Industrial catastrophes rarely occur at convenient or expected times. Corporations are faced with numerous potentially conflicting challenges, priorities and demands such as injured or dead workers; facility and equipment damage; toxic releases; governmental investigations; negative publicity; possible criminal charges; and civil litigation. Preparation cannot wait until such an event takes place—proper planning can reduce corporate exposure arising from such events. Program attendees will have a greater knowledge of the multitude of issues likely to arise from an industrial catastrophe. They will be better versed in the appropriate steps to prepare for worse case scenarios and avoid unnecessary challenges after the event.
This article examines Knorr-Bremse's ramifications on the affirmative duty of care to respect the patent rights of others and exculpatory opinions in general, as well as the ruling's effect on in-house patent counsel who want to advise management on potential infringements. Includes recommendations on how in-house patent counsel can effectively meet the affirmative duty of care imposed by Underwater Devices.
Demands for email, hard drives, and backup tapes are now standard in almost every case. When does an obligation attach to preserve these documents? How do you search for them, while maintaining privilege and work product protections? This excerpt of a recent roundtable discussion provides the key to the complex world of electronic discovery.
This policy aims to help employees understand how the company's business practices, guidelines and policies apply to social media.
We’ve all been there — swamped, in a new job and not knowing where to start. Hear veterans tell their war stories and the top five things they did (or wish they did) in their first year in-house.
This paper is a presentation by the ACC Houston Chapter on software audit.
Brief overview of software copyright enforcement in the European Union and EU jurisdictions.
This Wisdom of the Crowd (ACC members' discussion), provides insight from ACC members regarding contract management systems. Topics discussed include choosing the right product for your law department/company and, building your own system. The resource compiles responses posted on the forums of several ACC Networks: IT, Privacy & eCommerce, New to In-house, and Small Law Departments.
With one of the fastest dockets in the country and broad injunctive relief at its disposal, the ITC has become a prominent forum for patent infringement suits. Here's what you need to know about how your company can take advantage of the benefits of an ITC investigation versus patent litigation in federal court.
Summarizes the nature of the new security requirements arising from new regulations and provides an outline for preventing "the Monday morning horror" for your client, with special attention to the unique needs of the law department residing within the corporation.
This is a sample group and hotel sales agreement.
This article describes three principles: strategy, experience, and teamwork (SET). While aiding you in framing the oncoming issues, each element builds upon and is influenced by the next.
Ride-sharing company Uber has achieved staggering success, now boasting 300,000 drivers worldwide. But are these drivers employees, or are they independent contractors? This distinction has lead to complex litigation for the company, and has brought up key questions about how new forms of employment are protected under current laws.
Current studies show that most European companies have yet to implement effective antitrust programs. However, to encourage compliance, the German Institute for Compliance (DICO) and the German Association of Supply Chain Management, Procurement, and Logistics recently published an English version of the DICO Guideline — with the goal of providing guidance for European companies looking to prevent violations.
Faced with increasing regulatory enforcement following the release of the Panama Papers and settlements from the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, companies are increasingly looking to the legal department to mitigate risk. By reviewing the client intake process, in-house counsel will gain a broader understanding of the company’s compliance requirements and ensure that a partnership doesn’t inadvertently lead to a crisis.
When it was revealed that employees at Wells Fargo illegally issued nearly two million unauthorized checking and savings accounts, many wondered: How could such a large company overlook a fraudulent act of this magnitude? By learning from the missteps at Wells Fargo, in-house counsel can learn key strategies to prevent a similar scandal from arriving on the company doorstep.
Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of new data privacy laws in Asia. While certain countries like Malaysia do not actively police their own privacy laws, a number of others, including Singapore, have substantially increased enforcement actions.
Fools rush in when conducting business in Japan. Rather than race through a deal, most Japanese employers value group consensus decision-making — and the same is true for creating contracts and finalizing negotiations with outside parties. After learning the basics of Japanese business etiquette, in-house counsel will discover why patience truly is a virtue.
As in-house counsel, you know you need to excel at negotiating with the other side. But to be a great lawyer, you must also excel in your interactions with your own side — your internal clients.
In San Luis Potosí, Mexico, one maquiladora — a factory owned by a non-Mexican entity — was served with a US$20 million dollar lawsuit for a breach of contract. What ensued afterward was an extensive uphill litigation battle, requiring thorough due diligence from the in-house legal team to ensure a positive result. Here’s what happened.
By transforming your legal organization in business interaction, focus, structure and staffing, you can maximize the opportunity to use legal resources to create significant positive value and advance company strategy. A hybrid model allows both functional expertise and alignment with the various business units.
Overworked? Busy putting out fire after fire? Perhaps too much of your time is being sucked into the vacuum of litigation. Learn how to take advantage of the window of opportunity that opens early in the litigation process, before a suit is even file, to apply a new negotiation model that allows your company o deal compassionately, and fairly, with litigants.
This article offers a step-by-step guide on how to apply creative thinking to solve even the most impossible challenge.
How do corporate counsel successfully meet the challenges of the modern legal department? This article has an answer which comes in the form of change management. A successful change management effort challenges the what, why and how of the way the legal department conducts its business. Change is inevitable — process improvement, metrics and benchmarking, once seen as innovative, are the new norm. Don’t be left behind; learn what you can do to get on the change team.
Managing a business dispute in China requires foresight at the time of a deal; potential issues can often be spotted during initial negotiation meetings. Most important, the key for any foreigner doing business in china is to appreciate the cultural, historical and political differences that create a dynamic, if not challenging, business landscape. This article offers practical tips to assist you in preparing and executing a deal, avoiding dispute, and how to tackle a dispute should one arise.
Whether you receive raw materials or goods from China, provide services to foreign clients, or ship products to customers around the world, your company is subject to an intricate system of overlapping laws that control the movement of goods, information and services, and regulate cross-border transactions. The laws cover everything from importing products that don’t conform to electrical standards to exporting products to an entity on a government restricted party list to accepting funds from a sanctioned country.
Legal hold and data protection requirements are evolving, and with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implementation on the horizon, new tensions are arising for multinational corporations trying to maintain compliance with both.
The last 25 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has offered a lot to reflect upon. And without question, it has been a bit of a wild ride. Congress, objecting to the narrow interpretation of the ADA, stepped in nearly 20 years later to make the statute apply to pretty much everyone. So now that we have that all settled, what’s next?
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