Smith’S world

Mike Smith is an award-winning editorial cartoonist who also draws for the Las

Vegas Sun. His work is distributed nationally by King Features Syndicate. See

archives of his work at lasvegassun.com/smithsworld.

reader commentSWe want to hear

from you. Visit

vegasinc.com to

post your opinion.

on eli Segall’s veg-

asinc.com story “Site

of stalled SkyVue

observation wheel

for sale on the south

Strip”:

No surprise there.

One wheel is enough

for any city.

— AdrianDightam

I can’t believe gov-

ernment officials ap-

prove these projects

without some sort of

guaranteed financing

in place to finish the

project. This, along

with the Fontaine-

bleau, is an eyesore

that never should

have broken ground.

— jerrior

on the lasveg-

assun.com story

“caesars appeals

court ruling that

opens it up to $364

million claim”:

It is profoundly

frightening how Cae-

sars execs making

millions ... destroyed

a once solid com-

pany. — dobrdad

on daniel roth-

berg’s vegasinc.com

story “Key question

in Uber/lyft fight:

Should driver lists be

required?”

There is no reason for

the government to

know who drives for

Uber or even a taxi-

cab company. This in-

formation is kept on

file at the respective

businesses should

anything happen to

the passenger or an

airport property.

— JosephTunstall

It’s pretty obvious

the cab companies

want this information

so they can know

which cabbies to fire.

— SheckyVegas1

How to fend off business litigation monsters

A mong the many worries that keep small-business owners up at night is the possibility of litigation.

The irony is, the more successful your business becomes, the more likely you are to be sued. The more money you have, the bigger grows the proverbial target on your back. As one local personal-injury attorney bragged in a recent TV commercial, these cases often are “all about the money.”

Here are five of the biggest litigation monsters lurking around almost every small-business owner.

1. Indemnity and insurance. If you outsource tasks to another business, be sure your contract has a clause requiring the contractor to defend and indemnify for wrongful acts that might drag you into court. Indemnification is great, but the duty to defend is indispensable, as it shifts the costs of litigation to the contractor. Next, check your general liability policy. It should provide for payment of defense costs as well as indemnity if your business is sued. Insist on an attorney you are comfortable with, not just the attorney the insurance company chooses for you, and do not wait to notify the insurance company of the claim.

2. Email and digital retention. You can’t pretend that you don’t know how technology works; judges and jurors assume that today’s typical business owner is relatively tech-savvy. Craft a document-retention policy that addresses emails and digital retention, and rigorously

follow it. If you are sued or if a dispute is threatened, create an immediate litigation “hold;” talk to your lawyer about how to do it. If you don’t, you could lose your lawsuit before it even goes to trial.

3. Text marketing and autodialed calls. If you are using an autodialer or a company that uses one, you must have the customers’ prior express consent to do so. If you don’t, you could be liable in a class-action lawsuit for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The potential damages: up to $1,500 per text or call, with no cap on damages and a potential four-year period of liability.

4. Your website and documents. You would be shocked to realize how many items on your own website and social media can be used against you in court. Attorneys can make public record requests for documents you’ve disclosed to government inspectors or even dig through your trash.

5. Your employees. Today’s “ambulance chasers” are smart, disciplined and creative. One recently placed an item on Craigslist offering $50 to recruit a client’s employees to gather information. Be sure you have ironclad nondisclosure agreements with employees and enforce them. Check blogs, websites and social media channels to see what people are saying about you online.

The bottom line? Good counsel and careful operation of your business can keep litigation monsters at bay so you can enjoy the good night’s sleep you’ve earned.

Patrick Reilly is a partner at Holland & Hart LLP.

guest column: patrick reilly

the sunday49

dec. 6 - dec. 12talKing pointS

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