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.
Wow. You just found out your company is expanding; its strategic plan calls for numerous acquisitions over the next two quarters. Everyone is looking to you to lead the charge. And you have never even done one. Don’t panic. This presentation helped prepare you for your first M&A transaction as an in-house lawyer. It addressed how the process works and what your role is during the phases of: (1) negotiations and due diligence leading up to an agreement; (2) the post-signing, pre-closing rush; and (3) post-merger integration.
Not sure how to respond to environmental, health and safety matters? This program brings you up to speed. It covers the basics of dealing with regulations issued by federal and state environmental and safety agencies, such as EPA and OSHA. The panel covered such issues as key regulations, permits, inspections, record keeping, and responses to enforcement activities.
You just got the papers. One of your company’s employees has filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. Now what? This is a first for you and your organization. Where do you begin? This presentation provided a brief background on the law of discrimination and wrongful termination. It also gave practical tips regarding investigations and other critical steps in-house counsel should take upon learning of such a complaint. Finally, the presenters provided tips on how to avoid such a situation in the future.
To really change the legal services marketplace, in-house and outside counsel need to change the way they work together. If in-house counsel (as a group) will lead and outside firms will consider adopting new expectations and models, increased efficiencies for clients, and sustainable profitability for firms is possible. But someone has to host the dialogue and support your efforts: with tools, benchmarks, new models for service delivery, and networks.
In-house counsel are frequently called on to oversee and manage the “three ring circus” presented by simultaneous shareholder, class action, and derivative lawsuits, SEC and independent internal investigations and even federal and state criminal investigations.
Corporate counsel have increasingly voiced concern that arbitration proceedings have become more complex and expensive. However, unlike in court, parties who elect arbitration can shape the rules under which their disputes will be resolved. This program presented available mechanisms that contract drafters can use to that end including those addressing: arbitrator selection, motion practice, arbitrator powers, and discovery provisions. Panelists also provided guidance regarding likely future trends.
We all know that compliance with the electronic discovery rules is a challenge. But what about the ethical issues we face as attorneys? How can we best preserve the attorney-client privilege? What are the ethical implications of outsourcing? How about our own technological competency (or lack thereof)?
There is nothing like the voice of experience to help guide your way. This general counsel panel from leading financial service companies provided just that. They discussed the issues that have been the most important to them and how they advise their corporations, manage regulatory risks, oversee the legal department, balance legal and business roles, and deal with outside counsel. Listen and learn!
More in-house counsel are seeing competitive intelligence on intellectual property added to their responsibilities. Find out tools and tricks that make it easy. If the following “to do’s” are on your list (and maybe they should be!), this was the session for you: (1) staying on top of the latest IP filings of your competitors, including their subsidiaries; (2) understanding rulings on related IP lawsuits; (3) making the link between IP filings and any related dockets; (4) performing an IP portfolio analysis; and (5) policing for fraud detection of your IP portfolio.
Reporting “green” can ensure your company meets certain legal or social goals, but such reporting is not without its risks; it must be done with care. This program provided an update on the latest requirements, standards, codes, and guidelines for making environmental disclosures, particularly disclosures regarding the impact of climate change on business operations. This includeed those made under the SEC’s S-K regulations, GAAP and FIN standards, and under the “green” guidelines of the FTC.