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January 2022
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Do you remember the Y2K bug? We’ve celebrated more than 20 New Year’s Days since then, but those of us who lived through the hype and panic will likely never forget it. The futuristic lingo (Y2K means the year 2000) and continuous media coverage were enough to strike fear in the hearts of many otherwise reasonable people. And in the end, it turned out to be a bust. The Y2K bug, frequently referred to as simply Y2K, resulted from old programming habits. In the 1950s and 1960s, data took up a lot of space, and programmers didn’t have extra room. As one method to make their programming more compact, they shortened years from four digits to two. The year 1964 became “64,” and so on; the 19 prefix was implicit. It was a solution that made sense at the time, but it assumed we wouldn’t still be using the same programming by the time the 20th century ended — otherwise, when 1999 was over, computers would think it was 1900. Computer scientist Robert Bemer realized the problem back in 1971 and tried to alert other experts — but it seemed like they had all the time in the world to fix it. By the mid-to-late 1990s, all the time in the world had become no time at all, and people had a lot of fear about how processing systems would respond. Most people didn’t quite understand what problems Y2K may have caused, and the experts didn’t necessarily agree either. They just knew that when computers stopped telling time correctly, unexpected things were bound to happen. Perhaps systems would work fine, or there would only be minor inconveniences — or maybe, computer systems everywhere would crash. People weren’t just worried about their desktop computers and laptops. Many household items contained microchips, so people were concerned about things as simple as their alarm clock (remember those?). More seriously, people feared the Y2K bug might affect transportation, banking, utilities, and even medical equipment. REFERRALS WELCOME Thank you for referring clients to us over the years. You will never be The End of the World? A Look Back at Y2K
In some places, fear of Y2K had real-world implications. Just like in our modern pandemic times, many supermarkets ran out of household essentials as people stocked up for a potential catastrophe. Some people drew large amounts of money from their bank accounts for fear that the banks’ records would go haywire. In the most extreme cases, a few people even built fallout shelters in case nuclear weapons unexpectedly launched. On Dec. 31, 1999, people waited with bated breath for midnight. Other than the usual ball drop, nothing happened. Our electronics still worked, our cars still ran, and our bank accounts still had their regular balances. Y2K had been a joke to many people before the new year, and it became even more of a laughing stock once none of the dire predictions came true. There were a few hiccups, but they were a far cry from planes falling out of the sky. Most instances were humorous and easily fixed, like Denmark recording the first baby of the new millennium as 100 years old or a man receiving a bill of over $91,000 for returning a rental video 100 years late. The anticlimax led many people to declare the scare overblown — or even call it a hoax. In truth, before most people had ever heard the strange acronym, experts had been working on the Y2K problem. The U.S. government, World Bank, and IT professionals took the threat seriously, providing funding and resources to correct the bug. They rewrote millions of lines of code and put contingency plans in place. Totaled up, thousands of hours of labor were spent resolving the issue. When nothing changed in the first moments of 2000, it was thanks to hard work and responsiveness. Whether you remember exactly where you were that night or were too young for the problem to have registered, Y2K showed us both the folly of panic and what humans can do when they put their minds to it. It also serves as an important reminder: Never put off important tasks until the last minute.
embarrassed by a referral to our office. We’re always available to lend a helping hand to anyone with any legal need. Just give us a call at (314) 961-5678 or visit us at: www.becklawmo.com .
-Paul Beck
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How Much Are Your Favorite Pants Worth? One Man Estimated His at $54 Million
Everyone knows that the perfect pair of pants can be hard to come by, but are they worth $54 million? Administrative Judge Roy L. Pearson had a favorite pair of pants, but in 2007, he claimed that Custom Cleaners lost them and returned a completely different pair instead. It all began when Pearson took his pants to the Washington, D.C., dry cleaners for alterations worth $10.50. The pants were sent in error to the incorrect dry cleaner, so Pearson’s pickup was delayed by several
though, was the company’s failure to live up to their “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service” signs in the window.
The media had a field day, joking about the case as a “pantsuit” and inspiring a “Law & Order” episode called “Bottomless.” Pearson seemed to relish the spectacle, calling his lawsuit “an awesome responsibility” in court and breaking down into tears on the stand. He also called a witness who compared the Chungs to Nazis. Even though the Chungs offered him a $12,000 settlement to make the case go away, Pearson persevered. He ultimately lost his case. At the end of the trial, the judge declared that no reasonable person would consider the signs at Custom Cleaners to be an unconditional promise — and also that Pearson had failed to prove the returned pants weren’t his. The Chungs ultimately recovered their court costs via a fundraiser, and Pearson lost his judicial appointment. Unsurprisingly, this prompted another lawsuit, which he also lost. In 2020, Pearson was suspended from practicing law for 90 days as a result of his actions in Pearson v. Chung . But for bringing new meaning to the phase “I’ll sue the pants off of you,” his place in legal history is secure.
days. Once the pants were returned, despite bearing all the correct tags and matching his receipt, Pearson declared that the pants were not his. When the dry cleaner refused his demand for $1,000 compensation, he decided it was time for legal action. Pearson originally sued the cleaner’s owners, Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung, and Ki Y. Chung, for a whopping $67 million in damages but later reduced the claim to a far more reasonable $54 million. In his suit, Pearson requested $3 million for mental distress, $90,000 for a rental car to visit another dry cleaner, and $500,000 in attorney’s fees (Pearson represented himself). At the heart of his claim,
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a gift or a card to show you’re thinking about them. These gifts cost resources, but as Newswire reports, multiple studies show that customer gifts increase retention. Invest in retention tools. Staying in touch with your customers is the best way to keep them happy and remind them that you care. You can stay on top of this by doing the hard work of reaching out personally each month, but it’s easier and more efficient to invest in recurring communications like automated weekly emails and regularly printed newsletters. Make personalization possible. In order to retain customers, you must build quality relationships with them. This starts with knowing who they are, what they need, and how they interact with your company and your marketing. To figure out those key points, you should gather and interpret a lot of data, both online and off. You can do some of this data-gathering and calculating yourself (for example, you might consider calculating the lifetime value or LTV of each client), but hiring a third-party data analytics company will help you take your retention marketing to the next level. SAS, Alteryx, Kissmetrics, and InsightSquared are great options for small-business owners. Hire (or create) a retention expert. If you truly want to maximize your retention, you need to make it an integral part of your team’s marketing approach. Investing in specialized training for
your team is one way to do this. But you can also hire a retention expert or shift one of your existing team members’ roles to focus exclusively on managing and retaining clients. Yes, hiring is expensive, but remember — increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits by as much as 95%. That new team member will pay for themselves in no time! Retention marketing mindset shifts will be game- changers for your company. You can start with one of these tips or dive into all of them. Whatever feels right for you, if you try these ideas, it won’t be long before you’ll see the difference in your bottom line.
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TAKE A BREAK
A CRASH COURSE ON OFFSHORE FINANCE
Like the Panama Papers released in 2016, the Pandora Papers published in October 2021 expose the financial secrets of some of the world’s wealthiest people. In particular, they detail how the very rich use offshore finance to hide the extent of their wealth.
But what exactly is offshore finance? Why do people use it? Is it even legal to use?
Offshore finance gets its name from the island and coastal locations where the practice of creating foreign tax havens originated. Today, offshore finance refers to any financial instruments or assets kept in countries that are not the owner’s country of residence.
DEEP-FRIED NEW YEAR’S ‘COOKIES’
When an offshore account is created, it follows the financial regulations of the nation in which it is held. Countries commonly used for offshore finance often have stricter
What do you get when you mix a cookie and a doughnut? A portzelky! This traditional Mennonite “New Year’s cookie” is perfect for sharing.
privacy laws and allow the creation of shell companies. Shell companies are organizations that exist on paper only, without employees or offices, but act as a legal “shield” against taxation and creditors. (At least 19,000 shell companies exist in the Cayman Islands alone.) Simply having an offshore bank account or shell company is not illegal or even necessarily a sign of nefarious activity. Lawyers and accountants who deal in offshore finance often know exactly how to use the law to their clients’ advantage. They can also propose solutions that are technically legal. But concerns arise since the countries chosen to hold wealth offshore tend to prevent foreign governments from inspecting their accounts; this makes legal vetting next to impossible. A lack of transparency is the main point of contention, and it’s the reason why many people look at offshore finance negatively. Because the U.S. government cannot determine which assets are being held offshore, it cannot impose any taxes on them. Some parties also view hiding wealth offshore as a way of protecting a person’s assets from civil lawsuits, creditors, or investigations in the owner’s home country. It’s estimated that over $1 trillion is held in offshore accounts, and studies indicate that the bulk of this money is owned by the ultra-wealthy. Further, experts believe that the tax revenue lost to offshore finance equals about $800 billion per year worldwide. As to whether or not the Pandora Papers will inspire changes to the law, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Ingredients
• 2 tbsp yeast • 1/2 cup water, warmed • 1/2 cup and 1 tsp sugar, divided • 5 eggs, beaten • 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups milk, warmed • 1 1/2 tsp salt • 4 cups raisins • 7 cups flour • 4 cups canola oil
Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, and 1 tsp sugar. Wait 10 minutes. 2. Stir in remaining sugar, eggs, butter, milk, and salt. 3. Fold in the raisins and flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for an hour. 4. In a high-sided pot or deep fryer, heat canola oil to 340 F. Line a plate with paper towels. 5. Drop a rounded tablespoon of dough into the oil. Fry until golden brown, then set aside on the plate. Poke the cookie with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, it’s cooked through! 6. Repeat until the batter is gone.
Inspired by MennoniteGirlsCanCook.ca
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
A Look Back at Y2K
1
The Case of the $54 Million Pants
2
Deep-Fried New Year’s ‘Cookies’ Offshore Finance 101
3
6 Retention Strategies That Actually Work
4
Stop Losing Clients Today! 6 Ways to Rethink Your Retention Marketing
Retention is crucial to your business. According to Investopedia, acquiring a new client can cost five times as much as retaining an existing one. And if that doesn’t convince you, research from Bain & Company and the Harvard Business School both show that a 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by as much as 95%.
If you don’t have appropriate retention strategies in place, 2022 is the perfect time to make a change! Here are six ways to completely rethink your retention marketing that will save your team time and money. Reallocate your resources. Don’t just talk the retention talk — walk the walk! In order to truly change your company’s ways, you need to invest in retention and reallocate your resources. Provide your team with additional training on customer service. Important points to emphasize for retention (per Forbes magazine) include frequent and friendly customer communication, transparency, active listening, and the value of relationship-building. Create a fund for customer perks and gifts. Celebrating your clients allows you to give them attention when they might appreciate it most. If you know a customer who recently had a baby or is going through a difficult time, consider sending
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