The Last Bylaws Pitfalls is...

Our staff attorneys have spent more than a year reviewing hundreds of nonprofit bylaws.Here is what they learned about the most common legal pitfalls! Register Today: The New Legal Bylaw Pitfalls Every New York Nonprofit Should Know [Webinar] Click here. Just Announced! Special Discount on our Nonprofit Revitalization Act Remedial Action Planwill be offered to all attendees! The Next (and Last) Bylaw Pitfall (#5) Is: Having Overly Generalized Indemnification & Insurance Policies   The Problem When it comes to potential exposure to personal liability faced by board and staff members affiliated with nonprofits, many organizations fail to clearly and sufficiently stipulate what guarantees and protections they offer. In some cases, unfortunately, organizations don't even secure appropriate insurance necessary to truly honor their promises.  Virtually all nonprofits should, and do, endeavor to indemnify their stakeholders from legal claims arising as a result of their service to the organization. Such decisions, however, merit requisite due diligence.   Indemnification obligations are generally two-fold:   Coverage of expenses that might be incurred in defending a legal action; Payment of any judgments or necessary settlement fees How do nonprofit meet these obligations? For most nonprofits, only with appropriate insurance coverage can they truly honor their indemnification commitments.  In our experience, many nonprofits needlessly expose themselves, and their stakeholders, to liability and potentially disastrous financial obligations by simply adopting brief, catch-all indemnification and insurance clauses in their by-laws.  Carefully consider the following questions: Does the indemnification and insurance clause expressly require the nonprofit to procure insurance coverage appropriate for its organizational needs and does it provide for procedures to assure that such coverage is maintained and can be adjusted as needed as the organization evolves?  Assuming a nonprofit's by-laws obligate the organization to maintain insurance coverage for purposes of indemnification, are the by-laws clear as to those who are actually indemnified?  Are staff expressly indemnified?  What about volunteers?  If so, are the terms of the underlying insurance policies in sync with the by-laws? Should the nonprofit also guarantee corporate funds in order to indemnify a stakeholder if its insurance carrier were to refuse to pay or if actual damages exceeded coverage limits? Remember, insurance coverage has its limitations.  What discretion should a board of directors have, if any, in authorizing the indemnification of a stakeholder who acted in bad-faith or engaged illegal conduct while loosely acting on behalf of the nonprofit?  (An unfortunate example can be found here.)  Actions to Consider Read More about the limitations of insurance, please read the following recent Q&A  from the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. Scroll to the last question for the important question regarding what D&O insurance covers. You may also want to read the following:  Liability and the Board: What Governing Teams Need to Know What Do You Know About D&O Professional Liability and Governance Exposures: A Closer Look   For more information on NYCON's Members Only Directors & Officers Insurance (and to get a "Quick Quote") click here.

Special Webinar Series on Medicaid Compliance

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Medicaid Compliance...But Were Afraid to Ask [Special Lunch & Learn Webinar Series]  Various Dates - April through June 2014 Free to NYCON Members; $75 for Nonmembers Register Today Medicaid Compliance... Medicaid Compliance Plans ... Medicaid Self Auditing...Medicaid Self-Disclosures... Medicaid Audits ... Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse...Office of the Medicaid Inspector General ... OMIG...If these words and phrases are part of a typical day at your nonprofit, we have designed the perfect series of webinars for you. In four 90-minute sessions we will be covering: Medicaid Compliance 101 & the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) Knowing Thy (Compliant) Self: How to Conduct a Medicaid Self Audit Self-Disclosure is Not a Four Letter Word!: Protocols & Procedures of Medicaid Self Disclosure Preparing For, and Surviving, an OMIG Medicaid Audit Participants will hear directly from experts in the field (including David R. Ross, former Acting Medicaid Inspector General for the State of New York, and David Rottkamp, CPA and leader of Grassi & Co.'s not-for-profit practice area) and get the practical information they need to provide appropriate oversight and management of Medicaid-funded programs, understand the role of the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, and much more. See detailed session descriptions below. April 9th, 2014     11:00am to 12:30pm Medicaid Compliance 101 and the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) Changes to the oversight of the Medicaid program led to the creation of the OMIG. Learn about the OMIG's powers and duties, as well as its requirements for compliance plans and annual compliance certification for certain types of providers. Also learn about the importance of compliance and other compliance-related issues. Join our experts to hear about reducing Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse before the Medicaid program is billed, and how to have systems that will identify when errors are made so that corrections can be initiated and made by providers. Provider misconduct, also known as "unacceptable practices," will be illustrated along with the various sanctions available to the OMIG, including exclusion from the Medicaid program and enrollment termination. A question and answer period will be provided. REGISTER   Webinars are free for NYCON Members Non-Members $75 per session or $275 for all four.  *If you would like to attend all four, please choose "Series Ticket" type. You will be automatically registered for each session through June. All webinars are from 11am to 12:30pm   May 15th, 2014     11:00am to 12:30pm Know Thy (Compliant) Self: How to Conduct a Medicaid Self Audit Part of any provider's compliance program is their compliance plan, and the key part of any compliance plan is the concept of risk assessment and self auditing. This means identifying where errors are most likely to be made, and then reviewing your Medicaid claims and documentation for compliance with applicable requirements. Hypotheticals for risk assessment and self audit will be discussed. As participants will hear, self auditing can be the best preventative medicine. A question and answer period will be provided. REGISTER   Webinars are free for NYCON Members Non-Members $75 per session or $275 for all four.  *If you would like to attend all four, please choose "Series Ticket" type. You will be automatically registered for each session through June. All webinars are from 11am to 12:30pm   June 5th, 2014    11:00am to 12:30pm Self-Disclosure is Not a Four Letter Word! Protocols & Procedures of Medicaid Self Disclosure Under Obamacare, providers are required to report, repay and explain all Medicaid overpayments received. Learn what "overpayments" are, the sixty day rule, and the federal False Claims Act, which imposes potentially severe civil liability on providers for failing to self-report, repay and explain overpayments received. Learn how to handle routine overpayment situations and also when to seek advice on non-routine matters. A question and answer period will be provided. REGISTER   Webinars are free for NYCON Members Non-Members $75 per session or $275 for all four.  *If you would like to attend all four, please choose "Series Ticket" type. You will be automatically registered for each session through June. All webinars are from 11am to 12:30pm   June 19th, 2014    11:00am to 12:30pm Preparing for and Surviving an OMIG Medicaid Audit This workshop will provide you with an overview of how an OMIG Medicaid audit is conducted and how the audit process works. Learn how to prepare for the audit, how to interact with the auditors when they arrive, and when to seek counsel. Potential defenses to audit findings will also be briefly covered. A question and answer period will be provided.  REGISTER   Webinars are free for NYCON Members Non-Members $75 per session or $275 for all four.  *If you would like to attend all four, please choose "Series Ticket" type. You will be automatically registered for each session through June. All webinars are from 11am to 12:30pm

Register Now for Nonprofit Revitalization Act Webinars

Complying with the Nonprofit Revitalization Act:  A Practical Webinar Series for New York Nonprofits Presented by David Watson, Esq, Sr. VP of Legal Accountability Services and Michael West, Esq., Legal Advisor, NYCON  Various Dates: February 2014 - June 2014  The Nonprofit Revitalization Act is a landmark change in the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York that will usher in a modern era for the operation and governance of nonprofit corporations starting on July 1, 2014. Here at the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. (NYCON) we eagerly anticipated the updated statutes and have prepared two practical webinars (to be repeated from February through June) designed to help address your immediate needs in complying with the new law. We will cover the updating of your bylaws, governance issues, materials and more. We encourage all Members to take advantage of these free webinars. Part 1: New  York Nonprofit Revitalization Act Part- Steps To Compliance - An Overview   This session will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the Act as well as a plenary Q/A portion. Webinar to be held in February, April & June - and will be updated accordingly if there are any changes to the law.  This session will provide you with a practical set of actions to take to amend your bylaws to meet the new standards of the Act. Dates: February 27th, April 24th, June 26th  Cost: FREE for current NYCON Nonprofit Members; $79 for Non-Members  Register       Part 2: New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act: Implementing Your Compliance Checklist - Whistleblower, Conflict of Interest, Committees & Executive Compensation: To be held in March and May, this webinar will be more detailed and will focus on the various topics included in the Act that are new and have implications on compliance and board governance in general and your operations specifically. Dates: March 25th and May 20th   Cost: FREE for current NYCON Nonprofit Members; $79 for Non-Members   Register ________________________________________________________________ What You Can Expect:   Participants for "live" webinars on date(s) selected are provided with the opportunity to get specific questions addressed by legal experts quickly. All webinar attendees will have access to a recording of the event and the webinar slides.  All webinar attendees will have access to a comprehensive overview of the Act, compiled by NYCON's expert staff. A recording of the webinar will be made available to NYCON Members for six months. Additional Documents, Tools & Phone Assistance Available to Members as follows:     Documents & Templates to assist your organization with the compliance process, produced by the NYCON Legal Department, will be available to members for $79. Documents, Tools & Templates plus additional assistance via phone to help with implementation can be purchased by members for $259 (includes two hours of phone assistance.) Direct technical assistance above and beyond this can be provided to members at our normal legal fee-for-service rate. Please contact us with any questions you have about the webinars or the Nonprofit Revitalizaton Act.

Nonprofit Revitalization Act Information The Nonprofit Revitalization Actmakes a number of key reforms to New York law in two main areas:    -Enhancing nonprofit governance and oversight to prevent fraud and improve public trust; and    -Reducing unnecessary and outdated burdens on nonprofits. "The Nonprofit Revitalization Act represents significant and much needed reform," according to Doug Sauer, NYCON's CEO. "Everyone involved is to be congratulated for making this landmark piece of legislation happen. Given that the Act does not take effect until July 1, 2014, there is ample time to review and make any necessary amendments. NYCON looks forward to continuing our partnership with the Sponsors of the Act throughout the amendment process."  Upcoming NYCON "Lunch & Learn" Webinars      3/25/2014 Nonprofit Revitalization Act Compliance: Part 2 3/28/2014 "Get to Know Us": NYCON Membership Benefits Orientation [Webinar] 3/28/2014 Conducting a Governance Self Assessment [Webinar]

Nonprofit Revitalization Acts Webinars Announced

Complying with the Nonprofit Revitalization Act:  A Practical Webinar Series for New York Nonprofits Presented by David Watson, Esq, Sr. VP of Legal Accountability Services, NYCON and Michael West, Esq., Legal Advisor, NYCON  Various Dates: February 2014 - June 2014  The Nonprofit Revitalization Act is a landmark change in the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York that will usher in a modern era for the operation and governance of nonprofit corporations starting on July 1, 2014. Here at the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. (NYCON) we eagerly anticipated the updated statutes and have prepared two practical webinars (to be repeated from February through June) designed to help address your immediate needs in complying with the new law. We will cover the updating of your bylaws, governance issues, materials and more. We encourage all Members to take advantage of these free webinars. Part 1: New  York Nonprofit Revitalization Act Part- Steps To Compliance - An Overview   This session will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the Act as well as a plenary Q/A portion. Webinar to be held in February, April & June - and will be updated accordingly if there are any changes to the law.  This session will provide you with a practical set of actions to take to amend your bylaws to meet the new standards of the Act. Dates: February 27th, April 24th, June 26th  Cost: FREE for current NYCON Nonprofit Members; $79 for Non-Members  Register       Part 2: New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act: Implementing Your Compliance Checklist - Whistleblower, Conflict of Interest, Committees & Executive Compensation: To be held in March and May, this webinar will be more detailed and will focus on the various topics included in the Act that are new and have implications on compliance and board governance in general and your operations specifically. Dates: March 25th and May 20th   Cost: FREE for current NYCON Nonprofit Members; $79 for Non-Members   Register ________________________________________________________________ What You Can Expect:   Participants for "live" webinars on date(s) selected are provided with the opportunity to get specific questions addressed by legal experts quickly. All webinar attendees will have access to a recording of the event and the webinar slides.  All webinar attendees will have access to a comprehensive overview of the Act, compiled by NYCON's expert staff. A recording of the webinar will be made available to NYCON Members for six months. Additional Documents, Tools & Phone Assistance Available to Members as follows:     Documents & Templates to assist your organization with the compliance process, produced by the NYCON Legal Department, will be available to members for $79. Documents, Tools & Templates plus additional assistance via phone to help with implementation can be purchased by members for $259 (includes two hours of phone assistance.) Direct technical assistance above and beyond this can be provided to members at our normal legal fee-for-service rate. Please contact us with any questions you have about the webinars or the Nonprofit Revitalizaton Act.