Most in-house professionals have to wrestle with questions related to open source on a regular basis. This panel will use recent case law to discuss whether we still worry about open source and to what extent. For example, what about indemnification for open source and third-party claims? How does recent case law about licensing application programming interfaces have an impact?
A panel of experienced in-house lawyers and industry professionals will address the viability of the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine relating to corporate communications, specifically regarding internal and external public relations professionals and other third parties. With more and more sensitive information at the disposal of internal and outside parties, diligence is paramount. The audience will walk away from this session with a thorough understanding of what falls under attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine and how to best maintain those protections, as well as a checklist of considerations for future reference.
This session will discuss proven strategies for general counsel to protect their companies in high-exposure litigation through effective pursuit of contractual indemnification and insurance recovery. The panel will discuss key considerations in the negotiation and enforcement of indemnity agreements so that expected indemnities provide adequate insulation for large-scale losses and exposures. The session will pay particular attention to strategies for successfully obtaining insurance coverage for high-stakes litigation after your insurer denies coverage.
Negotiation skills and techniques are essential tools for any in-house counsel professional. Whether discussing vendor contracts or settling lawsuits, knowing the intricacies of the craft of negotiation is vital. Yet our intentions and focus in negotiation are often interrupted by subconscious, psychological or cognitive biases. These normal, yet irrational, reactions to negotiation counterparts and their narratives can significantly disrupt both parties’ objectives. This session will use a panel of negotiation, psychology, and academic experts who will identify typical, predictable cognitive biases, present how these biases affect negotiations, and provide suggestions on how to manage their effect. From the “Lake Wobegon effect,” to attribution error, to diagnosis bias, fun videos and real-life examples will be used as we engage in the Brain Game.
This panel of securities litigation and regulatory enforcement counsel will review recent insider trading trends in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. The panel will review how the courts and securities regulators have dealt with insider trading cases and provide practical tips on how in-house counsel can protect their corporation if proceedings begin against an employee for insider trading.
In dispute resolution, the bottom line often is the bottom line. Arbitration was conceived to be a less expensive alternative to litigation, but recent trends have chipped away at its effectiveness, making arbitration an increasingly expensive proposition. In this presentation, veteran arbitration and commercial litigation attorneys will offer battle-tested strategies for controlling costs during arbitration proceedings. Specific topics they will address include selecting an arbitration service provider, pre-arbitration planning, use of motions, prehearing briefs, opening and closing statements, witnesses, exhibits, attorneys’ fees, and common mistakes that add unnecessary expense.
Do you find yourself with both an ethical and business dilemma when forced to negotiate with your customers’ buyers, supply chain managers, procurement analysts, or other non-lawyers? Are you frustrated because people in such roles have limited authority to make changes but refuse to put you in touch with their law department? Do you have a product that is unique, yet the customer — who is always right! — rejects your carefully tailored terms and insists on using its own standard template that requires a major overhaul for your particular product or services? You are not alone! This session will be facilitated by both big- and small-company lawyers who share their tips and best practices for situations like these. Learn how to navigate your customers’ supply chain roadblocks ethically and effectively while using your sales and business team to facilitate the effort.
The new age of serving in-house has arrived. Successful corporate counsel are not just expected to be superb lawyers, but astute business partners as well. This session (and Part II) will aid you in developing the business acumen you need to succeed in your role and be primed to ascend the ranks within your organization. A common misconception is that the information generated by accounting systems does not generally reflect the underlying economic activities of the organization. Nothing could be further from the truth. In this session, we will provide an overview of the role and key components of the financial statements, and critically demonstrate how a strong understanding of them allows any user to identify and assess the operating and financing strategies of almost any company.
With the US Department of Justice (DOJ) collecting record corporate fines this year, your board asks if your company’s compliance is up to par. How do you respond? How do you gauge your program? This session will analyze the DOJ’s Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the Prosecution of Business Organizations, set out your minimum requirements, and lay out best practices that you can implement. This will cover leadership, risk assessments, policy development, communications, training, establishment of controls, and monitoring and testing of controls. Presenters will offer firsthand experiences (both positive and negative) and best practices for building and maintaining your compliance program.
Between legislation and major court decisions, the patent landscape has changed drastically over the last several years. In light of this, companies should look at their patent strategies holistically, from all angles, including prosecution, licensing, litigation, and post grant procedures and the interplay among them. For instance, patents must have claims with detectable infringement and be capable of withstanding validity challenges in different forums. To obtain patents like these, it is necessary to understand every step of patent prosecution, how patents are enforced in federal court, and how patents are defended at the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Likewise, companies facing litigation or post-grant challenges, such as inter partes reviews, need the technical knowledge of patent prosecution that attorneys who have prosecuted patents possess. This program will provide a view from the trenches with a number of war stories and perspectives from the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Silicon Valley office and in-house and outside counsel alike.