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.
The following outline is intended to provide short overview of some of the issues at the heart of this discussion topic. Enterprise Risk Management is a broad topic that includes areas of risk that may not typically fall within the purview of the legal department except in more incidental ways. This outline focuses primarily on those aspects of risk management that may be most likely to impact the law department and your role as CLO on a day-to-day basis. There may be issues that we have not identified or perspectives on the identified issues that are not adequately represented in the outline: you should feel free to raise these additional thoughts as you like.
2007 ACCE Annual Conference: Is your company tempted by the prospect of saving big money by outsourcing technology service, customer call centers, and human resource functions to India or Eastern Europe? You may want to think before you jump. Our panel of outsourcing experts shared practical advice on conducting due diligence, structuring outsourcing agreements, drafting contracts, and minimizing risks.
Corporate practitioners new to in-house will benefit greatly from this conflicts of interest primer. We'll take an in-depth, corporate setting view of the subject and focus on best practices for resolving conflict issues raised by Sarbanes-Oxley and other relevant governance, legal, and compliance requirements. Our experts address the significance of the conflicts issues in the corporate world and best practices for resolving the matter should it arise.
CCU 2007: Your supervisor is standing in your office tapping his/her foot looking for a document needed NOW. What do you do? With our rapid document retrieval tips and techniques, you'll be handing that document over in a speedy, quick process and moving on to the next crisis without a second thought. (paralegal track)
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.
It's all a number game. New legal reporting requirements and increased exposure for accounting mistakes mean that you need to know how to read and understand the numbers in a real- world context. The business people often complain that the lawyers do not understand the numbers, so come learn how to prove them wrong. Using real-world examples, this session provided a review of current accounting requirements and a checklist to become more proficient when dealing with financial matters.
Meeting today's regulatory and client demands requires close up the full power and productivity of all members of the legal department. In-house practitioners 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 lawyer and become also an effective leader? Join us for this open dialogue on how specific general management and leadership techniques can be applied with success to law departments. Learn to articulate the strategies for increasing commitment to organizational goals, identify opportunities to extend leadership training in your department, and appreciate the soft skills required to increase productivity, collegiality, and focus of your department-all with a primary goal of becoming a better leader.
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 we’ve not identified, or perspectives on the identified issues that are not adequately represented in the outline.
A speech before the Federalist Society regarding changes in SEC Sarbanes-Oxley policy and enforcement.
Annual Meeting 2006: Should the legal department manage the company's risk insurance program? If your department does, you’ll find this program will provide you with the legal knowledge and strategies for handling the risk insurance program, from negotiating policy renewals, developing relationships with underwriters, and incorporating brokers into your risk management team.
In spite of a Republication administration, it is ironic that many companies are facing increased regulatory activity from regulators who seem to be expanding their reach, whether by aggressively interpreting laws or adopting new regulations that are subject to challenge. In either case, it is often in-house counsel who need to decide what to do next. Do you file a lawsuit? Try to negotiate a resolution? Work through lobbyists to try and persuade the agency or Congress? Our panel will share best practices and battle stories from companies and lawyers who have taken different approaches and discuss failures and successes and pros and cons to each approach. When you leave, you will have best practices for each approach as well as insight from those who have been through the battle.
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.
Annual Meeting 2006: No company wishes to be the target of an EEOC charge. Don’t take your chances that it won’t happen to you – provide a proactive solution. Take this opportunity to learn effective grievance and complaint programs to help prevent a charge, successful tactics in securing a no cause finding by the Commission, and tips on when and why to select EEOC mediation.
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: A nonprofit organization engaging in activities that are substantial but unrelated to its mission increases its exposure to risk and elevates opportunities for reward. Our program is designed to familiarize participants with the legal implications of creating a for-profit subsidiary, and will review the potential risks and benefits and provide useful tools to avoid common pitfalls. Discussion topics will include reasons for forming a for-profit subsidiary and how to establish one, choice of entity, effective management and control, and avoiding attribution to the nonprofit parent.
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.
Annual Meeting 2006: How do you advise the business to decide what to keep, develop, or retire after a merger or acquire? Conducting proper due diligence of IP assets is essential to making informed decisions. Review the applicable legal issues and benchmark with your peers the proper steps to follow in IP due diligence as well as the best methods for integrating IP portfolios after a corporate merger or acquisition.
Annual Meeting 2006: Many large companies have institutionalized compliance with EH&S requirements by developing internal written guidelines or standard practices, which attempt to translate and adapt these requirements into procedures, customized for their specific operations. But do the advantages of having such standard practices truly outweigh their disadvantages? What resources are involved in developing such standard practices and keeping them updated on a regular basis? What role should in-house counsel play with respect to these standard practices? Come join the debate as these and other hot EH&S topics are discussed.
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.
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