Resource Library

How do you keep track of intellectual property (IP) assets, decide what to educate staff on IP matters regarding infringement, and choose when to seek protections regarding copyright, trademark or patent protection? What can the non-specialist do in-house, and when do you need to go to outside counsel? How do you budget for IP matters? This program will focus on the operational IP legal function — not on the basics of what is a copyright or trademark. Attend this panel to discuss different models of IP management for small law departments and nonprofits, including managing international IP and enforcement of IP against members and volunteers.

As we have learned, disaster can strike anywhere and at any time, and when it does, it is usually too late to plan for it. This program will focus on the role of a company’s legal department in the planning and execution of a successful crisis management program. This panel will contemplate what worked and what didn’t work at several companies following a natural or unexpected disaster, including unexpected challenges, contingency planning that was ineffective and things that were learned as a result of having to “work on the fly.”

Whether you call it a workshop, clinic, debate or something else, this program will be interactive. The program presents two negotiation scenarios. The first scenario will include a negotiation involving a software company and a vendor. The second scenario is similar but includes a product company and a vendor. Each scenario will take the audience through a role-play exercise of negotiation, focusing on the key IP provisions (indemnity, warranty, ownership, choice of law, etc.) of a contract, and will provide valuable insight from both the customer’s and vendor’s viewpoints as to the importance of and need for those particular provisions in a contract.

The agenda for Proxy Season 2013 included: pay for performance, including peer group construction methodology and realizable pay; board responsiveness to shareholder proposals; pledging, hedging and margin accounts; special issues for Canadian pay for performance; European policy updates; and board tenure in Hong Kong and Singapore. This panel will consider the handling of these issues and the lessons learned from 2013 for best practices going into the next proxy season.

Some agency regulators or enforcement authorities will request your client’s privileged communications. This session will explore the circumstances under which your business runs the risk of that exposure and how your company can respond. The panel will discuss how regulators and enforcement authorities now approach privileged communications; what the approaches imply for how in-house counsel should communicate with their clients; and from the perspective of an enforcement authority, what options in-house counsel have in responding to requests for privileged information.

Take the next step into the future of "work anywhere" technology. Learn practical ways to use your iPad in your daily practice. Explore the opportunities, risks, and huge rewards you can reap. Presenters will explain how to use the iPad in all kinds of practices, offer their "top picks" for legal apps, and discuss the challenges and limitations you may face including ethical, data security, and privacy issues. Learn about other online resources that can aid you in your electronic journey. Panelists will also discuss the current obstacles to using your iPad as a “laptop replacer,” and how the marketplace is rapidly removing those obstacles via new platforms that promise to “merge” the laptop and tablet into an entirely new tool.

Included in this Briefing Package are: “Meet. Talk. Act.” -- how clients and firms can get started; Covenant with Counsel -- basic principles for discussion and; A Project Summary -- backgrounder outlining the ACC Value Challenge.

Hear the latest news and views from current and former ACC leaders about life in the legal industry from the corporate and government perspective. First off, learn firsthand what it’s like to move from being the general counsel of a large corporation to general counsel of one of the largest US government agencies, the Department of Homeland Security. What leadership lessons are transferable from the private sector to the public sector, and how does one successfully navigate the maze "inside the Beltway"? What are the daily challenges, trials and tribulations involved in overseeing over 1,700 attorneys? Next up, participate in an interactive town hall discussion on current events affecting your work today. Key discussion points will touch on cyber-security, disaster preparedness and crisis management, immigration reform, and financial reform. What’s the hot topic of the moment? Who knows, anything could happen.

Becoming too much like the anachronistic, rules-laden court system it was meant to displace, commercial arbitration is no longer the most efficient and effective way to resolve disputes. In-house counsel increasingly complain that arbitration now looks and feels like a court case, but without the same rights of appeal. This panel, composed of in-house counsel and other lawyers in the arbitration space, will focus on how to return commercial arbitration to its roots as a speedy and cost-effective counterpart to the judicial system.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforcement history has been more aggressive in the last two years than at any other time in the agency's history. This program will provide specific recommendations to in-house counsel in advising their companies on OSHA compliance. The number of "significant" (i.e., "really big penalty") OSHA citations has increased by 30 percent, and the average penalty for "serious violations" has more than doubled from the 2010 levels. Our panel will provide guidance on the critical elements of an effective safety and health compliance program, and how the application of these elements can reduce legal exposure and improve employee safety. The use of safety metrics, incentive programs, audits, key compliance programs and OSHA's targeting programs will be fleshed out.