James Merrill
 Born
in 1961, Son of a traditional American couple, James Merrill graduated
in the class of 1985 in economics at Westfield State University. Man of
great vision, he saw a large market at meeting some Brazilians and
learning how much they spent to call Brazil. Knowledgeable of a new
technology at the time (VoIP) decided to found in 2002 Telexfree Inc. to
serve this market. The credits in VoIP were sold in rechargeable cards,
a huge success, which was later directed to diverse communities in
other countries, thus Telexfree was growing with each passing year.
Today the company already has thousands of users of its system of voice
over IP technology (VoIP) within the United States and several other
countries, continuing its investments to further enhance its
borders.Always following his pioneer instinct, Mr. James Merrill before
his latest challenge, launch in Brazil his so dreamed project that joins
simply two huge markets, ADVERTISING & COMMUNICATION. |
Gerald P Nehra
Gerald P. Nehra,
of Muskegon, Michigan, is an MLM Specialist Attorney at Law, licensed
in the states of Michigan, New York, Colorado and the US Federal Courts.
His 42 years of legal experience include 8 years on the IBM Legal
Staff, and 9 years as the Director of the Amway Corporation Legal
Division. His private law practice was established in 1992 andnow
Nehra&Waak, Attorneys at Law, exclusively serves the legal needs of
direct selling companies. The firm is on retainer to TelexFREE to
protect its legal interests in the area of the firm specialty.Mr. Nehra
is an Attorney in private practice in Muskegon, Michigan. He is one of a
very few attorneys nationwide whose practice is devoted exclusively to
direct selling and multi-level marketing issues. His 34 years of legal
experience includes 9 years at Amway Corporation where he was Director
of the Legal Division.
ADMITTED IN:
- Michigan, 1970; New York, 1972; and Colorado, 1992.
- Federal Courts in Michigan, 1970; and New York, 1972.
- Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1976.
CAREER EXPERIENCE:
- Private practice attorney, specifically focused on direct sales and
multi-level marketing issues, August 1992 to date. Representative
clients include Amsoil, Ardyss, Bing Han, Dove Chocolate, Eniva,
Essentially Yours, Financial Destination, Gano Excel, Isagenix, Life
Plus, Orovo, Pinnacle Communications, Wachters’ Organic Sea Products,
and ViSalus Sciences.
- Vice President – Legal and Human Resources, The Fuller Brush
Company, November 1991 to August 1992 when, at my request, I became
independent outside counsel for the company.
- Director – Legal Division, Amway Corporation. Began in September of
1982 as Deputy Chief Attorney and became head of the Legal Division in
1984, continuing through October 1991. Added responsibilities included
Assistant Secretary in 1984, Profit Sharing Trustee in 1986, and
Corporate Secretary in 1991.
- Vice President, General Counsel, Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (The Arm & Hammer Company), 1979-1982.
- Attorney, Staff Attorney, Senior Attorney, and Regional Counsel,
International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, 1971-1979, at
locations in Armonk, New York, Owego, New York, and Franklin Lakes, New
Jersey.
- Sales Representative and Systems Engineer, IBM, Dearborn, Michigan,
assigned to the Ford Motor Company account, May 1967 to June 1971.
EXPERT WITNESS CREDENTIALS:
Have counseled and testified on many
legal issues of direct selling, including comprehensive evaluations of
business plans, and whether they meet the legal standards established in
the landmark FTC v. Amway case and cases which followed. Have analyzed
in detail the differences and legal significance of plan design,
controlled by the company, and plan implementation, where distributor
conduct is often the challenge. Gave testimony on direct selling legal
issues in Herbalife v. McCormack, Dunda v. Mary Kay, Florida v.
P.R.S.I., FTC v. Trek Alliance, and International Galleries Inc. v.
LaRaza.
MULTI-LEVEL SPECIFICS:
- Handled the legal and personnel issues for conversion of the
single-level direct sales organization to a multi-level system at Fuller
Brush. Issues included marketing plan legal review and necessary
modification, sales force transition and conversion, literature review,
sales training rules and ethics enforcement, advertising guidelines,
product line selection and pricing, and creation of a distributor
advisory board.
- Negotiated multi-level compliance issues, including Consent Orders
and Assurances of Voluntary Compliance, with the Attorney General
Offices in numerous states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and
Wisconsin.
- Took immediate corrective action with a high ranking distributor for
practices that put an entire program in jeopardy in the state of
Florida.
- Meet and speak regularly with corporate officers and top
distributors to evaluate progress of programs, listen to recommendations
for adjustments and discuss and advise on future plans.
- Processed through to completion more than 350 trademark applications for numerous clients.
WHILE AT AMWAY:
- Directed the corporate legal function, including counsel to senior
management and subsidiaries. Hired and managed outside counsel, and
advised on legal issues associated with corporate operating and
corporate planning decisions.
- As Corporate Secretary, attended to all matters of corporate
governance and corporate structure for the parent corporation and over
70 subsidiaries.
- Negotiated with the FTC, FDA, CPSC, and other agencies regarding
Amway’s products and services and Sales Plan positioning. Reviewed and
modified labels and literature to comply with regulatory requirements.
- Managed the patent function and over 4000 trademark registrations in over 31 countries.
- Built an in-house litigation capability by hiring and supervising
two litigators and three paralegals, significantly reducing outside
counsel expenses. Actively managed counsel outside Michigan and
second-chaired two distributor related litigations, a two week trial to a
successful jury verdict and a three day non-jury trial to favorable
disposition.
- Advised Amway’s Nutrilite Products Inc. subsidiary on food
supplement product positioning, claims platforms, literature, and
avoidance of drug claims.
- Resolved a serious challenge with Dominican Republic Customs
regarding duty valuation on imports through personal negotiation and the
creation of a sales and warehousing subsidiary in-country.
- Managed the government affairs function, including monitoring
legislation and lobbying pending bills at the state and federal level.
- Implemented and administered the Conciliation and Enforcement
Procedures for distributor to distributor and distributor to corporation
disputes.
- Resolved favorably civil and criminal charges brought against the
company and a distributor by the Canadian Government for claims made in
sales literature.
TEACHING/LECTURES:
- Presented the Legal Issues segment at each New Amway Direct Distributor Seminar.
- Frequent guest speaker on direct selling legal issues at seminars
and forums, averaging over 10 per year for the last 10 years, at events
hosted by clients and industry associations.
PUBLICATIONS:
Antitrust Law Developments, ABA Press, 1975, (Contributor)
Legal Issues of Side-Line Businesses, Amway, 1985
‘Give Your MLM ‘The Test” Emerald Coast News, 1992
‘Amway Case from the Price Fixing Prospective,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘Pyramid or Ponzi’ MLM Insider Newsletter, 1995
‘Trademark Use Guidelines,’ Mlmatty.com, Newsletter Volume 8
‘The Intrinsic Value Position Paper’ MLM Insider Newsletter, February, 1998
‘Don’t-Even Think About It,’ Mlmatty.com, Newsletter Volume 18
‘Who are the PARTICIPANTS,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘What is Direct Selling PRIMARILY About?’ Direct Selling Today, October, 1998
‘RAMBLINGS OF A TIRED LAWYER,’ Mlmatty.com, Newsletter Volume 19
‘How Confidential are Names and Addresses?’ Direct Sales Journal, October, 2000
‘Prohibited Activity,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘Business Opportunity – What do the Words Mean?’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘Are Two-Tier Affiliate Programs Multi-level Marketing,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘The ABC’s of MLM 2000,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘Looking Past the Paper,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘Paperless Signup,’ www.mlmatty.com website
‘The Thinkin’ Needs Fixin” Network Marketing Business Journal, October 2003
‘Are They Worth It?’ Network Marketing Business Journal, October 2004
‘Coupons, Vouchers, Gift Certificates, and Down Payments,’ My NetBrief, October 2004
‘PONZI, THE PERSON,’ Network Marketing Business Journal, December 2004
BUILD IT BIG – 101 INSIDER TIPS from TOP DIRECT SELLING EXPERTS, Dearborn Trade Press, 2004 (Contributor)
‘THE MICHIGAN SINGLE BUSINESS TAX – MLMs BEWARE,’ Network Marketing Business Journal, February 2005
‘Another Look at Commissions on Sales Aids’ Network Marketing Business Journal, July 2005
‘About AGENTS’ Network Marketing Business Journal, August 2005
‘Database Confidentiality’ Network Marketing News, September 2005.
‘What is M/L/M? – My Biased View’ Network Marketing Business Journal, January 2006
‘Gifting Programs – - Stay Away!’ Network Marketing Business Journal, March 2006
‘Business Volume – Its Critical Importance’ Network Marketing Business Journal, April 2006
‘FTC – What Were You Thinking?’ Network Marketing Business Journal, August 2006, and filed with the Federal Trade Commission
‘Company Names as Trademarks’ Network Marketing Business Journal, October 2006
‘Where to Incorporate” Network Marketing Business Journal, July 2007
‘The Michigan Business Tax ‘Super-Sized” Network Marketing Business Journal, February 2008
‘Louisiana – It’s Different Down There’ Network Marketing Business Journal, June 2008
EDUCATION:
- J.D. 1970, Michigan State University College of Law, (formerly Detroit College of Law) top 15 percent.
- B.I.E. 1962, Kettering University, Flint Michigan (formerly General Motors Institute)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:
- A.B.A., and State and Federal Bars in Michigan, New York, and Colorado.
- Professional Association for Network Marketing.
- Direct Selling Association (DSA-US), Supplier Member.
- DSA, Lawyers Council and Government Relations Committee.
- Direct Sellers Association Canada, Supplier Member.
- Multi-Level Marketing International Association, Board Member.
- Direct Selling Women’s Alliance, Support Member.
- Distributor Rights Association, Support Member.
23.16
Unknown
TelexFREE Inc.
adalah perusahaan telekomunikasi berbasis VoIP (Voice Over Internet
Protocol) yang telah melakukan bisnisnya selama 13 tahun di Brazil
tepatnya di Av. Ns. dos Navegantes, 451 – Petro Tower, sl. 2003. – Enseada do Suá, Vitória – ES, 29050-445. TelexFree mulai dipasarkan secara network marketing pada bulan Januari 2012, pemilik perusahaan TelexFREE adalah Mr. James Merrill.
Selain
menjual layanan VoIP, TelexFree juga bergerak di bidang properti dan
telah bekerjasama dengan jaringan perusahaan hotel ternama, TelexFREE
memiliki target untuk membangun 500 hotel hingga tahun 2016 ini dan pada
bulan November 2012 TelexFREE telah menyelesaikan pembangunan hotel
pertamanya yaitu Hotel Best Western di Brazil karena pengelolaan
manajemennya dipercayakan kepada Best Western, sebuah perusahaan
manajemen hotel yang sudah ternama di dunia.
TelexFree
juga meluncurkan TelexCommerce sebuah layanan toko online yang saat ini
baru berlaku di Brazil. TelexFree mempersilakan para promoter dan calon
promoter untuk berkunjung ke kantornya untuk memberikan keyakinan akan
keberadaan perusahaan TelexFree kepada para promoter maupun calon
promoter.
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