This issue discusses class actions in Belgium and Europe, private enforcement of competition law in the EU, and more.
Compliance is difficult enough when a company operates in just one country. But difficulties become much greater when a company operates in many. Here are some resources for creating effective global compliance programs that support your company's business goals.
Changes have been afoot in the EU's competition laws, with one of the most important being 25 member states now have the power to rule on all aspects of EU competition law, in to the national competition rules that each has at its disposal. It's no wonder in-house often feel that just when they achieve compliance in one jurisdiction, problems arise in others-much like Hercules when he battled the Hydra. Here is a guide to successfully conquering the multi-headed hydra while complying with EU competition laws.
If your company is involved in a merger, acquisition, or joint venture, and one of the businesses involved has activities in Europe, be careful. The European Union (EU) recently put into effect new and tougher rules governing mergers. We guide you through the maze of an EU competition review with this article.
Read this article to gain insight into EU privacy restrictions and to evaluate how you can best avoid a situation of noncompliance with these data protection requirements.
Many companies are outsourcing such functions as information technology, accounting, customer service, and telecommunications. Additionally, many of them are contracting with foreign vendors to provide such services. This article explains the reasons for this phenomenon, examines the trends in global outsourcing, and sets forth factors that will help you to determine whether such outsourcing is right for your company. You will learn how to develop a strategy that will enable you to identify the vendor and outsourcing destination most appropriate for your needs and to sidestep the minefields involved in outsourcing globally.
The following article is a primer for the U.S.-trained human resources manager tasked with handling a pan-European reduction in force ("RIF") for an American company. It sets out the key elements of a RIF plan, concisely overviews the European legal landscape, addresses seven key issues concerning collective dismissals in six European countries, and provides country-by-country guidance on those issues. If, for example, you do not want one of your company's directors to land in a French jail because you did not follow the correct procedures concerning the collective dismissal of your company's Avignon-based workers, then this article is for you. The article is certainly not a substitute for personal advice from in-house counsel geared to the particular matter at hand, but should help lay the groundwork for an effective RIF plan.
This article describes the problems that the European Commission's approach to the attorney-client privilege creates and what counsel should do to ameliorate those problems.
Transborder disputes present special management challenges to in-house counsel because strategies and outcomes depend as much on culture as on legal systems. Your domestic case management system may not identify and cope with all of the cultural differences, and your outside counsel may not have cross-border experience to fill the gaps. This article presents a sampler of types of issues by which you can assess your needs in the complex transborder environment, offers a broad range of relevant and informative questions, illustrated with examples from the authorsÕ experience, and suggests how you can expand the transnational resources of your team.
This article gives you an overview of EU data protection law, explains why U.S. in-house counsel should be concerned about EU data protection laws, shows you a roadmap to compliance, and gives you a workplan template for achieving and maintaining compliance.