Resource Library

This discussion will address the Yates Memorandum, which emphasizes the US Department of Justice’s intent to hold individuals more accountable for organizational misconduct. We will talk about its implications and potential impact on global companies, particularly in the life sciences and healthcare industries. The discussion will address the recent Warner indictment as an example of Yates Memorandum enforcement in practice and provide recommendations on best practices to avoid such risks.

This interactive session will take participants through a case study involving a traditional business trying to compete with a disruptive online competitor. Faculty will guide attendees to identify ways in which the traditional business could use disruptive technology in its own operations and will focus on the legal issues that the traditional business must resolve to migrate to more innovative service offerings. Key issues discussed will include: How can the traditional business learn from its disruptive competitors to become more flexible? What regulatory issues could impact the transformed business? Is the new business proposition lawful? What is the applicable legal framework for the business? How will the traditional business implement the new arrangements (i.e., can the transformation be carried out in-house or will external resources be required)? What will be the key legal challenges in the operation of the transformed business?

The majority of new companies started in the United States will fail. Some estimates say as many as nine out of every 10 new businesses will fail. This is a staggering statistic! This panel will delve into what in-house counsel need to know if their place of business starts failing. What role does in-house counsel play in sounding the alarm bells and letting others know that bankruptcy may be the best idea? What are the differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 when it comes to a business bankruptcy? What are the disclosure obligations when the company cannot meet current expenses? When and to whom should disclosure be made – board of directors, vendors, employees, regulators? What are the operational issues as insolvency approaches? This panel will discuss what to expect if your company fails, the legal pitfalls to avoid to protect everyone involved, and how involved an in-house lawyer should be in the wind-down process. The panel will also address what in-house counsel need to know when a vendor or customer is going through the bankruptcy process.

Managing internal investigations and government investigations is an important skill set for in-house counsel. This panel discussion will focus on best practices for internal investigations and for dealing with government investigations. Internal investigation topics will include investigation strategies, best practices for dealing with employees, and information and use of outside counsel. Government investigation topics will include investigation strategies, establishment of a "dawn raid" protocol, use of outside counsel, and involvement of corporate affairs/public relations experts.

Contract Playbooks – Gain a better understanding of how introducing innovative contract negotiation and contracting process playbooks in to your organization can support the optimization of the commercial contracting lifecycle. Data Analytics – Learn how measuring and analyzing contract data helps increase process efficiency, optimize contract content and promote better contract performance. Understand how data analytics is defined in commercial contracting and what information needs to be extracted and reported on to develop analytics. What conclusions and benefits can this analytics provide? Contract Triage – The contract triage process is not merely about allocating tasks to the right skill level, but also adjusting your risk appetite. Understand how to insert triaging into your contract management processes.

Too often we overlook provisions in contracts that we consider customary or “boilerplate” and non-negotiable. This program examines standard contract provisions and challenges the audience to look at them more critically from a litigator’s perspective. The interactive program dissects contract provisions that have hidden traps and provides tips on better risk management with an in-depth look at non-assignment clauses, liability limitations, merger clauses, choice of law clauses and other similar provisions.

Initiative Profile Example

If your organization uses third-party software, it is likely that your use of the software will be audited. This session will discuss strategies and best practices for tracking your organization’s licensing, use, and distribution of third-party software, including open source. The panel will provide practical advice and guidance for establishing and maintaining a robust entitlement and deployment program for tracking your organization’s licensing, use, and distribution of third-party software. The panel will include best practices for responding to and managing a third-party audit request and provide strategies and guidelines for developing and implementing a process for responding to and managing a software license audit. The panel will review and discuss resources and tools available to assist with identifying and tracking use and deployment of third-party software, including review of commercial software asset management tools and practices.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been quite active. Attend this session to learn more about the most recent changes in the law (stark, off-campus hospital services, etc.) and what in-house counsel can look forward to in the year ahead.

As in-house counsel, you provide your outside counsel with some of your company's most highly sensitive information. Your company may have robust procedures for evaluating other third-party vendors with access to company data, but often with respect to law firms, the procurement process is left solely to in-house counsel. Do you know what your law firms are doing to protect that information from cyber attacks and other disclosures? Even if you consider your company to be at low risk for cyber incidents, can the same be said of your law firms? This discussion will explore the issue of law firm data security - how to address the issue when retaining a new firm or raise the issue with an existing firm. The panel will also discuss what policies and processes should be applied inside the legal department to meet in-house counsel's ethical obligations under Rule 1.6 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.