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Alex Gertsburg Wants to “Cover Your Six” and Prevent Legal Landmines In Your Business

  • by Pat
  • 5 Years ago
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Alex Gertsburg

In the 19 years Alex Gertsburg has practiced law, he has seen first-hand the devastation that unwanted and untimely lawsuits have on a business.

As a lawyer representing a business in a lawsuit, he does his best to limit the damage and eliminate the threat that losing a lawsuit can have on owners, employees and their families. He has come to realize that if things have gone so bad that a lawsuit has been filed and attorneys have been hired, the horse is already out of the barn and the situation is now in the hands of the legal system, which is expensive, distracting and often unpredictable.

Because of the problems he witnessed and the legal issues he found while serving as a corporate in-house General Counsel, he created a unique plan to alleviate legal surprises through a pre-emptive program.  The process is intended to uncover potential legal problems in a business before a plaintiff’s lawyer does.

The General Counsel of a corporation is constantly auditing the company’s legal systems to eliminate any legal pitfalls that could ravage a corporation. Serving in that capacity for ten years, he created hundreds of checklists and templates necessary to conduct a thorough legal audit.  This voluminous work product became the foundation for his signature system, “Cover My Six.”

Every business owner who decides to run a corporate enterprise in the United States is entering a legal minefield. Legal ramifications for a business can erupt from six primary relationships: customers, employees, vendors, shareholders, insurance companies, and technology.

In each of those relationships, there are optimal and inappropriate procedures, plus a wide spectrum in between, that affect legal liability. Every business owner, manager, or supervisor can benefit from learning and fixing any problems in those six relationships before they become bet-the-company issues or problems that must be resolved in court.

Gertsburg says that the employee-employer relationship is probably the most regulated of these six relationships. The Fair Labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and all the other laws and regulations governing employee relationships must be closely monitored or a business opens itself up to a lawsuit that will cost seemingly unending time, energy and profit.  The lawsuits are also extremely distracting and highly stressful.

The customer relationship is usually contractual, which should help make any issues easier to resolve.  Gertsburg crafts those documents in a way that make dispute resolution faster and less expensive for the company, relying on time-tested language that operates to keep disputes in the conference room and out of the courtroom.

Although it is difficult to standardize any business legal issue, or make one plan to fit all, most legal issues that Gertsburg has seen as a business lawyer stem from one of these six areas.

“Everything we do is highly customized. The only thing standard is that we always stick within those six areas. I firmly believe that that is where the most liability exists for a business. Our process is that we effectively sue our clients confidentially and constructively before someone else does for real, and very publicly.”

For example, cyber security has become more important in today’s highly technological world. Every day there are more security breaches, which can cost a business millions of dollars.

“We usually recommend additional insurance to protect our clients from lost income due to cyber-security issues. We also draft in-house cyber-security policies to ensure that the client is compliant with the regulations that recently came out of Europe. We take a very holistic view when dealing with cyber-security problems for our business clients. Every business must look not only at their in-house cyber issues, but those issues that could pop up when dealing with a client.”

According to Gertsburg, the “Cover My Six” program has been very successful, including helping his firm’s current clients to perform legal audits for themselves.  These clients tend to then be the best referral sources.

Gertsburg also records “10 minute legal tips” to spread the word about legal ramifications and prevention for business owners. These can be heard at: covermysix.com, or gertsburglaw.com.  He also co-hosts “Best.Podcast.Ever” with Molly Gebler, Executive Director of the Chagrin Valley Chamber of Commerce in Cleveland, where the duo interview CEO’s, founders, artists and educators about creating optimal impact on employees, customers and the community as a whole.

He also speaks to numerous business groups on his favorite topic “How to Stay Out of Court,” among many others (like negotiation skills and non-competes, to name a few).  In his talk he explains to business owners the dangers of the low hanging legal fruit that plaintiffs’ lawyers go after, and gives tips and tricks to minimize their chance of ending up in court. Most business owners or managers never think about, or understand the value of a dispute resolution clause, warranties, limitations of liability, proper legal training, or a thorough employee handbook.  Gertsburg educates them and protects them by shining a light on these tools and teaching the audience how to use them effectively.

Because Gertsburg understands the power of preventative legal measures, he has a vision of changing the way businesses hire their lawyers in the future.

“For over 200 years, businesses have hired lawyers reactively – after something has already gone wrong. They want their attorney to fix the problem or make it go away. The problem is that’s expensive and typically only fixes one problem at a time. My vision is to recreate the attorney/client relationship with business and make it proactive so that it addresses the company’s total legal exposure. Don’t just fix one problem; fix all of the legal issues before they become big problems.”

Gertsburg has done the 16-18 hour corporate work day but now adheres to a strict philosophy of taking time to enjoy life. He likes to travel and spend time on his boat, as well as running and hanging out with his children. He also encourages his employees to spend time with family and enjoy life.

“Life is way too short and way too fun to just be working through it.”

He also understands the need to help support the community and serves on the board of the Chamber of Commerce in Cleveland. He is a member of the executive committee of the 12,000 member Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), and is also active with other Chambers of Commerce around Cleveland.

If you would like to contact Alex Gertsburg and check out the legal issues that may affect your business, simply visit: gertsburglaw.com.  There are many blog posts on that website that may answer your business law or estate planning questions. You can even subscribe and receive a new blog every week.

The website covermysix.com has videos and dives deeper into legal issue prevention and the components that comprise the “Cover My Six” program.

Your business can’t succeed if it is mired in a swamp of legal malaise.  Let Alex and his firm help you prevent possible legal issues, so your business can “Soar to Success.” Be sure to listen to our podcast interview with Alex here.

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