The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the world's largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations, nonprofits and other private-sector organizations around the globe.
A patent is a complex document that is made up of many parts, including specifications that describe the item, how to make and use the invention, claims that specifically describe what is protected by the patent, and explanatory drawings, if needed. The cover sheet to the patent and the patent itself contain a wealth of information, but reading a patent can be an educated and productive undertaking or a frustrating attempt to glean important information while sifting through its many parts.
If your company is doing business outside the United States, you need to attend this session to be brought up-to-date on all applicable privacy laws. Many global organizations have had to change the way they handle personal information and privacy issues. Personal data that used to be considered public and obvious has since become a sensitive issue, both from a legal and PR perspective, and applicable laws are now being enforced with more rigor.
A lease generally contemplates a long-term relationship between a landlord and a tenant. But once the lease is executed, you have only completed the first step. This panel will discuss issues that can arise after the lease has been executed and how to deal with them in a practical manner.
Major disputes can be complex and varied. Managing these disputes is resource intensive and process driven and often occurs in an environment where participants can be highly emotive. It is easy for the uninitiated to get lost in the fray. The parties may find themselves in court without having managed the process and properly explored alternatives.
Get a view from the inside. A former Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division administrator will discuss ways to successfully resolve wage-hour investigations, including how employers are selected for investigation, the procedures investigators follow and how to appeal an investigator's findings. This session will also cover addressing wage-hour issues and how to secure DOL's assistance to correct and resolve these issues –– including an assessment of the Obama Administration’s approach to wage-hour enforcement and good faith employers.
E-rulemaking illustrates how administrative practice is changing in the Information Age and how corporate counsel can take advantage of new agency electronic resources to significantly reduce outside legal costs. Over the past few years, the federal government has made great progress placing the federal regulatory process online.
North American businesses face unprecedented uncertainty and economic challenges. At the same time, we anticipate the Obama administration will appoint aggressive new officials to oversee the antitrust enforcement machinery of the United States in the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Canada too, has proposed sweeping changes to its framework competition laws. This panel will highlight these changes, and provide a survival guide for legal counsel in companies seeking to navigate these changes in both countries during these challenging economic times.
What do you do when you are handed control of the HR department? It is essential to keep up to date on various laws and policies. To meet this challenge, this session will cover RIF's, ERISA, WARN, cultural issues with foreign subsidiaries (which actually apply in the states), works councils, language, expatriates, data privacy, redundancies, benefits (national schemes versus local plans) and unions in the United States and in other countries.
In the current economic climate, in-house counsel may respond to the word "restructuring" like Dracula did to sunlight. Don't! Opportunities abound for companies large and small who are savvy to the potential benefits and pitfalls arising in so-called "Section 363 sales" in bankruptcy proceedings, coined for the section of the Bankruptcy Code that enables debtors to sell their operating assets.
What are the best practices for GCs to avoid potential prosecutions and personal liability related to securities fraud? What are the implications of SOX and other self-reporting guidelines to insulate GCs and other directors and officers from prosecution? How will the policies of the Obama administration affect deferred prosecution rules? And, what impact will the Justice Department's monitoring programs have on directors and officers and other liability issues such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act?