12 Dec 11 The Green Portfolio Project
The Green Portfolio Program was created in 2008 to try and reduce waste of products and energy by the company Kohlberg Kravis Robers & Co. (KKR). Ken Mehlman began this project and it had early success leading to breakthroughs into markets outside of the United States. Currently two companies are participating in the program outside the U.S. which makes it a Global portfolio.
This program has only been running for two years but has already saved approximately 16 million dollars. The first companies to be involved with Ken Mehlman and KKR were Sealy, U.S. Foodservice, and Primedia. These trailblazing companies accumulated the over 16 million in savings which sparked the interest of many more companies.
To join the program this year will be companies such as: Dollar General, SunGard Data Systems, Biomet Inc., and Accelent Inc. The way the businesses are saving money is by eliminating unnecessary chemical use, paper use, energy use, and water consumption. These areas not only decrease the amount of waste the impact of the environment but also save the companies a great deal of money on their bottom lines. The financial incentives alone were enough to get more companies on board with the Green Portfolio Project. These companies can now market themselves as environmentally friendly businesses with a strong interest is conserving resources and eliminating waste.
Ken Mehlman is the spokesperson for the organization KKR and is a strong leader when it comes to good business and what is good for the environment. He believes there is a connection between how the environment is doing and how the business is doing. One cannot truly succeed while the other is directly failing as a result. This philosophy appears to be gaining popularity and support as new metrics of measurement are being made and results are being published.
The news of how the company performed in 2009 should be coming out fairly soon. With the addition of the several other companies this year the savings figure is rumored to be even greater than in 2008. It is unfathomable to think that a company that spends 20% of its portfolio on the green portfolio project is seeing such a high return on their investment. It truly pays to factor the environment into business decisions. What’s good for mother earth seems to be good for business ventures.
22 Nov 09 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: the Family Court Jurisdiction
The famous Mark Cimini, challenges the jurisdiction of the Probate and Family Court over certain family law matters in Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Appealed From SJC for Suffolk County, Justice Robert J. Cordy on September 5, 2007
28 Aug 09 Subject Matter Jurisdiction versus Personal Jurisdiction
Personal Jurisdiction and Subject Matter Jurisdiction are legal terms-of-art that have tormented law students for hundreds of years. Conceptually, the authority of a court is something that most people don’t think about. For the average citizen, if you get a ticket that says to be at court, you show up. You don’t care whether the court you are going to is the right one for the offense and usually don’t question the authority of the court over you.
Jurisdiction is easier to think about if you put it into a more familiar context. Most people watch movies and televisions shows where the local law enforcement officers (LEO’s) are telling the federal officers from the FBI, CIA, or MIB (Men in Black), that they will not be, “putting up with that juris-my-diction crap.” Jurisdiction is what gives the local police authority over a particular case; and what gives the federal government authority over the LEO’s in some cases.
The legal community (as opposed to the law enforcement community) is much the same. As there are different law enforcement agencies comprising: transit security, city police, county sheriff, Federal agencies; there are different court systems comprising: Administrative hearing boards, Municipal/County District Court, Municipal/County Superior Court, and the Federal Courts.
The determination of which court hears what case is determined by Subject Matter Jurisdiction. Federal courts only have a “limited” subject matter jurisdiction. It can hear only certain kinds of cases, such as those that involve a federal crime or when there is diversity of citizenship. State courts have “general” subject matter jurisdiction and can hear most any case presented in the state. These general jurisdiction courts are further broken down by city/county lines, amount in controversy limits, and subject matter.
Personal jurisdiction is radically different. Personal jurisdiction concerns the circumstances under which a court has authority to make decisions binding on a particular party. It would be like forcing the LEO’s or the Feds to prove they can arrest you! In cop shows, this is easy—the bad-guy commits a crime, therefore jurisdiction exists to arrest said bad-guy. However, a court cannot hear a case unless it has established “personal” or “territorial” jurisdiction over the parties to a suit. A court may only have personal jurisdiction over a Defendant if it can establish a valid connection or nexus between the Defendant and a state; such as domicile, conducting business, or committing a crime.
