In today’s increasingly litigious environment, corporate counsel must be able to navigate their company through class actions and other complex litigations that challenge the very integrity of the company’s goods and services. Such cases are filed every day, and represent billions of dollars of potential liability. You’ll hear from experts, including general counsel of some of the largest companies in the US, who have prevailed in high-stake litigation including defeating efforts to certify nationwide class actions in federal and state courts throughout the US. Our speakers will share their secrets and innovative defense strategies to help you overcome the challenges posed by such high-stakes, difficult cases, to mitigate the potential exposure they represent, and to manage litigation costs.
How do you create enforceable contracts with users of your web site? What happens when users are worldwide? Are privacy policies really contracts and do you need one? What are the major elements of a use agreement? Should you incorporate privacy policies into your use agreement? What issues should you consider when linking to another company’s Internet property?
As business becomes more global, so too should the focus of IP strategy. Our panel of IP experts will focus their discussions on emerging markets, such as China, Singapore, and India as well as developments in more mature markets such as the UK and Germany. Our program will teach you how to use legal IP protections, other than patents, (e.g., trade secrets) to assist a company in protecting its intellectual property, even when IP enforcement laws differ from those of the US.
Law managers must develop the management and relationship skills that aren't taught in law firms or in law school. How can you be more than just a manager and become an effective leader in your department? Here is your chance to learn! Become an expert in developing leadership qualities within your legal department and help improve job satisfaction among your team. Take home methods to become more involved with corporate strategy and committees. Plus receive valuable tips on developing a law department business plan.
What is the connection between the environmental activities of your company and Sarbanes-Oxley or other corporate legal requirements? What does sustainability mean for companies, and what are the current benchmarks for such a company? How can an environmental management system (EMS) be used to identify potential environmental law risk and improve bottom line performance at the same time? What must Board members and senior management know regarding these issues, and how can in-house counsel most effectively communicate that information to them? Take this opportunity to explore these far reaching concepts through open discussion, using hypothetical situations. You'll return home with the practical training you need to deal with potential issues in this area of law and how best to communicate it to your senior management and the board.
In today's business world almost nothing is more important than hiring the right person. Hiring the right person means pre-employment screening and background checks are imperative! Employers are responsible for ensuring: the accuracy of information provided by an applicant, meeting your employer required obligations within the hiring process, preventing turn over, and eliminating employer liability within the hiring process. Failure to conduct appropriate pre-employment screening measures can lead to significant liability and risks. This substantive overview will cover the laws that every employer needs to know and what the company must DO prior to a candidate starting work. This program will include the potential pitfalls under state and federal law, requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the law regarding emerging use of social networking sites, such as MySpace, and Megan's Law lists to screen potential employees.
Many compliance and intellectual property issues faced by corporations require the use of outside private investigation firms. The ethical rules that apply to counsel engaging private investigators need to be considered along with the boundaries of acceptable activity and use of resources. There are also practical aspects to the engagement and management of private investigation firms to ensure compliance with the law and the avoidance of liability and embarrassment to the company and its directors and officers. Take this opportunity to explore the ethical rules that apply to legal counsel engaging private investigators, the activities they may or may not engage in, licensing requirements of private investigative firms, and practical tips for managing the activities of PIs and their subcontractors to control costs, ensure compliance with law and avoid liability and embarrassment to your corporation.
Canadian CCU 2007: Everyone likes to talk about "partnerships" with outside counsel, but often we do not focus on building effective and mutually beneficial relationships. Learn how. Topics included ethical issues and requirements for engagements, billing and cost containment, and legal work product.
Canadian CCU 2007: This fast-paced overview of the basics you need to know to provide legal advice to your marketing and advertising departments will cover legal issues such as regulators and their hot-button issues, how to run a sweepstakes, how to challenge a competitor's ad, claim substantiation and comparative advertising, dealing with emerging mediums such as branded entertainment and blogs, and email and web advertising. Walk away from this exercise with the legal knowledge you need to handle a wide variety of circumstances and the ability to trouble-spot issues before they can become problematic for your company.
Canadian CCU 2007: You can be the smartest and best-educated lawyer in the world, but if you can’t communicate your thoughts and analysis in a useful way all of your intelligence will be of little use. In order to effectively communicate with your in-house client you need to be able to explain legal issues and risk in an understandable way and temper that analysis with good judgment and a thorough understanding of your client’s business needs.
2007 ACCE Annual Conference: The dynamics of today's global economy affect virtually every employer. The issues a company must face are similar from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the solutions often are quite different. Our in-house experts conducted a comparative review of employment law in various jurisdictions and examined such labor topics as integrating the workforce after a merger or acquisition, hiring and firing, obtaining work authorizations, and understanding foreign jurisdiction workplace laws and regulations.
CCU 2007: You deal with these types of documents, most likely on a daily basis but, is your comfort level where it should be on how your company's contracts are negotiated, prepared, and executed? If you are involved in working with contracts, either from the beginning (creating templates) or at the end (handling execution-ready documents or performing due diligence reviews), then this session is for you. In this paralegal track program, a panel of experts will explore the legal issues involved with basic contract design and sample clauses to use, as well as discuss the benefits of using templates and creating standard procedures to implement controlled, uniform review processes.
Whether you think of yourself as a litigator, a regulatory specialist, or a transactional lawyer, as a legal manager you will deal with litigation. Because the costs can be so high, many CEOs and other business managers measure the effectiveness of the law department based on how well the department manages litigation. Learn about the latest issues in managing litigation, to help your company achieve the desired result at the right cost.
A speech before the Federalist Society regarding changes in SEC Sarbanes-Oxley policy and enforcement.
Natural and man-made disasters are now foreseeable events. The events of September 11, 2001 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have made it clear that disasters can have a debilitating effect upon a corporation. Having a business continuity plan which is updated regularly can help any company struck by disaster steady itself and return to normal business in a reduced period of time. Learn what you as a lawyer can do to develop an effective plan for your organization so that the company is prepared for and can survive a disaster.
Globalization has resulted in greatly increased business activity across borders. Many companies that have never practiced international trade are now planning or have already begun to import and export products and materials. The US government is hardening its enforcement stance on trade laws. Fines and penalties are increasing, as are companies' obligations under the law. Every company engaged in international trade should have internal controls in place sufficient to manage the risks inherent in trade. Learn from our panel of seasoned international counsel what you need to know to get an effective program in place within your company that includes how to perform a compliance assessment for international trade activities, organize a trade compliance department, and identify and accomplish key objectives.
Annual Meeting 2006: How can you establish credibility with your management when claiming that expenses are beyond your control? Learn how experienced practitioners have approached and conducted their internal negotiations for resources in the face of business and legal uncertainties. Topics will include making the case for bringing work inside, billing back for time, establishing metrics, using benchmarking effectively, increasing the number and/or experience levels of non-lawyer staff, and using contract or temporary lawyers for specific projects.
No one lawyer can stay on top of all the issues a year can bring, especially in the areas of technology and ecommerce. Never fear, ACC has you covered. Here is the only legal update you’ll need to keep you and your client ahead of the curve on the latest developments in ecommerce and technology law.
This fast-paced overview of everything you need to know to provide legal advice to your marketing and advertising departments and will cover legal issues such as regulators and their hot-button issues, how to run a sweepstakes, how to challenge a competitor's ad, claim substantiation and comparative advertising, dealing with emerging mediums such as branded entertainment and blogs, and email and web advertising. Walk away from this boot camp exercise with the legal knowledge you need to handle a wide variety of circumstances and the ability to trouble-spot issues before they can become problematic for your company.
Annual Meeting 2006: Technology can be a powerful enabler-or an expensive diversion-from the work of a law department. What can you do to increase the prospects that your technology projects will work? How can you make legal knowledge management a reality? In-house practitioners from various law departments will speak candidly about their own projects (i.e., the good, the bad, and the ugly) and how they are managing them. After our presentation, you will understand what legal knowledge management entails, be able to improve your department’s reuse of knowledge, easily recognize the traps, and better appreciate the process required to make implementation of technology successful.
A growing area of regulatory and legislative activity is data security. Aside from legal implications, data breaches can wreak havoc on a business, damaging customer or employee confidence. Most businesses collect and store personal information about their customers or employees. Is your organization prepared not only to safely handle customer and employee data, but also to respond appropriately in the event a problem develops? Learn where the law in this area is headed, and take home a step-by-step guide to best practices in preparing for and responding to data breaches. Plus, you will learn about disclosure and protection of personally identifiable information in unique contexts, including mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, and retail consumer transactions.
Any lawyer faced with negotiating an outsourcing agreement will benefit from both the best practices and practical solutions shared in this session. From the perspectives of experienced in-house counsel for the customer and service provider as well as outside counsel, the presenters will analyze and debate each side of the most contentious, key provisions in outsourcing agreements. Topics include planning for termination with a focus on termination for cause and convenience, benchmarking, material change provisions, and transition assistance requirements; drafting the scope of services to be performed with a focus on the line between in-scope services, on the one hand, and out-of-scope services and potentially costly change orders, on the other hand; constructing effective service levels; pitfalls to avoid in drafting limits of liability and indemnity provisions; and modeling intellectual property ownership and licensing.
Annual Meeting 2006: In part 2 of this two-part series, our panel will review the current case law and discuss the new proposed amendments to the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure. In addition, the panel will review the Sedona Principles and give practical tips to ensure compliance with the law.
A strategic IP management program is essential to increasing the value of your company’s innovative power. How can your IP be used to invigorate the business and enhance your company’s competitive position? Using real-world experiences, our panel will share their perspectives on how to develop an effective strategy for leveraging and protecting your company’s IP assets.
For global companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, establishing a single set of compliance policies and guidelines that can be used around the world is a daunting challenge. With increased corporate focus on compliance activities comes a new need to coordinate with other corporate non-lawyer-led functions, such as a Chief Compliance Officer and staff, or internal controls/audit functions. Given the number of players on the field, differences in how each function understands the proper performance of their work, and increasing complexity of regulation, the reality is that there are growing opportunities for both structural confusion and compliance mandates falling through the cracks. Discuss how recognized compliance leaders at global companies are navigating this maze, and bring back ideas on strategies you can use immediately within your company.
Almost every private company is looking for an exit strategy for its investors — most often by means of an IPO or an acquisition by a much larger, usually public, company. Accordingly, most exit scenarios entail a transition into the public company realm. That transition can be rocky, or with some advance planning, you can make it smooth and look like a star. This session will look at public company regulations and best practices as they apply to private companies in transition. Our panel of seasoned corporate practitioners will provide the perspective of private companies preparing for exit scenarios, as well as public companies evaluating private companies as acquisition candidates. Topics covered will include board and committee governance, financial reporting infrastructure, executive and equity compensation, risk management, D&O insurance, employee policies, officer and employee education and others.
The decision of whether to litigate or arbitrate poses a number of legal questions. For example, in-house litigators are regularly asked to decide which is the best forum for a matter to be heard. Is this case better for arbitration or litigation? What are the pros and cons of arbitration v. litigation? Our panel of seasoned litigators will answer all these questions, plus give practical advice on drafting arbitration clauses to maximize your chances of enforceability and success.
Leadership is not the same as management, and in today's culturally and geographically diverse work environment effective leadership requires not only solid management and technical skills but an appreciation for and sensitivity to differences in business and legal cultures. Our panel of international legal leaders will present lessons learned and practical suggestions on how to overcome geographic, organizational and cultural barriers in order to build an integrated global law department, while taking into consideration differences in legal systems around the world.
Annual Meeting 2006: If your company makes use of or develops free or open source software (FOSS), this session is for you. Our technology counsel will provide an overview of what FOSS is, legal issues concerning such software including litigation, patents, different licenses, warranties, and indemnification involved, where and how FOSS is generally used, and risks and benefits involved with licensing and using these types of software. You will also receive an update on proposed changes to the General Public License (GPL) and take home a list of the legal issues to be aware of to keep your company out of trouble.
As in-house counsel for your company, one of your many roles may be to provide support and guidance to the board. But you need to stay on top of the trends in order to provide the best legal advice possible. Here is your chance to get up to speed as this course will teach you about current best practices in board process, director communication, and on-boarding new directors. You’ll also take home practical tips on the hottest legal issues affecting directors today, including duties and liability, D&O insurance, and corporate governance.
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