Internal Investigation  

The Why

Weeks away from the deadline to file its Annual Report with the SEC, the company's auditors notified its Board of possible violations of law. The Board's Audit Committee needed to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation in only weeks. In what could be a bet-the-company situation, the Committee called upon the company's regular outside counsel, Steve Fox of Rogers & Hardin, to refer a firm to conduct the investigation within a time frame that the Committee viewed as impossible to complete.

The How

Steve Fox was opposing counsel to John Gross and Bob Goldberg in an unrelated matter and knew John from prior litigation. Steve referred the investigation to John, telling the Audit Committee that Taylor English would deliver highly sophisticated services at a reasonable fee, exercise good judgment with good sense, and would get the job done within the limited time. The Taylor English team of John Gross, Sean Smith, Rachael Zichella, and Michael Johnson had only weeks to review hundreds of thousands of documents, interview every C-level executive of the company (some more than once), examine company IT systems, personal computers, cell phones and other devices.  With the help of forensic accounting consultants from GlassRatner, the team had to perform a factual and GAAP analysis of multiple accounting issues. On one day's notice, in response to a single email, nearly twenty firm attorneys joined the team and completed the document review in just over two weeks. Rachael led the data collection, the IT forensics work and the document review efforts. 

The Win

The Taylor English team met the deadline. In a mileu of sophisticated, high-end legal work, other parties initially questioned the firm's name and experience. When it was over, all agreed that Taylor English completed the investigation with excellence. We gave the Audit Committee what it needed:  an impeccable, compelling inquiry, performed in only weeks. The team is nurturing relationships developed in the investigation, including the forensics unit at KPMG and new friendships at Rogers & Hardin. Rachael is building her expertise in data management and is at work on a new bar committee on e-Discovery. 

McDonald's Real Estate Legal Work   The Why   McDonald's has an in-house legal team responsible for managing the real estate work for their large number of restaurant sites.  Because of the growing volume of rebuild projects (i.e., older restaurants that are being torn down and rebuilt from the ground up), they looked to outsource this work for the first time.   The How Brian Sheedy, former mentee of Marc Glenn and colleague of Marc Taylor at Powell Goldstein took a position with the in-house legal department at McDonald's. As part of McDonald's outsourcing of rebuild work to various law firms around the country, Brian engaged Marc Glenn and the Taylor English real estate team to begin legal work on a few sites in Georgia and Virginia. These rebuild projects are essentially "mini" development deals that require analysis similar to that required by a new development project including the review and resolution of title, survey, and utility issues. The Taylor English team quickly grew to include Alex Coons, Wade Buser, Amy Bridwell, LaTise Miller and Lola Martin-Jackson.
The Win Because of the quality of the work and the responsiveness of all of the members of the Taylor English team, McDonald's quickly - over just a few months' time - consolidated all of their rebuild work with Taylor English. After less than a year as a real estate client, McDonald's has engaged Taylor English to work on over 80 rebuild projects in over 23 states (including Hawaii where, unfortunately, no site visit by Taylor English personnel has been required just yet!). The Taylor English team (pictured here, except for LaTise) recently visited the grand opening of the closest McDonald's rebuild site at Powers Ferry Road. The Taylor English team's goal is to grow this relationship beyond rebuild projects to include new development work and day-to-day legal real estate work.

Maximize the Meet and Greet

Events, sponsorships, and speaking engagements provide valuable opportunities for networking with potential and existing clients. As participation requires time and resources, are you making the most of your investment? Here are tips and best practices for before and after the event.

Before the Event

• Work with Marketing to review Sponsorship Evaluation----maximize sponsorship benefits
• Notify Marketing to add to your online presence (web, LinkedIn) and print Bio
• Notify Marketing of any deliverables needed (press coverage, collateral materials, invitation)
• Send the attendee list to Marketing to check for existing client companies and potential targets
• Prepare your PowerPoint slides and review Speaking Engagement Best Practices
  • (use the Steve Jobs/Guy Kawalski method)
  • (read about President Obama's infographics guru)
• Plan for follow-up with Post-Event Checklist: How to Build on the Connections You Made 

After the Event

• Complete the Post-Event Evaluation Survey 
• Coordinate follow-up action items with Marketing

Crowdfunding Q&A with Jonathan Wilson

Will crowdfunding replace traditional seed funding? 

It won't replace traditional angel and friends/family rounds but it will DISPLACE some of those rounds. Once crowdfunding is rolled out on an interstate basis under the JOBS Act, start-ups will start relying on crowdfunding for the first million in their capital plans. Previously, a start-up would look for friends, family and angels for the first tranche of funding needed to develop the business plan and launch a website or prototype. With crowdfunding, startups can afford to raise less money from friends, family and angels and can look to crowdfunding to provide the cash needed to get beyond proof-of-concept and to a place where an A-round becomes possible.  

Is crowdfunding better for some types of companies than others? 

Yes. Because crowdfunding is largely a mass-market and consumer experience, companies that are primarily consumer-focused will have a broader appeal than those that are B-to-B or more focused on the back-office.

What are the advantages and disadvantages?

The chief advantage of crowdfunding is that it allows the company to tell its story once, via the offering documents and crowdfunding promotional materials, to a large group of potential investors.  Crowdfunding eliminates the needs for entrepreneurs to identify potential investors, schedule a meeting, make the pitch and then follow up.

The chief disadvantage of crowdfunding is that it gives the entrepreneur one shot to make its pitch correctly. In the traditional approach, entrepreneurs could improve and refine their pitch over time, learning from the feedback that angels provide. In a crowdfunding approach, an entrepreneur might only get one shot. If the pitch is not focused or misses a key point, the entrepreneur might lose the opportunity to try again with the same universe of potential investors.  

How does crowdfunding impact venture capital and the startup ecosystem?

Interstate crowdfunding under the JOBS Act should accelerate the start-up process and produce a universe of better-funded start-ups that will look to VCs for their second rounds of funding.

Jonathan's recent crowdfunding-related business development activities:

• Speaking Engagement, "Crowdfunding 101: A New Form of Fundraising for Start-Ups and Small Business," Atlanta Bar Association Sole Practitioner/Small Firm Section Breakfast Meeting, May 16, 2013.
• Quoted, Atlanta Business Chronicle, "New Portal Hopes to Jumpstart Crowdfunding," April 26, 2013.
• Speaking Engagement, "Chumming for Crowdfunding." The Ritz Group's Shark Attack event, April 18, 2013.
• Speaking Engagement, "State of Crowdfunding," Business RadioX®, April 18, 2013.

• Marc Taylor and Joe English pitched Rollins to handle all employment litigation on a phased fee basis. 
• Mike Sullivan and Craig Pendergrast are working with new firm client company Jinny Software, an Irish software company, referred through the Atlanta Irish Consul.
• Steve Whitehead and Bob Goldberg pitched the Employment and Corporate practices to Hospitality Staffing Services for Outsourced General Counsel work. 
• Henry Quillian reached out to Gruma Corporation and The Armour Group. 
• Will Adams met with AT&T.  
• Scott Duma and Joe English are working with Delta Community Credit Union to develop a retainer/preferred provider relationship with DCCU institutional clients. Scott and Joe have a team of ten Taylor English attorneys working all aspects of this metro-wide marketing opportunity. 

Upcoming

• Craig Pendergrast and Peyton Nunez, "Environmental Law 101: What Every Corporate and Real Estate Lawyer Needs to Know Before (and After) Closing," Training Room, June 5, 2013.
• Missi McMorries and Denny Summers, Recipes for Restaurant Success, "Succession Planning for the Proactive Restaurant Owner," Davio's, June 11, 2013.
• Bob Goldberg and Jonathan Wilson, "Strategies for Start-Up and Early Stage Businesses: Overcoming Challenges Facing Company Growth," hosted with Aarons Grant & Habif, LLC, Davio's, June 25, 2013.
• Joint Breakfast Program with Lockton, July 24, 2013.
• ACC Luncheon Sponsorship, August 13, 2013. 
• Strictly Social, Taylor English office, September 19, 2013.
• Real Estate Seminar with Frazier and Deeter, LLC and Marsh USA, September 25, 2013.
• Litigation Summit, October 30, 2013.

Recent

• Don Kohla and Jan Marsh, "Obamacare in 60 Minutes," Training Room, May 21, 2013. 
• Jonathan Wilson, " Anatomy of a Deal," Training Room, May 1, 2013.
• Don Kohla and Jan Marsh, Recipes for Restaurant Success, "The Obamacare Buffet," Davio's, April 30, 2013.

Upcoming

• Amy Loggins, ACI Wage & Hour Claims and Class Actions Conference, "Hot Topics in Wage and Hour Law," San Francisco, CA, September 30-October 1, 2013.   
• Julian Fortuna, The Seminar Group's Best of CLE, "Tax Law," December 19-20, 2013. 

Recent

• Michele Stumpe, National Business Institute Seminar, "The Rules of Evidence: A Practical Toolkit," May 23, 2013.
• Jonathan Wilson, Atlanta Bar Association Sole Practitioner/Small Firm Section Breakfast Meeting, "Crowdfunding 101: A New Form of Fundraising for Start-Ups and Small Business," May 16, 2013. 
• Ilene Berman, Cornell University Labor and Employment Law Roundtable, hosted by the Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research, "The Supreme Court's Soon to be Issued Decision on the Motivating Factor Framework in Retaliation," Ithaca, NY, May 5-6, 2013.
• Mike Sullivan, Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council Education Series, "Business Succession Planning," April 30, 2013.
• Jeff Kuester, IP SpringPosium, "Patent Law Update," April 27, 2013.
• Vivian Hoard, Seminar Chair, ICLE, The New Tax Laws, Speaker, "Conservation Easements," April 25, 2013.
• Stephen Wright, ATLAS Convergence and Divergence in International Arbitration Practice, "An Introduction to International Arbitration: What Every Practitioner in Today's Global Economy Should Know," April 19, 2013.
• Missi McMorries and Amy Loggins, State Bar of Georgia Headquarters ICLE Seminar, "Building Professional Presence----How to Talk (and Act) Like a Lawyer," April 18, 2013.
• Jonathan Wilson, The Ritz Group's Shark Attack, "Chumming for Crowdfunding," April 18, 2013.
• Henry Quillian, Mark Carter, Greg Schultz, and Michael Johnson, Atlanta Bar Association ICLE Program, "Construction Law for the General Practitioner, April 18, 2013.
• Morris Little, MRO Americas Aviation Week Conference, "Lease Returns----Holding Down the Costs Georgia World Congress Center," April 16, 2013.
• Bill Leonard, State Bar of Georgia Startups & Early Stage Companies, "Professional Ethics Issues in Representing Closely Held Businesses," April 4, 2013.
• Tom Bartolozzi, Moderator/Speaker, Annual ARDA (American Resorts Development Association) Conference, "Acquiring a Partially Sold Out Resort," Hollywood, FL, April 3, 2013.
• Jody Brown and Al Hill, STO Corporation Annual Sales Meeting, "The Implementation of STO's New Ethics Policy," Las Vegas, NV, March 27, 2013.

Upcoming

• Stephen Wright, Georgia Bar Journal, "Georgia's New International Arbitration Code," June Issue.

Recent

• Mike Trotter, Managing Partner, Services Rendered: How to Fix the Billable Hour System," May 2013.
• Scott Porter and Eric Fisher, Profiles in Diversity Journal, "Is Your Company Prepared for Transgender Employees?" May/June 2013.
• Michele Stumpe, Hotel Business Magazine, "Manage Your Risks and Protect Your Hotel from Alcohol Liability," May 7, 2013.
• Gardner Courson, ACC Docket, "Litametrics: Analytics for Selecting Your Dream Team," April 24, 2013.

• Amy Loggins, quoted, The Street, "Top 7 Things You Should Never Ask Your Intern to Do," May 16, 2013.
• Matthew Rosenkoff, sworn in for the second consecutive year as a director of the North Fulton Bar Association (NFBA), May 11, 2013.
• Amy Loggins, quoted, Los Angeles Times, "Company May be Resigned to Paying for Ex-Employee's Airfare," May 6, 2013.
• Mike Trotter, quoted, BusinessWeek, "Howrey's Bankruptcy and Big Law Firms' Small Future," May 2, 2013.
• Jonathan Wilson, quoted, Atlanta Business Chronicle, "New Portal Hopes to Jumpstart Crowdfunding,"April 26, 2013.
• Jonathan Wilson, interview, Business RadioX®, April 18, 2013.
• Morris Little, quoted, Aviation Week Online, "Problems Loom When Lean Operators Take on Leasing Complexities," April 17, 2013.
• Anthony Polvino, quoted, Hotel Business Magazine, "Timeshares Are a Sweet Deal for Owners, Developers and Lenders," April 7, 2013.
• Mike Trotter, quoted, Inside Counsel, "Lean and Mean Part 2: Strategies for Cutting External Costs and Getting the Most from Your Service Providers," April 2013.
• Eric Fisher, appointed to serve a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)'s Southeast regional office. Highlighted in Georgia Bar Journal "Bench & Bar" section, April 2013. 
• Amy Loggins, appointed to serve a two-year term on the Cobb County Workforce Investment Board, March 2013. 

• Matthew Rosenkoff, sworn in for the second consecutive year as a director of the North Fulton Bar Association (NFBA), May 11, 2013.
• Michele and Kerry Stumpe, hosted the second annual Eats & Beats on April 22, 2013 to benefit Children of Conservation, as well as The Giving Kitchen - a local nonprofit dedicated to providing emergency funds for those in the restaurant industry with emergency medical needs. The event featured The Yacht Rock Revue as well as chef bands led by the likes of Chris Talley from Muss & Turner's, Watershed's Joe Truex and Doug Gross from Kaleidoscope. Over 20 of Atlanta's premiere restaurants including Local Three, Cibo e Beve, JCT Kitchen, Food 101, No. 246, Lobby, Red Sky Tapas, Muss & Turners, Room, Dennis Dean Catering, Garrison's, and Epic Events served up their favorite dishes. With delicious food, great entertainment, a foodie lovers silent auction, and many Taylor English volunteers and supporters, the event was a success!
• Jody Brown and Eric Fisher, featured in The Atlanta Jewish Times in the article, "Getting to Know AYJAN" for their work to found The Atlanta Young Jewish Attorneys Network (AYJAN). Jody and Eric discussed the need in Atlanta for an organization where young Jewish attorneys could network and get to know each other outside of the office and courts. The firm co-sponsored May AYJAN meeting.
• Eric Fisher, appointed to serve a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)'s Southeast regional office. Highlighted in Georgia Bar Journal "Bench & Bar" section, April 2013. 
• Amy Loggins, appointed to serve a two-year term on the Cobb County Workforce Investment Board, March 2013.