RiskProf

Irony

I haven't been able to keep up with all of the aspects of the Scruggs implosion.  That is why we have David Rossmiller. However, I went to the Scruggs Katrina Group Website and found this on the main page....

(my highlight).

Other than the withdrawal letter sent to clients, there is nothing on the website about anything going on with the Scruggs Katrina Group.

Most crisis managers might suggest that if you think one can weather a calamity one should be up front "disclosing the living daylights" about what is going on.  Now, not everyone does this.  Hence Exxon's continuing legal troubles twenty some odd years after the Exxon-Valdez ran into the state of Alaska and spilled its black gooey cargo over every seagull and fish in in Prince William Sound.  However, a sign of a well managed firm is one that is on top of the situation.  In fact, no member of the Scruggs firm appears to have signed the client letter announcing the  withdrawal.  There is a statement in the letter from the other partners in the Scruggs Katrina Group (a joint venture with other firms) that the Scruggs firm has assured them that the Scruggs firm engaged in no wrongdoing and that Scruggs will be cleared.  This statement sounds exactly like all other indictees' statements and does not engender warm fuzzies about the eventual success of the Scruggs firm.

Perhaps the practice of law is different from the Exxon-Valdez and other corporate disaster situations as it really comes down to the reputation of the individual at the top of the company rather than crisis management.  It just doesn't seem that there is much crisis management going on.

Go Gators and Raise One for Prof. Cade

Prof. Robert Cade the inventor of Gatorade has died.

He was the stuff of legends in business organizations class on the issue of duty of loyalty. 

Off the field, Dr. Cade faced more complicated challenges. When he first approached university officials about marketing the drink, they declined. So he sold the formula to Stokely-Van Camp. The deal gave him and his associates a cut of the royalties. A few years later, when these reached $200,000, Florida Trend [a Florida Business Publication] said, the university noticed.

“They told me it belonged to them and all the royalties were theirs,” Dr. Cade said. “I told them to go to hell. So they sued us.”

After a 31-month legal battle, the parties settled. The product was later sold to Quaker Oats. which merged with Pepsico , and royalties continued to flow to Dr. Cade’s group and the university. He  donated some of his  to the  university.

via NYT

He offered Gatorade to the University, but they turned him down because they were an educational institution and not in business for money. (How has the world changed!). 

Here is more, including old Gatorade commercials.  Some are really good.

Weather in Hot(Gasp)'lanta

I wish I could show the smoke that is blowing in from the fires in the southern part of the state.  Last week’s smokey invasion reminded me of a wet camp out …  you know the smell of wet burning wood mixed with the smell of slightly singed wool socks.  If you need more information just ask any former boy scout who spent a miserable weekend hiking in the rain!  Today’s smoke smells a bit better (like burning cypress, I think), but the prognosis is not good for the immediate future.  However, just as I was thinking these sad thoughts, my rss reader pops up with  this  … a “Special Tropical Disturbance Statement” from the National Hurricane Center.  Right now we need all the special tropical disturbances we can get!

(update:  Here is a (5:49 pm) picture from weather.com camera in Atlanta)

Cough, cough...

Man, my eyes are killing me.  Really.

via Today’s AJC.

Salute

Some personal notes for today February 28, 2007.....

Today's a big day for the RiskProf Extended family.  One of my correlations is leaving for his fourth tour of duty to the mid-east (and we are not talking New Jersey).  Good Luck, Kevin!   

Another correlation is having her third child this afternoon.  Good Luck, TC! [update: It's a boy!]

As a result of the addition of the new little sigma, my paternal capital sigma will have his 25th grand child.  Congrats, Dad.

Finally, it is the anniversary of my maternal capital sigma's birth.  We all miss you!

A big day all around.

Update:  Also its RiskProf's 3rd Birthday.  We made it through the terrible twos. Here is the first post for all you with nostalgia about the old days.

What is Going on in RiskProf Land

I am starting to get phone calls about whether I am still alive.  The answer is yes.  My blog has given me some tremendous opportunities for research and speaking engagements and these opportunities as well as my real job are talking up all of my time. 

My favorite movie of the lame-o genre (Airplane) has a repeating quote “Today’s a bad day to give up (insert favorite vice here).”  Well, the last two weeks were a bad time to give up blogging.  Hopefully, I will have some pithy comments to send your way.  However, in case you haven’t been reading him, I designate David Rossmiller at the Insurance Coverage Blog as RiskProf Pro Temp.  He has been doing an excellent job on the Mississippi litigation.

Cavalcade of Risk

RiskProf gets a mention on the Cavalcade.  Check it out to see more.

Conference Time

RiskProf will be conferencing today and tomorrow at The Ohio State University in beautiful Columbus, Ohio.  Thus, posting will be sparse as Ty and I will be too busy taking in the sights.  I heard the football stadium tour is just over four hours.

The Fertility Gap

My former colleague Arthur Brooks on the demographics of “liberal” versus “conservative” reproductive preferences on yesterday’s WSJ editorial page.  A short, but interesting read.

Married Life

I returned from my honeymoon in Thailand about a week ago and have been in a jet lagged haze ever since.  In fact, all I know of married life is jet lag. 

Is it true jet lag or is it marriage?