PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Enron / Electric Vehicles / Workplace Harassment

Nov. 7, 2011

EXPERT ALERTS

1. Business: Increases in Government Investigations and Implications for Business

2. Business: Run Your Business Like the Cardinals: Three Ways to Win Despite the Odds

3. Finance: Are You Ready for Homeownership?

4. Real Estate: Household Chores to Complete for Fall

5. Technology: Ten Years After Enron, Technology Has Added to E-Discovery Battles

6. Technology: Utilities Hold Key to Unlocking Adoption of Electric Vehicles

7. Workplace: Payoffs Common in Employee Harassment Complaints

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

1. Interesting Expert of the Week, Election Day Edition

2. Should Journalists Be Penalized for Having an Opinion?

3. The Science of Press Releases

4. The New Twitter Cheat Sheet

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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. BUSINESS: INCREASES IN GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS. Michael Missal, head of the Government Enforcement practice at international law firm K&L Gates, can discuss the role of government investigations, the needs of corporations having to respond to them, whistle-blower protections and corporate issues in an era of increased regulatory scrutiny: "Attempts to reform the nation's financial system and reign in abuses have led to a significant increase in investigations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and other regulatory bodies." Missal has been involved in many high-profile investigations and represented a number of Fortune 50 companies -- having served as examiner in the New Century Financial Corporation bankruptcy proceeding, lead counsel to the examiner in the WorldCom bankruptcy proceeding and lead counsel to CBS' Independent Review Panel investigating the "60 Minutes" segment on President Bush's Texas Air National Guard Service. News Contact: Christopher Dougherty, [email protected] Phone: +1-206-268-2299

**2. BUSINESS: RUN YOUR BUSINESS LIKE THE CARDINALS: THREE WAYS TO WIN DESPITE THE ODDS IN THIS ECONOMY. Dr. Joey Faucette, best-selling author of "Work Positive in a Negative World": "The St. Louis Cardinals' postseason run to become world champions included 13 games they won by a single run. Of those, they won three by walk-off hits. Five of those 13 games were decided in the final at-bat. How did they continue to win despite all the odds against them? And what can you, as a business owner, learn from their experiences so you can win in this negative economy? Business owners win when they: 1) perceive a positive result, 2) persevere when they want to quit and 3) persist in believing." News Contact: Jillian McTigue, [email protected] Phone: +1-949-622-5274

**3. FINANCE: ARE YOU READY FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP? Chip Poli, CEO of Poli Mortgage Group, Inc.: "To gauge whether or not you are ready to own your first home, you should ask yourself some serious questions: How entrenched are you within your community? Are you prepared to devote the time and resources necessary to make your first home purchase a success? Once you can answer these questions and the answers point in the direction of a move to homeownership, you are ready to start the initial phase of buying your own home. To keep expectations in check, it's a good idea to get pre-approval from a reputable lender. This will help narrow your search to a realistic field. Many lenders will offer free consultations for buyers seeking pre-approval." News Contact: Lucia Scott, [email protected]

**4. REAL ESTATE: HOUSEHOLD CHORES TO COMPLETE FOR FALL. Kelly O'Ryan, office manager of Coldwell Banker in Lexington, Mass.: "Clean your fans. Fans, especially ceiling fans, can act as dust magnets. It's important to clean fan blades at least once per season because the excess dust can aggravate your family's allergies and asthma. Keep track of air filters throughout your house and mark your calendar with reminders as to when they need to be replaced. Dirty air filters can impair your heating system, which wastes energy and leaves rooms colder than they should be. Have your chimney professionally serviced. Small animals, leaves, and leftover soot and debris can prevent proper ventilation and cause a fire if left ignored. Do an exterior home check. Does your weather stripping and caulking look intact? Also check your gutters and downspouts to make sure your home is ready for the heavy precipitation winter will bring." News Contact: Kelly O'Ryan, [email protected]

**5. TECHNOLOGY: Ten Years After Enron, Technology Has Added to E-Discovery Battles. Rachel Womack, a data-security and electronic-discovery expert at Stroz Friedberg who was involved in Enron-related litigation: "Enron's demise in civil, criminal and bankruptcy courts included more than a half-million email records and other electronic data. But a similar corporate scandal would create far more electronic-discovery headaches today because employees in 2011 have far more records to retrieve from many different sources. The Enron e-documents were largely found on internal servers, desktops and laptops. If the same scenario happened today, those documents likely would be found on employee smartphones, iPads, external memory drives and in cloud-based servers. Important emails could be on private Google, Yahoo or other accounts. It is important for a company to put someone in charge of documents and for courts to have uniform e-material rules for all parties." News Contact: Robert Tharp, [email protected] Phone: +1-800-559-4534

**6. TECHNOLOGY: Utilities Hold Key to Unlocking Adoption of Electric Vehicles. Arun Mani, energy and electric vehicles expert at PA Consulting Group: "Now is the time for utilities to take a leadership role in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), with environmental policy generating active government support for EVs and consumer interest rising. Utilities can encourage the adoption of EVs and be leaders in the emerging EV market by: 1) building a reliable and flexible infrastructure, 2) offering innovative commercial charging models and 3) shaping strategy around consumer behavior. And by embracing green technology with EVs, utilities have the opportunity to build consumer trust and position themselves as utilities of the future." Mani is based in Denver. News Contact: Carrie Gray, [email protected] Phone: +1-212-973-5954

**7. WORKPLACE: Payoffs Common in Employee Harassment Complaints. Joe Ahmad, executive employment lawyer at Houston's Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C.: "As has happened with presidential candidate Herman Cain in his prior role as head of the National Restaurant Association, businesses often provide confidential settlements to resolve employee complaints of sexual harassment. Frequently, these settlements are reached even when the claim likely never could be proven in court, but company leaders are targets because of their power and the likelihood of harm to the company if these kinds of accusations become public, regardless of whether they're true. Most often, confidential settlements come about not because an executive did something truly illegal, but because there is an element of unflattering truth behind the complaint. Other times, real harassment occurred. Sometimes it's simply extortion." News Contact: Mary Flood, [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. INTERESTING EXPERT OF THE WEEK, ELECTION DAY EDITION: ProfNet Director Maria Perez interviews political science expert Bruce Altschuler: http://bit.ly/s3ioUJ

**2. SHOULD JOURNALISTS BE PENALIZED FOR HAVING AN OPINION? ProfNet Editor Evelyn Tipacti discusses the implications of journalists participating in politics and activism: http://bit.ly/u9S 55k

**3. THE SCIENCE OF PRESS RELEASES: ProfNet Editor Jason Hahn recaps HubSpot's webinar on effective press release tactics: http://bit.ly/t3VUPa

**4. THE NEW TWITTER CHEAT SHEET: Beth Monaghan looks at some new Twitter tips and tools: http://bit.ly/s8mMFa

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/PRNewswire -- Nov. 7, 2011/

SOURCE ProfNet