November 28, 2005
Clients Need Legal Services to Prepare for the Avian Flu
It is time to do some research to get up to speed. Then write some letters and make some phones calls in the law firm's capacity as a valuable partner and advisor to its business clients.
Governments and health agencies worldwide expect the Avian Flu (H5N1) to eventually lead to a pandemic, killing tens maybe even hundreds of millions and shutting down major portions of our economy. The November 2005 ABA Journal provides vivid pictures of the expected chaos and the key role that the legal system will play in preparing and responding to the pandemic that now seems inevitable. The question is no longer will it happen? The question is, when will it occur? Since this is a foreseeable event, it is one that law firms and its clients have a responsibility to prepare for.
Just as with any potential disaster we prepare for, personal safety comes first. Each of us as individuals needs to consider the steps we should take when the H5N1 pandemic occurs. Likewise, individuals and businesses need to consider our responsibility not to cause harm to others. How a business communicates with its employees during a pandemic could cause harm and create liability. Personnel policies need to be reviewed and updated to protect your client’s business and its employees.
The force majeure provisions in your client’s contracts need review and proactive efforts undertaken to modify agreements since force majeure is unlikely to protect your client from a failure to perform related to, what has become, a foreseeable event.
Transportation, mail services, vital supplies, the availability of able workers and willing customers - the avian flu impact on all of these factors could put business survival at risk. There could be bankruptcies, especially among the unprepared.
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Filed under Marketing by Tom Collins