BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

Each Monday, Bulletproof Blog features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies and countries. This week, with Chrysler's recent announcement that it will file for bankruptcy protection and other companies likely to follow suit as the current economic crisis continues, we interview Cyrus Pardiwala, a leader of the PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S. Restructuring & Recovery Services group. Mr. Pardiwala has been with Pricewaterhouse Coopers for more than 17 years. As an internationally recognized ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Mark Tanner, name partner at the Philadelphia-based Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernt, Tanner, Weinstock & Dodig, a premier regional plaintiffs' firm that consistently wins multi-million dollar judgments in consumer, automotive, insurance, qui tam, and diverse other areas. What factors do you see affecting your practice in the coming months? Mark Tanner: It ... READ MORE

Each Monday, Bulletproof Blog now features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies and countries. This week, with the recent release of Pricewaterhouse Coopers' 2008 Securities Litigation Study, we interview Al Vondra, who is a Partner in PwC's Forensic Services practice. In 30 years with PwC, Mr. Vondra has directed numerous audit engagements, forensic and fraud investigations, merger and acquisition audits, due diligence reviews, internal control reviews, and dispute analysis projects. ... READ MORE

A few weeks back, New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin asked a question that's on a lot of Americans' minds - "Where's the Plan, Wall Street?" With so much focus on the government's efforts to dig the country out of financial crisis, it seems as if we've forgotten that the private sector has a vital role to play as well. With a massive regulatory overhaul in the works, securities litigation on the rise, and the ... READ MORE

Each Monday, Bulletproof Blog now features exclusive interviews with thought leaders on issues of critical importance to companies and countries. This week, we interviewed Ken Handal, the Executive Vice President for Global Risk & Compliance and the Corporate Secretary at CA - one of the world's largest IT management software providers. Prior to joining CA, Ken was Associate General Counsel and served as Compliance Counsel for Altria, then the parent company of Kraft Foods and ... READ MORE

Americans are angry, and with good reason. Every time we turn on the television, pick up a newspaper, or read a blog, we are inundated with stories about how those responsible for landing us in the worst financial crisis in a generation are not sharing in the economic hardship they helped bring about. The animus is palpable. It is reflected just about everywhere we look. But, as President Obama so aptly put it in a 60 ... READ MORE

It is a staggering moment for the legal profession as nearly 15,000 jobs have been lost since the onset of this recession. For lawyers and support staff alike, the retrenchment remains unrelenting. No suprise, the crisis is global. It was during the recession of the early 1990s that the legal profession first lost its innocence as top Wall Street firms, which had never laid off a single associate for economic reasons, were compelled to do so ... READ MORE

The news that Microsoft plans to eliminate 5,000 jobs - or five percent of its workforce - serves as proof positive that no company is immune to the effects of the current global economic meltdown. That the financial crisis has metastasized this far up the corporate food chain to a company that many thought was well-insulated means that the road ahead is rougher and longer than anybody thought. Microsoft has never initiated layoffs on such a ... READ MORE

In a high-anxiety environment - such as the one created by the current financial crisis - wild rumors all too often carry the weight of fact. When a company's stakeholders hear troublesome news, they don't have the luxury of waiting around for confirmation. They'll opt for the knee-jerk reaction almost every time. Just ask Apple investors whose stock lost ten percent of its value in ten minutes after false reports that CEO Steve Jobs had ... READ MORE

When the colossal implications of the credit crisis first began to sink in with the American public, financial analysts, journalists, and stakeholders that run the gamut were asking "Where was the SEC?" Today, as the credit crunch continues to put tremendous pressure on Wall Street and Main Street alike, the question on the minds of those looking for solutions has evolved to "Where is the SEC?" Financial crises breed financial uncertainty. And in uncertain times, Wall ... READ MORE