Posts Tagged ‘litigation risk analysis’

Litigation Risk

litigation risk

Health and Safety Risk Assessment: A Must For Your Business

In the litigious society we live in, risk assessments have become as necessary for businesses as remembering to stock up on pens. Every business is liable from multi-billion pound corporations to ‘mom and pop’ outfits.
Smaller companies often choose to do these risk assessments themselves although larger companies often choose to outsource it to Health and Safety experts to minimise any potential risks.

In this kind of situations being the smallest company can be extremely hazardous. Even though you stand a much lower risk of being at the receiving end of litigation it can be very hard to be able to be objective and look through a critical eye at a workplace.

A businesses obligation as far as health and safety goes is not necessarily to remove all element of risk but to protect you, employees and members of the public as far as is ‘reasonably practicable’.

A basic risk assessment has 3 major stages:

Identifying the hazards and who is at risk from them.

Decide what course of action is required depending on the degree of risk.

Implement any necessary precautions and make a record.

Once these are complete a regular review is required to ensure that the original assessment was correct and to account for any changes in the workplace.

There are 3 main divisions of hazards:

Environmental hazards: such as pollutions i.e. smoke, grit or dust.

Activity hazards: a hazard that may result from a activity a worker must perform i.e. repetitive strain injury.

Workplace hazards: a hazard resulting from the location or layout of the workplace.

There are thousands of potential workplace hazards, a list of the easy to overlook ones include:

The adequate storage, handling and disposal of potentially hazardous chemicals

Faulty electrical equipment

Loose cabling

Insufficient rest breaks

Wet, slippery, unclean or badly surfaced floors

Poorly lit areas

Inadequate Ventilation

Poorly designed workstations

Inappropriate training or procedures

To help identify all potential hazards in a small company it is useful to get all staff members involved to help to get a range of views on the risks they may face in their day to day jobs.

Once risks are identified classify them as low, medium or high risk. High and Medium risk problems will need to be dealt with immediately. While low risk may require the implementation of new training, procedures or possibly no action at all if current safety precautions are adequate.

Taking steps to minimise the risk of workplace injury may include replacing old equipment, introducing new procedures, modernising training etc. Any hazardous materials that have been identified may be reduced as a risk by replacing it with a less hazardous substance, using it in lower quantities, introducing protective equipment/ clothing or reducing the amount of time people are exposed to it.

In a company with fewer than 5 employees it is not a legal requirement to have a written risk assessment, however it may be beneficial in many circumstances to ensure liability is kept to a minimum and that any future risk assessments have a previous basis to work on. It is a good idea to do an annual review to ensure any new equipment, personnel, procedures or premises changes are accounted for.

Often companies will carry out risk assessments after an accident to ensure that it is not a hazard for which they are liable or that could be a danger to another employee or member of the public.

Risk assessments should be a vital part of your business practices regardless of whether you are going it alone or hiring in a professional Health and Safety company. They protect you as a company in the short term, in the case of litigation and, in the long term, by protecting the health and well being of everyone who steps foot in your businesses workplace.

Done properly, they can nip a problem in the bud. Done badly, they can leave you open to a variety of problems. In a choice between a comprehensive risk assessment or the cost of hiring a good solicitor to sort out all the problems created; the assessment will always be the money better spent.

does anyone know if there are risks to having a tubal?

i signed the paper today to get my tubal litigation after the baby is born, the doc didn’t mention any risks but i reading the paper when i got home and it said “i understand the risks involved”
are there any and if so what are they?
thanks!
i’ll be having a vaginal birth, the tubal will be within the six weeks after the baby.
and I want to get it done instead of my hubby because i wanna make sure i’m not having anymore

Its quite a simple operation,
I had no trouble after mine.

I would have to say though be very sure you want it done,

After 10yrs i am now having mine reversed as ive decieded i want another baby, and let me tell you its more difficult to reverse them and also cost alot.

So just be sure its what you want.

But no as i said its quite simple and takes a couple of days to get over,,all good.

Tubal ligation is a method of sterilization that is used by nearly 40 percent of married couples. It is a simple, safe, and effective permanent birth control method for women.

Sterilization is a serious decision that is made voluntarily.

Anyone considering this should be well informed and understand that it is permanent, and yet not totally 100 percent effective.

Each method has a small failure rate that needs to be understood.

Be sure you understand the process, risks, and alternatives before going ahead with a permanent method.

Tubal ligation is a minor surgery that can be done at any time, even after a birth of a baby or after an abortion.

During the procedure, an area of the uterine tubes is blocked or destroyed, preventing sperm from reaching the egg.

All surgical procedures include risks related to anaesthesia, infection, and bleeding.

Whatever procedure is used will depend on your situation and body.

Many tubal ligation procedures are done using an instrument called a laparoscope.

This instrument is passed through an incision made just below the belly button.

Often another small cut is placed at the pubic hairline to allow another instrument to be used.

The second device can burn, cut, or place clips or loops on the tubes.

Extra damage done by these instruments is possible and considered a risk during surgery.

Once the surgery is complete, small, dissolving sutures are placed in the cuts and steri-strips are applied.

Patients are usually released a few hours after their surgery to recover for a day or two at home.

Pain relief may be required and a temporary light diet may be suggested.

The main benefit of having a tubal ligation is the comfort of knowing you no longer need to worry about using another method of birth control.

Other options for women include all short-term methods of birth control, such as the pill, IUD, barrier methods, and hormone injections.

A vasectomy is a permanent birth control option for men.

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Litigation Risk Analysis

litigation risk analysis

Risk Management Framework

Risk management is the process of identifying, prioritising, assessing, analysing mitigating and controlling risk.  Regulatory challenges have been driving risk management in recent years.

Risk management process should involve the appointment of a risk manager who will be responsible and accountable for the design and development of the risk management framework and oversees the implementation of the framework by the business units. The risk manager carries out the ongoing monitoring and reporting to the executive management and the Board explaining the business risks and the effectiveness and efficiency of the risk management practice.  The risk manager recommends changes to the risk appetite or risk tolerance of the company.

Risk management should remain relevant and be adding measurable value to the business.  Components of risks should be expressed in the simplest form possible so that it will not be overcomplicated for others in the business to understand.

Risk identification

The types of risks to which the business is exposed should be identified.  The classification must be relevant to the underlying nature of the business.  It may not be a quick process to consider and identify the risks inherent in a company, but the value of such an exercise should not be underestimated.  The analysis will direct senior management to areas of exposure, and serve as a tool to ensure active tackling of all identified threats to the company.

The following headings should act as prompts for the company but this is not exhaustive, these are just the low hanging fruits:

Credit risk, Market risk, Liquidity risk, Operational risk, Compliance risk, Regulatory risk, Reputation risk, Litigation risk, Outsourcing risk, Technological risk, Fraud and other fiduciary risk, Foreign exchange risk, Concentration risk, key personnel risk, strategy risk, product risk.

Risk Mitigation

Credit Risk.

1. No credit facility.  Receive your cash before you hand over the assets or receive assets before you hand over your cash.
2. Only deal with counterparties and clients that are regulated or recommended.
3. Credit check counterparties with credit agencies for default.
4. Check rating of counterparties at rating agencies.
5. Cash deposits are held with high ‘A’ rated banks.
6. Loan to be payable early.
7. Loan is secured on quality collateral. 
8. Draft legal agreements to ensure prompt payment and action for delay or non payment.
9. Fees are deducted from client account – set-off /netting rights
10. Daily matching and reconciliation of trades.
11. Segregation of client money
12. Open a position with initial deposit monitor automated real time marked to market position credit profit and debit losses automatically, if outside margin, make margin call for fund injection or reduce exposure, close out position if market movement continues to erode the position.
13. Analyse the current exposure, current replacement cost of the contract by asking “what would it cost to replace the deal in the market, if the counterparty were to default today?”.
14. Analyse the potential exposure likely replacement cost of the contract by  asking “what is an estimate of the maximum likely replacement cost of the contract, if the counterparty defaults in the future?”.

 Market Risk                                                                                                       

1. Set maximum amount you are prepared to invest in the market.
2. Set stop loss for maximum fall in market you can accept.
3. Set stop loss for maximum rise so as to preserve your profit.

 Liquidity Risk

1. Overdraft facility
2. Equity financing – easy injection of funds from your investors
3. Cash payable on demand from debtors
4. Predictable inflow and out flow of cash

 Concentration risk

1. Set concentration limit not more that 25% of total assets in one counterparty

 Operational Risk

1. Risk database
2. Maintain error register
3. Disaster recovery test/BCP
4. Verification of client identity checks
5. Service level agreement checks
6. Insurance claims promptly made.
7. Staff deputies appointment – no overreliance on one person
8. Training and competence of staff
9. Fraud – 4 eyes, holiday, limits, password, and segregation, preparer of statement is not authoriser.
10. IT system efficiency test
11. Information security
12. Legal risk – review agreements
13. Regulatory risk – interpreter regulations and implement
14. Electronic trading to reduce error

Risk analysis

Once the company has completed a process of risk identification, it is likely that there will be a daunting list of risk issues that are, or should be, addressed by the company. The next stage of the process will be to catalogue the risk that the company faces across the business and examine the likely probability of a particular risk being encountered and the likely impact.  Look at the likelihood of occurrence and the consequences or impact if the event does occur i.e. the frequency and severity. 

Ideally, analysis should be done by event data so as to make it scientific, so that a design model can be created pushing analytic methods to the absolute limit.  Look at the number of losses and the number of complaints and litigations.  If however the company does not have enough historic data to use to measure loss, the analysis would have to be done by applying judgement based on experience and insight of senior management into the business model and operational infrastructure.  This process will require discussion between those who have an interest in the issues.

Risk retention

Effective risk management, if embedded into the company’s strategic and operational processes, provides the framework to overcome uncertainty, to help management determine and agree an acceptable level of risk and opportunity.  The challenge, however, is to determine how much risk the business is prepared to accept.  When certain risks are accepted there then has to be an allocation of capital that will be used to absorb and accommodate the risk. 

An accurate measure of risk would help in determining the amount of capital required so that the company is not overly conservative and there is no overestimation in a situation where balance sheet is thin so there is no over-allocation of capital. In the same token, risk managers must ensure that the capital does not underestimate risk. Regulatory capital requirements may need to be covered between 3 to 5 times to cater for risks.  The company has to consider assess to capital and ability to raise capital from shareholders and the market condition for raising capital.

Risk transfer

The whole concept of insurance is based on risk.  The insurer transfers risk off the company’s balance sheet and on to their balance sheet in return for a payment of a premium.  Professional indemnity insurance, liability insurance, error & omission insurance, fraud & fidelity insurance are useful covers that transfer risk.

It is important to ensure that the insurer is solid with good credit record and that it pays claims promptly and provides quality service.  The company should also ensure that it can survive the period between the making of a claim and receiving settlement. Another way of transfer is the outsourcing of custodian activities to banks so that client assets can be held by those banks.  Guarantee from a parent company also gives financial backing and comfort in the event of financial insolvency and a bail out to protect the reputation of the group as a whole.

Risk control

Having process and procedures in place to ensure that the affairs of the company are managed in an efficient manner with an eye on risk exposures.  Use compliance team to monitor compliance with rules and regulation, internal audit to give assurance of effectiveness of control measures, legal support to properly draft contractual language, product approval process for quality, portfolio risk and performance management, self–assessment process, staff training and development, incentive structure that enables staff to consider how much risk they take to make money. Structuring deals with risk in mind, proactive culture rather than reactive, aligning risk appetite or tolerance to strategy.

Risk avoidance

The company may determine that it would avoid certain strategy or exit certain types of business to avoid the risk involved e.g. not using derivatives.  The risk manager should be able to say ‘no’ to activities that exposes the company to significant risk, explain reasons for saying ‘no’ and obtain acceptance of their position explaining all options that has been considered in reaching that conclusion.

Conclusion

A robust risk management framework with all the necessary data, analytics and tools will enhance the opportunity and capability to grow value linking growth and risk with return and minimising operational surprises and losses.

Hertz Reports Improved Second Quarter Operating Results Park Ridge, NJ – (Marketwire – August 3, 2010) – Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ)