Legal Issues

Introduction
A shocking series of cases involving child abuse, hidden pregnancies, and infanticide motivated the fairly recent movement to enact Safe Haven Laws in all fifty states.  Most of these cases were highly publicized in the latter half of the 1990s and the fact that these cases involved newborn infants created a national consensus that is normally difficult to achieve in an America most frequently characterized by its diversity of opinion.  One of these cases involved a teen couple who left their live newborn baby in a hotel dumpster in 1997 another case involved a college woman who gave birth in her sorority house, proceeded to sever the newborn infants umbilical cord with a pair of scissors, and when she later returned from class she discovered the baby was dead and she disposed of it in a nearby dumpster. (Fathers are Parents Too Challenging Safe Haven Laws with Procedural Due Process, 2004, p. 877)  These are merely two illustrations of what was perceived at the close of the twentieth century to have become a pressing national issue.  American parents needed help, the newborn infants needed help, and Texas became the first state to create and enact a type of Safe Haven Law.  The purpose of this type of statutory enactment was to provide safe havens where newborn infants could be dropped off and cared for if the mother or the parents felt unable to properly care for the newborn infant.  The reasoning and the public policy underlying this type of legislation was premised on the notion that these types of horrific cases could be substantially minimized if the state provided assistance to confused or stressed parents in moments of indecision or personal crisis.  As more and more states followed Texas lead, and enacted their own Safe Haven Laws, the goals and the objectives become more broadly declared for instance, it was hoped that these types of laws would reduce child abuse, reduce the abortion rate, and decrease child mortality rates.

Florida enacted its own version of a Safe Haven Law, the precise provisions of each states versions not being uniform, and public officials and Floridians hoped that the noble goals underlying the statutory framework would be realized.  As these state laws are of a very recent origin, however, few empirical studies have been concluded.  Whether the stated goals are being achieved is therefore the subject of much debate.  In order to better explain how Florida is attempting to achieve these worthwhile goals, and the shortcomings that need to be addressed by policy makers in order to make this type of criminal justice reform more viable, this paper will discuss Floridas Safe Haven Law and how this statutory framework is intended to help in reducing child abuse, the abortion rate, and child mortality.

Florida Safe Haven Law  Statutory Framework and Criminal Justice Shortcomings
Floridas Safe Haven Law is fairly limited in scope, mirroring in this respect similar laws in other states, and basically provides that parents may legally leave or otherwise abandon their newborn infants at places that are statutorily designated as safe havens.  What the Florida legislature has sought to accomplish, in effect, is the creation of mechanisms for ensuring the proper care of newborn infants by decriminalizing abandonment.  The rationale, and a quite persuasive one, is that it is far better for the parents, the newborn infant, and society generally if safe havens can be created to accept unwanted infants rather than having them placed in dumpsters or other less than ideal places.  It is important to acknowledge, however, that this decriminalization policy is very narrow in scope indeed, the Florida law provides that the term newborn infant means a child who a licensed physician reasonably believes is approximately 7 days old or younger at the time the child is left (Florida Safe Haven Law 383.50(1)).  There is therefore a very small window opportunity for parents to avail themselves of this legal protection.  Technically, though the reasonable belief language in the statute may provide the physician with some minor discretion that might slightly extend the statutory period, this grant of decriminalization does not extend to the newborn infants eighth day of existence outside the mothers womb.  The implication of this limited time frame may turn out to be that the larger statutory objectives may not be satisfied partially because of the very brief time frame.  Floridas legislators have therefore gambled that a seven day decriminalization period will significantly affect child abuse, abortion, and child mortality.  This will be discussed more fully in the next section of the paper.

In addition to its narrow scope in terms of defining a newborn infant for purposes of a brief decriminalization of child abandonment, the Florida Safe Haven Law creates statutory safe havens that may prove intimidating to parents whom might otherwise take advantage of the laws benefits.  More particularly, the Florida Safe Haven Law designates safe havens to include a hospital, an emergency medical services station, or fire station. (Florida Safe Haven Law 383.50(1))  Superficially, this may seem to be a comprehensive enough designation of safe havens the professionals employed at these sites, to be sure, are highly qualified and probably in the best position to make health decisions and provide immediate care.  A more careful examination, however, also suggests that these same professionals wear standard uniforms and that they are vested with, at the very least, the appearance of state authority.  Parents in turmoil may very well hesitate to avail themselves of these designated safe havens for fear of getting into trouble.  It is true that the Florida Safe Haven Law allows for the parents to remain anonymous, absent cases where there is actual or suspected child abuse or neglect (Florida Safe Haven Law, 2009, section 383.50(5)), but parents making decisions within this narrow seven day window are likely to be suspicious and fearful of highly public places and people in uniform.  Florida might have been better off creating a more expansive designation of safe havens, while still ensuring that individuals with relevant skills would work or reside at those safe havens, and thereby reducing feelings of intimidation and fear.

What emerges from a review of Floridas statutory framework is an extremely limited type of Safe Haven Law.  It is limited in terms of time and in terms of designated safe havens.  The following section of this paper will discuss why this narrow scope may actually operate to defeat the underlying goals that motivated the legislative enactment.

Florida Safe Haven Law  Statutory Objectives and Steps for Reform
There has tended to have been widespread agreement in the media, policymaking circles, and the academic community to the effect that Safe Haven Laws are a good idea.  In Illinois, for instance, one newspaper proudly declared that Since the law was enacted, more than 20 infants have been safely handed over, however more than twice that many have been left elsewhere to die. Consequently, activists are stepping up their efforts to raise awareness about the safe haven law. HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod5014529902(Teen Doing Part, 2006, p. 1)  In Maryland, to take but one of many more disappointing examples, both child welfare advocates and state politicians were distraught because

A newborn was found dead in a trash can Sunday night outside the home of his 17-year-old mother in Arnold. It was at least the eighth case of an abandoned infant since Marylands safe-haven law took effect in 2003. Since then, the state Department of Human Resources (DHR) has not documented a single instance of a baby being relinquished under the law, agency spokesman Norris West said.  HYPERLINK httpwww.questia.comPM.qstaod5011772549(Safe Haven Campaign Hit, 2005, p. B01)

It is fair to conclude from the early results that state Safe Haven Laws have not been nearly as effective as people had desired and hoped.  There is no firm empirical evidence as of yet that conclusively demonstrates that Safe Haven Laws have or can reduce child abuse, abortion, and child mortality.  Part of this lack of real substantive evidence derives from the simple fact that all of these laws are of a fairly recent origin and that empirical research takes time.  Still, despite this concession, the fact remains that there are troubling issues.  First, merely enacting these laws will not ensure that the citizens of any state will be aware of them or that they will understand the rights and the limitations indeed, in virtually every state there are calls for better education efforts with respect to Safe Haven Laws.  Second, as is the case with the Florida Safe Haven Law, very real problems arise from the extraordinarily narrow scope of the statutory decriminalization.  Assuming that Florida citizens are aware of the protection offered and the substantive provisions, the time frame and the designated safe havens are so limited as to provide little time for reflection and feelings of genuine fear and intimidation are likely.  These factors suggest that the very design of the Florida law may actually do very little to address problems related to child abuse, abortion, and child mortality moreover, there are other risk factors for these problems which are probably more compelling imperatives than a limited seven day window of opportunity.

In the final analysis, although well-intentioned, it is likely that the Florida Safe Haven Law will do very little to reduce child abuse, abortion, or child mortality unless it is first amended to make the decriminalization opportunity more user-friendly and also more pervasively publicized and explained to the entire population of Florida.

The juvenile courts have jurisdiction over delinquent youths who fall under certain age limits with the age 18 being the highest in most of the states. These courts are also bestowed with jurisdiction over unlawful conduct directed at juveniles such as parental neglect, abandonment, deprivation, as ell as abuse (Roberts, 2004). Therefore the abolishment of juvenile courts would mean that juvenile offenders are tried in adult criminal courts, and thus this would compromise the basic ideal of the juvenile courts role as a social welfare institution whose main objective is to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. Fairness and justice in trials of juveniles would be compromised (Feld, 1997). Still to note is the fact that the youths would be exposed to the possibilities of stiffer penalties such as capital punishments for crimes they committed as juveniles. It is important to note here that the adult courts have no proper structures and establishments to transform the character of juvenile offenders who may be forced to be with the adults and become hardened criminals (Feld, 1997).

Abolishing juvenile courts would put their jurisdiction as custodians of children rights into jeopardy. It is here to be noted that juvenile courts have the proper structures to offer protection over children whose rights have been violated or denied rights in the society (Roberts, 2004). For instance, parental neglect and child abuse cases are better addressed in juvenile courts. Therefore, abolishing these courts would mean high rates of violation of children rights, which in many cases translates into high rates of delinquent youths in the society, especially in cases of child neglect (Feld, 1997). These would contribute to high rates of crimes in the society.

It is the responsibility of the juvenile courts to transform the character of juvenile offenders. Therefore, the abolishment of the juvenile courts will impact negatively on the character of the juveniles and the security of the entire society.

I am filled with deep remorse as I write this letter. Nothing I can say or do will justify my actions. Suffice it for me to say that I was driven by sibling love and concern for my family.

Impersonating my sister in the exam was a desperate attempt to save her mental anguish and depression. Since my father passed away two years ago, she has been the care provider for my ailing mother. Passing this exam was her ticket to better job prospects and a steady income. She spent over seven hours a day studying for it and another twelve attending to her mother she got by on barely five hours sleep per day. To be honest, I dont think I could manage such a hectic schedule.

As the exam day drew near, she complained of constant headaches and mood swings I figured the pressure of life was getting to her. She repeatedly complained that if she did not pass the exam she would be devastated as she had no more money to finance another semester. I believe she was considering suicide.

The night before the exam she had a nervous breakdown. My dear sister kept on mumbling that she had to do the exam without fail. She was in no condition to leave the house let alone do an exam. As her her older brother, I felt I had a duty to protect my sibling. Without the financial resources to see her through college, I made the decision to do the exam for her. The course she was doing was one I had taken during college and although I had not studied for it, I was hopeful I could manage a pass grade and save my sister further anguish.

These are the mitigating factors that led me to take such a draconian action. I have no criminal record and this was the first and last misdemeanor I intend to ever commit.

Law firms are not immune from computer security breaches and computer crimes.  Indeed, given the nature of the legal profession, there are several significant issues that need to be addressed when implementing and maintaining an information technology system that stores information about the law firm, its attorneys, and its clients.  There are law firm proprietary secrets, case strategies, and information that are ostensibly protected by the attorney-client privilege.  Law firms, as a result, have a special incentive to maintain secure computer systems and to safeguard law firm and client information.  A review of the statistics concerning computer security breaches and computer crimes is absolutely staggering.  It is estimated that more than ninety percent of American corporations have been the victims of security breaches and that information is frequently stolen, viewed without permission, and in some cases altered.  Computer records and data, unlike paper, cannot be stored in boxes behind close doors and this problem has been noted in the legal journals one legal scholar concerned with computer security, for example has noted the obvious by stating that Crime of any sort, whether a mugging, terrorist incident, or computer hacking, prompts not only legal but architectural responses as well. Yet we as Americans think far too much about the law, and not enough about design.

This design emphasis, employing technology to secure proprietary and privileged information, is what law firm managers need to pursue in order to protect law firm data.  In a recent article in LTN Law Technology News, Kevin Woo describes new data loss technologies that can be incorporated into law firm information technology systems.  The goal, to be sure, is to more securely store propriety information and privileged information.  These technological innovations not only protect the theft of information, but they can also insulate law firms from charges of negligence or malfeasance that might lead to lawsuits from third parties whose information has been stored and then stolen from the computer systems.  Indeed, as the author notes The risk of not implementing a network or data security strategy is extremely high, as law firms deal in highly confidential information and have strict ethical obligations about how they handle and secure client data. (Woo, 2009, n.p.)  This is not a luxury quite the contrary, computer security is an affirmative obligation and a matter of attorney and law form ethics.  Some of the technological features include data access to only those firm members with a need to know, certain encryption features, and replacing passwords with fingerprint scans for particularly sensitive information.  Some of the newer digitial loss systems can even be customized to classify firm information in terms of sensitivity, to track firm employees computer viewing habits, and to report inappropriate computer information inquiries.  In sum, these new technological developments can help to secure proprietary and privileged information in the computer era and to help law firms satisfy ethical concerns.

A tort is a damage that is done intentionally or unintentionally to a person or property of another person. There are two categories of torts which include negligence torts and the intentional torts. Negligence torts will arise from cases like motor accidents and personal injury of various types while Intentional torts include things like illegal occupation of land. This paper is going to look at the various forms of torts and regulatory risks that a company can face and come up with various ways in which the company can minimize the torts and regulatory risks before concluding with an overview.

A tort is a damage that is done intentionally or unintentionally to a person or property of another person. The two categories of torts are the negligence torts and the intentional torts (Aaron, 2000). Negligence is the most dominant action in tort. This is the kind of tort that provides actions that lead to damages or to relief that is injunctive, which in each case is structured to protect legal rights including those of personal safety, intangible economic interests and even property Negligence torts will arise from cases like motor accidents, personal injury of various types and worker negligence. Intentional torts include things like illegal occupation of land, public nuisance that causes irritability, defamation, trespass or even giving wrongful information. This paper is going to look at the various forms of torts and regulatory risks that a company can face and come up with various ways in which the company can minimize the torts and regulatory risks

Common Torts that can be Found in A Company
One of the most common torts that can be found on a general company is the statutory tort which imposes duties on parties whether public or private. Manufacturers are known to be the bets in avoiding costs and in the process they end up creating defective products that may be injurious to the consumers. This means there must be a product liability to protect the consumers by ensuring that companies that produce defective products are made to pay for the damages (Salanie, 2003). The other tort is nuisance which can be construed to be an activity or situation that is harmful to the general public, harm caused by such an activity and the legal liability that emanates from the aforementioned conditions. Activities that are bothersome include indecent behavior, objectionable odors, obnoxious decibel levels and dirty conditions. The laws that cover nuisance are meant to cushion people from conditions that may interfere with their rights by ensuring that people who default on the established nuisance laws are made to pay for it. If a company dumps garbage on a place that distracts the general public, then it is liable to pay damages under the nuisance tort.

The same applies if a company is emitting high levels of noise that disturbs the people in the adjacent habitats (Nugget, 2009). Trespass or any other action that prevents someone from enjoying his personal property is treated under nuisance. Defamation is another serious tort that involves the tarnishing of reputation of someone or a company. There are two types of defamation. The first one is slander which is oral defamation and libel which is defamation in print or broadcast. If a company or an officer representative make a factual assertion about an individual, a group, persons or another company without reliable evidence, then that is a tort and people and companies especially media companies have been made to pay money amounting to hundreds of millions of shillings after being found guilty of defamation. Other dignitary torts that are related to defamation and can affect a company include abuse of process, malicious prosecution and privacy invasion.

If a company involves itself in intentional acts whose harm can be foreseen then that can be referred to as an intentional tort. These torts include mistreatment, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional stress, fraud and wrongful imprisonment. Conversion and trespass can also qualify under this tort (Harper, 2007).
Economic torts are the one that protect people from interference with their trade of entrepreneurship.

Sometimes, during the process of business, some people or companies can interfere with the operation of others. Some companies like the telecommunication companies are known to hire goons to vandalize their equipment or cables while others create uncondusive atmosphere where rival companies cannot do business well. In this case such businesses are protected by the economic torts. Finally, there is the competition law which is an important method of regulation of how businesses conduct themselves in the market. The market can be abused by monopolists thus creating an uncondusive environment for the others. Sometimes, mergers and acquisitions can lead to lessened competition or a lopsided market economy and the private damage actions torts are sometimes applied to curtail some of these conducts that are anti competitive.

Strategies for minimizing tort and regulatory risks
In the business environment today, companies must be active in development, maintenance and follow up on an action that is preventative and corrective and applicable to the business model of the company. The companies must be ready to contend with a wide variety of regulatory risks that include tort liability because failure to comply can have a negative impact on the assets, reputation and even the balance sheet of the company. One of the way in which companies can minimize these risks is by allocating internal resources to implement existing plans of action using preventative measures that provide intrinsic controls of the daily running of the business operations that reduce the exposure to tort liability, criminal penalties and fines (Loman, 2000).

The organizations should start with identifying the tort risks that involve non compliance because they are the most dangerous and end up damaging the reputation of the company. These elements of non compliance include defamation, anti trust violations and economic torts. The companies should also look at the way in which its operations can pose risks to the safety of its workers and the entire public and ensure that the possible dangers are mitigated in order to avoid the tort liability that emanate from such kind of nuisance. The companies should also ensure that they desist from engaging in activities that can be ranked under intentional tort violation like emotionally stressing the workers or the neighboring population or even assault cases (Fillebrown, 2000). This can be made possible through the strengthening of the public relations meaning that if there is good relationship between the company and the internal and the external population, such tort liabilities will be avoided.

Instead of companies being a nuisance to the public and an enemy to the law which often brings in some tort risks and unnecessary liabilities, they should aim at reducing these regulatory risks by operating within the framework of respect and decency. Involvement in corporate social responsibility is a sure way in which a company can reduce regulatory risks and torts. Most of the tort liabilities emanate from the companys relation with the adjacent environment and populations and a company that engages itself in acts of corporate social activity will by default find itself treating its internal and external population and environment with the deserved respect meaning that it will cut down incidences of nuisance that can lead to regulatory risks and tort liabilities.

The functions of Riordan Manufacturing in the domain of global plastics require quite a number of considerable ethical and legal responsibilities. Such responsibilities greatly influence various business aspects revolving around employees, customer relations, focus and the future projections of the firm. Based on the general effects of the US economic crisis, Riordan Manufacturing Company has to ensure total compliance with the required standards, rules and regulations in order sail through the financial storm.

The most important regulation in regard to corporate compliance in the US is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which defines considerable tighter personal accountability of corporate senior executives for the accuracy and preciseness of reported fiscal statements of a given financial year.

Riordan Manufacturing Company was founded in 1991 as an international plastics manufacturer, doling out polymers into durable plastic substrates (Carbajal, 2009). The firm employs nearly five hundred people in each of its global branches and plants. It is currently regarded as a leading firm in the plastics sector when it comes to addressing the changing customer needs.

Riordan Manufacturing has a strong clientele niche serving the auto part  aircraft manufacturers, appliance manufacturers, bottlers  beverage makers, the US Defense Department, among others. This strong market niche is attributed to several aspects such as adoption of innovative manufacturing styles, compliance to ISO 9000 quality standards, and proper customer care service.

The primary objective of this essay is to look into various aspects of corporate compliance with regard to the Riordans Plastic Manufacturing Company. Some of the aspects highlighted in the context of this essay include legal principles of business management, managing legal liabilities of the companys officers and directors, governance, risk management and enterprise  product liabilities. Some aspects revolving around tangible and intellectual property, international law, and legal forms of business will be briefly discussed.

Corporate Compliance
In general terms, corporate compliance means conforming to stated requirements at and standards at the organizational level. At corporate level, compliance may be achieved through adoption of management processes that clearly identify the needed requirements (Trent, 2008). Some of the applicable requirements may be described by the laws, contracts, regulations, policies and strategies, etc. The management practices adopted should be in position to assess the level of compliance, review the risks in reference to the associated costs and expenses that may result from non-compliance.

The management practice should therefore prioritize, finance and implement any corrective measures where appropriate. Regulatory compliance is defined as the goal that public agencies and corporations aspire to conform to in their attempt to ensure that the personnel are made aware of the relevant regulations and rules. Through this, the management ensures that their staffs take precautionary compliance steps for organizational success (Trent, 2008)

The senior management team of Riordan Manufacturing introduced a Corporate Compliance Strategy specifically intended for plastic designs. The business practices of the firm are governed by ethical standards and general employee expectations (Carbajal, 2009). This plan therefore makes it possible for the administration to maintain its leadership integrity and promote a working environment that ensures compliance is above reproach.

The firms compliance plan clearly states its mission, which generally is to ensure knowledge and conformity to applicable laws, regulations and rules to the labor force, including state and federal programs, waste, fraud, ethics, abuse, security and privacy requirements and general governance.
Legal Principles of business management

There are many principles involved in business management. Those common to almost all forms of business include division of work, whereby the scope and nature of work in staffing and managerial parts is clearly distinguished and standardized. Another aspect is on the responsibility and authority. The allocation of work in most cases is characterized by certain levels of accountability and authority. This ensures that those assigned specific tasks have the confidence in carrying out their assignment.

Another common legal business principle is the use of discipline. Reasonable methods are applied in controlling the general behavior of the Riordan officers with an intention of improving efficiency by minimizing negligence and ignorance of calls to duty and accountability. With proper discipline procedures clearly outlined and made aware to the employees regarding the nature of punishment dispensable for any infringement on the corporate compliance plan, the officers or employees of the firm will end up fulfilling the requirements of the plan due to the fear of associated repercussions ( HYPERLINK httpwww.ussc.govorguide.htm httpwww.ussc.govorguide.htm ).

The legal forms of business management in the United States require compliance and total conformity to defined regulations and laws. Infringement of these laws may have a serious civil or criminal penalty imposed on the individual violator or the whole corporate body where the laws are being collectively violated. Guidelines on the cause of action to be taken or on the nature of punishment to be allocated have been clearly explained in Chapter eight of the sentencing principles as provided by the U. S. Federal Sentencing Commission ( HYPERLINK httpwww.ussc.govorgguide.htm httpwww.ussc.govorgguide.htm )

Managing Legal Liabilities of Riordan officers and directors
The Code of Ethics and Business Conduct is aimed at providing guidelines to the Riordan directors, employees and executive officers. These guidelines may include the general organizational ethical prospects and also provide help in the management of legal liabilities (Carbajal, 2009). Based on COSO requirements, the control environment is meant for controlling the individual perception of employees within a given organization. The COSO requirements play a critical role in guaranteeing high quality in Riordans operations (Butod, 2009).

Riordans officers and directors are fully answerable to the firms operations concerning various issues such as authorizations and approvals of specific operating performance aimed at boosting the firms competitiveness. This implies that any such activities e.g. coercion, manipulation, falsified influencing of various activities within the firm (e.g. financial statements) for personal gain are regarded unlawful. The management of legal liabilities of Riordans directors and officers therefore requires that all control strategies for instance asset segregation should not be liable to any forms of manipulation (COSO, 2004).

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act recommends that the directors and officers found manipulating the financial statements of the company for their own selfish interests would be criminally and civilly answerable for their actions. In addition, the law allows an internal counsel within the firm to report any activities carried out by the firm, on condition that the actions go against the public policy (Butod, 2009).

Governance
This defines the general management approach adopted by Riordans administration in their daily operations. It involves a combination of hierarchical management strategies coupled with management information systems. All the aspects entailed in governance are meant to ensure accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of all important management information accessible to the senior management team. These governance elements are aimed at ensuring proper decision making, adoption of best management practices and effective and systematic implementation of instructions and directions from Riordans executives (COSO, 2004).
In order to meet the required levels of governance as stipulated by COSO, Riordan Manufacturing Company together with other business organizations initiated the re-launch of a government website ( HYPERLINK httpwww.business.gov httpwww.business.gov ) which provides a central point of reach to information and other government services that may help the company to adhere to established government regulations.

For effective governance within Riordan Manufacturing Company, compliance data or any other relevantassociated information concerning the business in the broad perspective of corporate compliance should be made available to the organizations governance officers at all times. This data is useful in the validation or implementation of the firms overall compliance plan using an accurate, complete and consistent approach.

Alternative Dispute Resolution strategies
Instead of the usual court processes filed by other parties involved in the dispute, the Corporate Compliance Plan has put in place an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism to act as a defense counsel to the issues affecting Riordan Manufacturing Company. The ADR in this case plays several roles including mediation whereby it assesses and evaluates the specific interests of the conflicting parties. Employees of the firm may also utilize peer review and mediation to resolve disputes between themselves and the firm (Carbajal, 2009).

Alternatively, Riordans workers and employees have the option of accessing the Ombudsman to file any cases of crime, wrongdoings and crime in an anonymous manner. The workers who may feel dissatisfied with the mode or pace of dispute resolution at departmental level within the organization may report their grievances to the human resource section for further guidance and instructions on their cases. To completely cater for their varying needs, the Riordan officers and employees are allowed to choose arbitrators in their cases and also be given the same period for submitting their claims as provided for under the statues (COSO, 2004).

Riordans resolution strategies in governance are that any individual or individuals who go against the requirements of the Corporate Compliance Plan are liable to disciplinary actions. Common forms of disciplinary actions adopted by the company include written and verbal warnings, termination or suspension. The nature of discipline highly depends on the magnitude of the infringement or violation. This governance policy has been made clear to all Riordans officers so as to enable the employees to fully adhere to the corporate compliance plan and in turn lead to increased productivity.

Enterprise Risk Management based on COSO
The general objective of the corporate compliance plan is to define the significance of in-house controls and suggest possible steps that may be adopted in order to mitigate enterprise risks by application of the broad based recommendations and principles based on the Committee of Sponsoring Organization of the Treadway Commission- COSO. Risks can be seen in either internal or external environments (Butod, 2009).

From this perspective, the law requires that any company carries out a risk assessment.
General enterprise risk management comprises of a set of defined processes and procedures through which Riordans administration identifies, evaluates and to some extent respond appropriately to counter the risks that may hamper the realization of the firms business goals. Enterprise risk management is greatly dependent on their apparent gravity, and entails avoiding, controlling, and accommodating or shifting the risks to an intermediary or a third party.

Some of the risks encountered in enterprise management include information security, financialcommercial risks, technological risks etc. In some scenarios, external regulatory and legal compliance risks also pose a serious challenge to risk management (Carbajal, 2009).

The first step in carrying out a risk assessment is to identify Riordans control objectives then followed by establishing the general requirements. From this step, priorities in order of urgency are listed before an appropriate action is taken. In most cases, proper identification of the risks involved in the general operations is the appropriate course of action taken. This follows the actual verification of the nature and probability of the identified risks occurring.

International law
Based on the fact that Riordan Manufacturing Company is a global organization, it has to abide by the international laws governing various business forms in different countries. Presently, the main challenge faced by the firm is on its international relations with Asian countries such as China. According to analysts, the company is believed to be outgrowing its current location, Hangzhou and is contemplating relocation to Shanghai so as to cut down on shipping costs (Jennings, 2006).

Today, Riordan Manufacturing Company incurs many shipping costs in transportingshipping its products from Hangzhou to Shanghai. Shanghai is regarded as an international port and thus the only exit point for Riordans China products to the world markets. To counter this problem, Riordan has to agree with the Chinese government in order to enable the company to shift its operations from Hangzhou to Shanghai (Jennings, 2006).

Tangible and intellectual property
Intellectual property is a legal definition of commercially feasible products, inventions, ideas, and artistic works derived from ones individual mental processes. Intellectual property is duly protected by legal frameworks which may be in form of trademark registrations, copyrights and patents. Tangible property on the other hand is the physical aspect of the creative idea(s) also protected by law (Pollick, 2010).

In most cases, intellectual property is treated or handled in a manner similar to the mode of treatment given to other physical andor tangible products. By way of example, Riordan Manufacturing Company legally owns several factories and plants across the globe ranging from the United States, Europe and down to Asia. Riordans intellectual property rights may be clearly portrayed in their secret laboratory procedures for manufacturing plastics with specific strengths, elasticity and durability.

The formulas, lab procedures and exact chemical compositions used in the manufacture and processing of Riordans products are protected by trade secret registration. Other plastic manufacturing companies may also make products with similar properties but may not be exact in composition due to the protection guaranteed by the tangible and intellectual property rights.

Not all creative or innovative ideas qualify being regarded as tangible or intellectual property. The main factor put into consideration in this case is the commercial feasibility of the ideas or inventions which may require protection or prevention of ideological theft. Such measures are regarded as copyright infringements (Pollick, 2010). Without an appropriate patent of inventions and ideas, other firms or Riordans competitors would be better placed to legally develop improved or similar versions of the companys products without fear of penalty.

Tangible and intellectual property rights may not necessarily belong to originators of the ideas. Dr. Riordan, the founder of Riordan Manufacturing Company is believed to have invented the formulas used in the manufacture of plastics and allowed his company to own the intellectual property of the chemical formula and the tangible property of the resulting products.

Legal forms of business
Business compliance management process is an area of study related to the co-ordination of corporate compliance structures and process management. A corporate compliance strategy is an organizational tool that intertwines all the necessary legal forms of business. This plan links the business and legislative rules to Riordans processes and policies. The primary aim of introducing a legal form of business is to encourage a high level of self sustenance and optimization so as to minimize business losses associated to internal misappropriations or breaches of laws.

Compliance and other legal forms of business may be analyzed using the general analogy of an accounting system whereby individual processes are regarded as serious business transactions. In this perspective, each process and action taken may be subjected to serious scrutiny before making valuations of benefits and costing associated to each process or task. To get a clear image of Riordan Manufacturing current state of affairs, both low and high order transactional histories and policy creation of individual tasks should be put into consideration.

Enterprise and Product Liabilities
Riordan Manufacturing Company deals with a wide range of plastic products developed for use by many industries. The research and development corporate section of the organization comprises of five expatriate sections in the development of medical related products such as medical gadgets, heart valves, and associated instrumentation. The major liability in this case may arise from final product defects in this very sensitive domain. In case of an error, the company takes adequate steps to correct the defect (Butod, 2009).

Any defect arising in the Research and Development department is rated as the most costly shortcoming to the enterprise because the products in this case touch directly on the health and life of the customers.

The Corporate Compliance plan introduced by Riordan Manufacturing is specifically intended to govern the firms business and ethical practices to meet the general employee expectations and international requirements. This plan therefore makes it possible for the administration to maintain its leadership integrity and promote a working environment that ensures compliance is above reproach.

However, the firms faces various challenges in the implementation of this compliance plan. Some of the challenges may result from sabotage by employees who resist change due to personal fears of their job securities. Precautionary measures that put into consideration the contentious and sensitive aspects of employee relations should be put in place when enforcing the plan.

Question 1  Kasky v. Nike , Inc.
The California Supreme Court, in the instant case, drew a distinction between noncommercial speech and commercial speech because such a distinction affected the type of constitutional interpretation that would be applied to the underlying facts.  The court noted, as an initial matter, that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits actions or efforts to restrict speech.  This right, however, is not unlimited and the United States Supreme Court has decided a number of cases in which it has attempted to classify what types of speech are protected and which types of speech fall outside of the First Amendments protection.

Generally speaking, these legal precedents emphasize that freedom of speech is intended to include what are known as political types of speech and noncommercial types of speech.  These are fairly broad categories and it has been noted that According to these decisions, the First Amendment protects speech of a literary or artistic nature, speech dealing with scientific, economic, educational, and ethical issues, and expression on many other matters of public interest or concern. (Barnes, Bowers, et al., 2007,  p. 63) These types of speech are intended to be firmly within the protections provided by the first amendment.

Consequently, courts must apply a strict scrutiny test that is quite difficult to satisfy in order to justify a restriction on speech.  This type of strict scrutiny test requires that the government prove a compelling purpose of government that makes such a restriction necessary.  This is a high burden and this is the primary reason why the classification of speech is important.  It is important because there are other types of speech, such as yelling fire in a movie theater or commercial speech, which are not rendered the same degree of First Amendment protection.  The person speaking, whether an individual or a corporation, is not the dispositive question indeed, it has been held that corporations and other legal creations can speak in ways that are deemed to be of a noncommercial nature.  The dispositive question, and the question upon which First Amendment protection is predicated, is whether a particular speech is noncommercial or commercial.  The California Supreme Court noted that Nike is a corporation and that its speech was designed to rehabilitate or otherwise salvage its tarnished image as an ethical corporation.  It was therefore required to classify the nature of Nikes speech in order to determine whether and to what extant the speech might be constitutionally protected.  Commercial speech has less protection.  A problem arises, however, because The exact boundaries of the commercial speech category are not certain, though the Supreme Court has usually defined commercial speech as speech that proposes a commercial transaction. (Barnes, Bowers, et al., 2007,  p. 63)
Kasky alleged false and misleading information, predicated on speech that was commercial and entitled to less First Amendment protection, and this is why the California Supreme Court went to such effort to explain and analyze the differences.

Question 2  Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility are closely related concepts.  Corporate governance tends to refer to transparency and clear and ethical business operations.  Corporate social responsibility, on the other hand, refers to business practices and behavior that is responsible to employees, consumers, and the communities in which the corporation operates.  In a way, sound governance policies can help to support corporate social responsibility practices.  These concepts relate to business ethics, although some have also argued that ethical business practices can also lead to better corporate profits in the long run.  One of the motivations for the rise in the importance of these concepts is the perception that corporations only care about profits and exploit and abuse society in pursuit of profits in this respect, for instance, it has been noted that Critics, however, claim that corporations in their pursuit of profits ruin the environment, mistreat employees, sell shoddy and dangerous products, produce immoral television shows and motion pictures, and corrupt the political process. (Barnes, Bowers, et al., 2007,  p. 94)  Consequently, in order to counter these criticisms, corporations have sought to improve corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.  This can be done in several ways.  First, pertaining to governance, corporations need to conduct business operations in ways that are transparent.  This transparency includes how decisions are made, how accounting records are maintained, and how financial decisions are made.

Transparency provides accurate information.  Second, assuming transparency, corporations must hold employees, managers, and executives accountable for their mistakes and ethical lapses.  This accountability must include ethical behavior as well as technical matters.  Third, in terms of corporate social responsibility, corporations must first identify all stakeholders.  This will allow the corporation to determine how its operations impact all stakeholders rather than only shareholders.  Finally, once the stakeholders have been identified, the corporation should begin to adapt its corporate practices in ways that create harmony rather than conflict between and among shareholders.