal consultant and attorney at Gober Hilgers PLLC. He represents Rep. Quico Canseco (TX-23) in the redistricting litigation and argued for the bipartisan interim U.S. congressional plan: "Plans for redrawing Texas' congressional and state legislative districts are headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, causing disarray among candidates, party leaders and election officials. As if the potential implications of the court's decision to take this case weren't enough, the consequences are exacerbated by the impending March primary and the fact that the candidate filing process has already begun. Since the court's announcement, there has been a mad scramble to answer such basic questions as how the filing requirements will be affected, when the primary election for the non-contested maps will be held and whether the state's residency requirements will be relaxed." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**7. LAW: SEC'S WHISTLE-BLOWING PROGRAM WILL REDUCE FRAUD. Janet Near, chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, is a leading expert on whistle-blowing; her 1985 definition of whistle-blowing is cited more often than any other. She is available to comment on whistle-blowing issues, including the recently released Ethics & Action Survey and the SEC's Whistleblower Program: "I think the SEC law will result in greater reporting of wrongdoing in organizations and will help to reduce fraud. Perhaps most important is its influence on organizational activities; managers are probably more aware now of the need to be vigilant in monitoring wrongdoing in their organizations." News Contact: Brianne O'Donnell, [email protected] Phone: +1-212-220-4444

**8. LAW: SUPREME COURT TO TAKE CENTER STAGE IN 2012. Carl Cecere, appellate lawyer at the Dallas law firm Hankinson LLP: "This U.S. Supreme Court term is shaping up to be one of the most important in more than a century. In the coming months, the court will decide the constitutionality of 'Obamacare,' the federal government's massive health care overhaul, which alone would make the term a historic one. It also will examine whether Texas' most recent round of legislative redistricting impermissibly harms minority voters, and determine whether Arizona went too far with its latest laws against illegal immigrants. These cases not only get into some monumental constitutional questions, but they could also have a huge impact on the national elections in October. The court's ruling on Texas' electoral map could easily hand the control of the U.S. House to either political party. And the decisions on health care reform and immigration, both of which have aroused controversy, will issue just months before the conclusion of what should be a tight presidential race. Those two decisions alone might well determine who is elected president." News Contact: Dave Moore, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**9. PRIVACY: PRIVACY AND SECURITY ISSUES DURING THE HOLIDAY TRAVEL SEASON. Fred Cate, C. Ben Dutton Professor of Law and director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, can discuss privacy and security issues related to the holiday travel season, including TSA policies on full-body imaging and medical devices, and its VIPR teams: "This time of year, there is a lot of frustration surrounding travel policies, particularly those that seem highly invasive and ineffective. The TSA needs to give consistent advice on the proper procedures for various situations, so that false positives and unnecessary searches do not divert agents' attention from real risks." News Contact: Brianne O'Donnell, [email protected] Phone: +1-212-220-4444

**10. PUBLIC SAFETY: CAR SAFETY AGENCY TOO TIMID TO DO ITS JOB. Frank Branson, trial attorney and founder of The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson in Dallas: "Charges that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was slow to investigate a fire linked to the hybrid Chevrolet Volt come as no surprise. The problem with NHTSA is that no one wants to rock the boat. And the auto industry doesn't want to update safety standards, many of which were written in the 1970s or before. NHTSA has let the auto manufacturers have their way for too long, and it's time consumer advocates participated in NHTSA's leadership, rather than leaving it to those with ties to the auto industry." News Contact: Mark Annick, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**11. TAXATION: CHECK BEFORE MAKING LAST-MINUTE CONTRIBUTIONS. Tyree Collier of the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight: "Year-end is a time when taxpayers consider charitable contributions, while many nonprofit organizations are making last-minute appeals. But before giving to any charity you haven't previously been involved with -- even if it sounds legitimate -- get the full legal name and verify the tax-exempt status. Many organizations have similar-sounding names, and unethical groups may purposely solicit using more familiar-sounding names. There are a number of websites that provide guidance on a charity's effectiveness and status, and the IRS website provides a function for researching charitable organizations, as well. Additionally, it's best to make contributions with a check or credit card to help assure that the funds are used as intended, and donors should be sure to get a receipt or acknowledgement from the charity with the date and amount of the contribution." News Contact: Barry Pound, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected]

**1. HOW TO BEAT THE HOLIDAY BLUES: Walter Jacobson explains how to refuse the blues this holiday season: http://bit.ly/ruCUXn

**2. HANDLING RACE AND ETHNICITY IN NEWS STORIES: ProfNet Editor Grace Lavigne recaps Poynter's News University course, taught by NPR's Keith Woods, on using race/ethnicity to identify people in news stories: http://bit.ly/vjP2Mn

**3. CAREER ADVANCEMENT? YOUR HEALTH MATTERS: Rob Pacifico discusses the professional benefits of staying healthy: http://bit.ly/vQsa9r

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/PRNewswire – Dec. 21/

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