Psychopaths make up 1% to 4% of the population. While serial killers tend to get the most press, psychopaths in the workplace are a common and pervasive problem, especially when in leadership positions. This presentation will discuss the unique characteristics of corporate psychopaths and how their manipulative and deceptive behavior can devastate co-workers and businesses. This is an issue that needs to be on every business’ radar screen.

The presentation will discuss the personality disorder of psychopathy and how frequently psychopaths infiltrate the corporate world. The discussion will highlight the personality traits of the psychopath, including corporate executives, who deceives and manipulates victims and will cover the professions with the highest percentages of psychopaths. Trends in the corporate world unfortunately nurture this type of disorder and every business should be familiar with the telltale signs of a psychopath in its midst. Learn specific interview techniques designed to detect psychopaths, whether evaluating onboarding a new hire or investigating alleged malfeasance by an employee. Tips will be provided on how to best interview individuals to detect lying and withstand the manipulation. Exercising professional skepticism is paramount and detection of a corporate psychopath could save your company and prevent the flight of good employees.

Specific discussion points will include:

• How to identify the specific traits of a corporate psychopath
• A discussion of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist to detect psychopaths
• How to distinguish among different types of personality disorders
• Types of functional psychopaths in the corporate world
• What fearless dominance is and how this is present even among our presidents
• Top 10 Careers with the most psychopaths
• Why psychopaths successfully infiltrate the corporate world
• Identifying factors in the corporate world that permit psychopaths to prosper
• How to detect a psychopath
• How to best interview a psychopath
• How to best interview individuals to detect psychopathic traits.
• How to know when someone is lying
• How to assist your business to avoid hiring a psychopath
• What businesses and firms can do to prevent organizational problems from psychopaths

This activity is worth one (1) hour of general CLE unit

Zoom information will be distributed before the event via email.

Kathy Bazoian Phelps, Esq., has been a lawyer since 1991 and is currently a partner at Raines Feldman LLP in the Los Angeles office. Kathy practices in the area of insolvency law, fiduciary representation, and fraud litigation, and she serves as serving as a fiduciary herself. Kathy’s practice includes representing federal equity and state court receivers and bankruptcy trustees, as well as serving as a receiver and trustee herself. Kathy frequently serves as special litigation counsel for fiduciaries and interested parties in fraud-related litigation or cases arising out of receivership and bankruptcy cases and parallel criminal and civil forfeiture proceedings. She is particularly knowledgeable about the administration of Ponzi scheme cases and has extensive litigation experience in claims arising in these types of cases.  

Kathy has lectured widely and written on bankruptcy and receivership matters, with a focus on Ponzi schemes. Her book entitled The Ponzi Book: A Legal Resource for Unraveling Ponzi Schemes, co-authored with Hon. Steven Rhodes, has garnered national and international attention as the authoritative work on Ponzi scheme law.  

In addition to her roles as lawyer, speaker and author, Kathy also serves as a mediator and is currently on the mediation and arbitration rosters for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as well as the Bankruptcy Mediation Panel for the Central District of California and the Bankruptcy Mediation Panel for the District of Arizona.

Some of her principal publications include:

• The Ponzi Book: A Legal Resource for Unraveling Ponzi Schemes. co-authored with Hon. Steven Rhodes (Ret.) (LexisNexis® 2012)

• Ponzi-Proof Your Investments: An Investor’s Guide to Avoiding Ponzi Schemes and Other Fraudulent Scams (IRR Publishing 2013)

• Fraud and Forensics: Piercing Through the Deception in a Commercial Fraud Case, co-author (American Bankruptcy Institute 2015)

• The Depths Of Deepening Insolvency: Damage Exposure For Officers, Directors and Others, co-authored with Prof. Jack F. Williams (American Bankruptcy Institute 2013)

• Author of The Ponzi Scheme Blog at www.theponzischemeblog.com

CCBA Event Chair

Camilla Y. Chan is a Partner at Raines Feldman LLP and serves on the CCBA Board of Governors as Treasurer.