The following outline is intended to provide a short overview of some of the issues at the heart of this discussion topic. There may be other issues not identified or perspectives on the identified issues that are not adequately represented in the outline. The outline is merely intended as a starting point to help you identify discussion topics and tee up your conversation. This material is a part of the ACC CLO ThinkTank Series.
Are you versed in the requirements surrounding mandatory vs voluntary reporting of environmental releases and violations? It’s likely your company is relying on you to provide legal guidance on this issue, but are you prepared to answer the questions if/when they come up? If not, our panel will first detail the legal requirements triggering the mandatory reporting of environmental releases and violations and then focus on the more difficult situation of voluntary reporting or disclosure of releases and violations that are not covered by current reporting rules. Take home an interactive tool to determine if a release has occurred and what/how to report such a release or violation.
Annual Meeting 2006: This nuts and bolts session will provide a practical and ethical explanation of the do’s and don’ts of issuing opinions to third parties, outside auditors, lenders, and others. Plus our panel will provide guidance on properly drafting opinion letters, understanding current guidelines on rendering opinions, appropriate disclaimers, and reservations, and assessing if an in-house attorney is qualified and licensed to render such an opinion and how to do so in compliance with the lawyers code of ethics.
Annual Meeting 2006: In today’s challenging corporate governance and litigation climate, in-house practitioners must prepare bulletproof corporate minutes for meetings of the board and board committees. Memorializing substantive discussions and decisions of the board in a manner that protects the corporation and the independent members of the board is a mission-critical objective. Our panel will provide you with an overview of the law and best practices for preparing corporate minutes that help protect the corporation and share with you the full range of legal, corporate governance, and ethical issues that can arise.
Annual Meeting 2006: In an insurance claim, problems can and do arise when outside counsel represents the best interest of the insurance company from a coverage perspective while neglecting the rights of the insured company. What is the in-house attorney’s role in securing the insured company’s rights? How can you successfully manage defense counsel to ensure there is a cooperative relationship with your insurer? Learn the importance of due diligence, severability clauses, and how to avoid conflicts of interest and manage outside counsel's role and responsibilities to both the insured and the insurer.
Annual Meeting 2006: So your marketing department wants to promote your products online, including holding a contest or sweepstakes. As legal counsel for your company, everyone is looking to you to ensure that the promotion goes off without a hitch, but your obligation is to ensure that the promotion is conducted legally and the company is protected. Using statutes and case studies as a basis, along with hand on tips and useful contractual terms, we will provide you with the necessary information you need to expertly advise your client and stay in compliance with state and federal laws. You will receive an overview of the legal requirements applicable to online advertising with an emphasis on the regulations involved with running a prize promotion, and including joint promotions with a vendor or affiliate, advertising the promotion in non-internet based media, and generally protecting your brand when advertising online.
US companies with foreign subsidiaries face numerous legal and practical challenges from a corporate governance perspective. A panel of experts outlined the legal issues and gave practical advice on managing your foreign subsidiaries in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. They also discussed how to manage foreign subsidiary issues, such as the liabilities and responsibilities of local officers and directors, working effectively with local counsel, and building a process that enables adequate involvement of the legal department in local operations.
A panel of leading in-house counsel and international enforcement officials engaged in a fast-paced discussion of current antitrust issues that impact multinational companies in today’s increasingly global business environment. Antitrust and competition policy issues were in the cross-hairs of this panel’s rapid-fire analysis that included merger review, pricing policies, treatment of joint ventures, and exclusionary conduct. These experienced practitioners shared their insights and practical advice from jurisdictions around the world.
Technology has vastly expanded the universe of sweepstakes and contests that may be offered, as well as the entries that may be submitted by consumers. In addition, the recent explosion of social and viral marketing elements in these types of initiatives has made them far more complex from a legal perspective. Jumping into this arena without the proper foresight can cause a variety of legal and regulatory problems for a company. Rules and regulations vary from state-to-state and country-to-country. This session served as an overview of the various regulatory schemes, and a practical guide on how to avoid the most common pitfalls.
Purchasing international health benefits is an increasingly complex responsibility. Don’t be caught unaware. A wide variety of US laws and regulations (federal and state) and other jurisdictions’ regulations may apply to the coverage that employers purchase for their global employees. Understanding the compliance environment is the first step in developing a strategy to manage and minimize the risks associated with purchasing international benefits. A sample of laws covered include US State insurance laws, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, OFAC, FCPA, and foreign country regulations (Saudi Arabia, Japan, Netherlands, Korea, Canada, etc.). By the end of this program, attendees were be able to properly structure such plans to avoid potential compliance risks and liability.
Law departments continue to face unique challenges resulting from Sarbanes-Oxley. As new regulations are introduced, the list of requirements that businesses must satisfy becomes more complex and exhaustive. Simultaneously, law departments face budget constraints, competitive pressures requiring rapid-fire responses, and the risks created by internal “silos.” Today, a law department’s structure directly impacts the ability of supervising attorneys to manage operations and deliver quality client service. This interactive workshop addressed the challenges faced by in-house counsel and shared best practices for successfully managing a law department.
Outsourcing of legal services to non-US entities is a significant trend. Corporate counsel must understand how this will affect their role and services to their clients and be prepared to address questions raised by senior management as this practice becomes more widespread. Topics covered included outsourcing legal services to non-US entities, relevant ethical considerations, practical considerations such as monitoring and controlling quality, types of matters that can or even should be outsourced to non-US counsel, and privilege and confidentiality issues.
Increasingly, law departments are responsible for more than just practicing law — they are also responsible for efficient and fiscally responsible operations. Managing costs, reducing risk, and improving productivity are all priorities for corporate counsel because law departments are being evaluated against the same standards as other departments within their companies. To meet this challenge, law departments need new tools for measuring value and results. This session shared best practices on using metrics to manage or control costs, evaluate outside counsel performance, increase efficiencies, and communicate the value of the law department to company management.
Discussion will focus on the rules of the road during negotiations and highlight permissible conduct, impermissible conduct and the gray area in between. There are a surprising number of instances of lawyers behaving badly and being punished for conduct that many counsel believe passes muster. This program is suited for corporate and regulatory lawyers, as well as litigators.
As sports and entertainment based marketing grows, many companies have opted to engage athletes, entertainers, teams and leagues. This program will cover the basics of sponsorship agreements from both the team/talent side and the sponsor perspective. Special consideration will be paid to points such as league subservience, exclusivities, indemnity, morals clauses and labor stoppages. This program will cater to the novice lawyer to an experienced contractual negotiator in both the for-profit and nonprofit arenas.
This presentation covers EU and the data privacy and security movement, as well as it's history, and the comparison between the EU and the APEC.
This session will discuss monitoring and protecting intellectual property assets around the globe. Learn the risks and challenges other companies are facing, and how they are combating IP infringement. The topics addressed will include: identifying and protecting against risks to your brand; strategies for monitoring your brand name; tackling domain squatters and combating other brand abuse; developing strategies for protecting your brand on a global scale; and how counterfeit goods and piracy impact brands and the best practices for targeting suppliers of counterfeit goods.
Raising capital in private transactions is big business, for new, small and large companies alike. If this hasn’t been your practice are before and is now, join us at this session to explore with experienced practitioners the basic legal and regulatory framework for raising capital privately – covering the Securities Act exemption and Regulation D and changes to that framework made by the Dodd-Frank Act. We’ll also introduce you to the key concepts and jargon (e.g., bad boy investors) you’ll need to get through a capital raising with comfort. The session will cover finding (soliciting) investors, what the offering materials need to cover and look like, state blue sky (another piece of jargon we’ll cover), restricted stock and who the regulators are.
Take an in-depth look at executive compensation disclosure in this session. The focus will be on completing the Summary Compensation Tables and other Reg S-K Item 402 tables, preparing the Compensation Disclosure & Analysis (CD&A) for the Proxy Statement and describing – in text, not tables – employment agreements and golden parachutes. We’ll cover tough questions on what data to report and how to report it, and we’ll cover – particularly for the CD&A – not just the requirements, but the process for putting together great disclosure. The session presupposes a working knowledge of proxy and 10-K requirements for reporting companies.
This material comes from a program for those with established international practices, as companies need to constantly evaluate in a tight market if resources are being properly deployed.
A review of the year’s IP legal developments including patent, trademark and copyright primarily.
Movie lawyers lead tough lives, particularly corporate lawyers. From the 1976 film Network to the 2007 film Michael Clayton, the fantastic situations of our big screen counterparts offer real world lessons. Using short film clips of ethically challenged movie lawyers to illustrate the requirements of the rules of professional responsibility, Hollywood's portrayal of corporate counsel enables us to demonstrate practical requirements of the rules of ethics. By drawing on familiar movies, this session enhances audience interaction and provides very tangible examples of the rules in action. From negotiation ethics to privilege, dealing with employees to document retention, audience participants will be encouraged to opine regarding their views of the movie lawyer behavior, and the panel of both in-house and outside counsel will draw from the film examples to present other hypotheticals and examples that will keep the program grounded in real world application to the practicing lawyer.
Politics and government regulation affect every aspect of business profitability and success, often in critical ways. Corporate legal counsel can, and do, advocate successfully in legislatures, administrative agencies, and courts, at federal, state, and local levels. However, corporate counsel must comply with their professional and ethical obligations in doing so. Learn how to manage the corporation’s advocacy efforts, including lobbyists, election advertisements and political contributions, without running afoul of the law or the highest ethical standards.
A series of tips for general counsel on how to manage liability at a sports/entertainment facility.
An overview of cloud computing, including a discussion of the pros and cons of cloud computing, privacy considerations, and other legal issues.
An overview of the process of licensing music, videos, and photos. Includes a discussion of basic copyright law, the Fair Use Doctrine, and other intellectual property issues.
Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) have been on the top of the agenda for management and in-house counsel during the last years and trade compliance may or may not be getting the attention merited by the current complexities of this area of law. This will certainly have an implication on the current trade compliance landscape and how in-house counsel should respond to it. This session will bring more clarity to the current status and provide concrete recommendations for your daily operations.
Thissession will provide an opportunity to share ways on how to apply the optimized legal touch.
Show results exclusively from the ACC Resource Library with customizable filters