Legal Brief: The Perils of Deceptive Sales

March 21, 2024
Security Business Magazine

Types : Bylined Articles

With Vivint’s first appeal of a massive punitive judgment denied, it is important to understand the ramifications

As a lawyer, part of my job is to rain on everyone’s parade and tell them the limits of the law. Every good lawyer does this, and sometimes, those receiving the advice heed it. Sometimes not.

In large sales organizations, there is often tension between what sales personnel want to do and what the lawyers tell them they are permitted to do. Security integrators are not exempt from this reality – because, at their core, they want to make sales.

Their lawyers want them to make sales too, but within the bounds of the law. Some companies in our industry have run afoul of this balance, and based on current developments in the law, it appears those consequences can be severe. So it was for security-giant Vivint Smart Home in a recent case in federal court in North Carolina.