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.
The flow on effect from the pandemic, inflation and interest rate rises continues to disrupt the supply chain for many businesses throughout Australia. Drafting your contracts to pro-actively manage sources of disruption and supply chain vulnerability has never been more important.
In this interactive and in-person discussion, commercial law partners Maria Capati and Andrew Rankin from Piper Alderman will cover:
• Identifying sources of supply chain disruption including recent case studies
• Force Majeure Clauses – the perspective of the Supplier vs Customer
• How to draft a Force Majeure Clause if you are a Supplier vs Customer
• Identifying and managing common risk areas in standard terms and conditions/supply agreements
• Indemnity Clauses
• Drafting of other provisions in supply agreements to manage these risk areas
This session will be relevant for corporate counsel responsible for contract drafting and managing supply chain risk.
Followed by networking drinks at a secret location.
The procurement of IT products and services is a necessity for almost all organisations. Such procurements can range from simple to complex transformational projects that impact an entire organisation. The speed and progress of technological advancements means that such procurements are a recurring requirement for modern organisations.
Our expert panel will discuss the current themes and trends in large scale complex procurements and provide insights based on their involvement in such projects. The panel will canvass various aspects of the tender and implementation process, including:
1. The tender process and the benefits of a competitive versus sole source tender project
2. The approach to the contract and strategies for closing the gaps
3. Agile versus waterfall project implementations
4. The benefits and challenges in procuring commercial off the shelf versus developed software
5. The different considerations in SaaS v licensed software procurements
Josh Simons, Demetrios Christou and Andrew Roff will draw on their collective experience on various technology procurement projects to discuss their thoughts on the approaches and strategies to technology procurement that increase the prospects of success focussing on the key considerations at both the tender and implementation stages.
With historically low unemployment and increased employee mobility post pandemic, many have suggested that Australia is currently experiencing the Great Resignation. While organisations work to retain talent, it is inevitable that employees will change jobs in the current market. The key challenge for many employers is ensuring that the organisation’s staff, customer relationships, confidential information and trade secrets don’t follow the ex-employee to their new job.
Please join Employment Relations Partner, Erin McCarthy, for a webinar on legal and practical issues in protecting confidential information and minimising the impact of staff turnover.
In this session we will cover:
What is and isn’t confidential information;
The challenges of managing confidential information in the current age (bring your own devices, working from home);
Surveillance of employees’ use of devices and IT resources;
Use of exit procedures to minimise loss of confidential information;
Post-employment restraints including non-solicitation and non-competition type clauses;
How to minimise the risk of departing employees poaching staff and customers; and;
Contract and policy reviews to provide the best foundation to protect your organisation’s valuable information and relationships.
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Australia and Baker McKenzie are hosting the 2022 Commercial Contract Law Series for in-house counsel.
Each session will focus on the law and practice of a specific commercial contracting topic area.
Contracting for Privacy and Other Data Regulatory Risk
We invite you to join our second webinar on Wednesday 24 August on Contracting for Privacy and Other Data Regulatory Risk.
In this session Partner, Anne Petterd and Senior Associate, Adeline Brosnan will explore data regulatory requirements customers and suppliers are seeking to translate into workable contract obligations that appropriately allocate risk.
Data regulatory requirements in Australia and overseas continue to develop. For example:
• Cyber-security incident notification requirements have been recently introduced under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act
• Data transfer requirements were recently updated through revised model clauses under the GDPR
• There are potential changes to the Privacy Act
The data regulatory requirements must be considered against the relevant data flows under a contract and technical constraints, and the interplay of these factors provides much to think about in determining what to include in contract clauses for data regulatory risks.
This interactive workshop facilitated by LK will explore in-house counsel’s role in responding to legal and ethical issues arising from conflicts and other difficult situations that might arise in an organisation.
Through a case-study that will guide our discussion, we will use the collective wisdom and experience of attendees to delve into some of the legal and ethical issues that in-house counsel may face or be required to address when a technical or organisational conflict arises. We will explore the impact of culture on critical decisions by in-house teams, and consider obligations under the Solicitor Conduct Rules, and how they guide and impact upon decision-making.
This session will form the first of a two-part series on the impact of conflict with a Breakfast Briefing to follow that will look at techniques for addressing and resolving conflict within the workplace.
Light refreshments and networking: 5.30pm - 6pm ACST
The Victorian Supreme Court recently awarded record damages of $292.9 million in favour of Cargill against Viterra for false and misleading statements made by Viterra and Glencore relating to the $420 million sale of the Joe White malt business. Gilbert + Tobin acted for Cargill. The judgment shines a spotlight on the litigation risks that companies face if the disclosure made during a corporate transaction process is inaccurate, and the practices companies are taking to mitigate their liability once a corporate transaction has completed.
This session, presented by Gilbert + Tobin’s market leading M+A and Disputes + Investigations teams, will provide practical guidance for in-house counsel in respect of the risks associated with corporate transactions highlighted by the judgement in Cargill. It will explore how to prepare for a corporate transaction and identify the steps that can be taken to manage and mitigate these risks.
The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Baker McKenzie are hosting the 2022 Commercial Contract Law Series for in-house counsel.
Each session will focus on the law and practice of a specific commercial contracting topic area.
Limitations of Liability
To commence the 2022 Series, we invite you to our first webinar on Wednesday 20 July on the ever popular topic of Limitations of Liability.
In this session Partner, Toby Patten and Senior Associate, Simone Blackadder will cover the law and provide practical tips for drafting and negotiating limitations of liability.
Business owners and employers in the construction, transport, hospitality and IT industries can find some comfort in the courts again trying to clarify the status of contractors and employees. This year’s High Court decisions don’t remove all ambiguity, but it is an important step in reducing the uncertainty that businesses face in contracting their workforce.
Join Madgwicks’ Workplace Relations Special Counsel, Tim Greenall and Tax Partner Philip Diviny as they discuss these recent decisions, incorporating both the employment and taxation implications.
Now that borders have reopened and both employees and businesses are wanting to return to some kind of normalcy as we progress into 2022 – we are currently fielding a lot of questions from employers regarding bringing their employees back to the office. For example, can we do it, how should we do it, and are there any alternatives? We are also seeing some hybrid working approaches introduced that are tailored specifically to their employees.
With a raft of mis-information out there, Law Squared is hosting a webinar for ACC members to come and ask questions regarding bringing employees back to the office and hybrid working options. Hosted by Andrew Brooks and Grace Cue in Law Square's Employment + Workplace Relations team, they will run through the:
current hybrid working landscape in Australia;
legal aspects of hybrid working;
five main hybrid working models we are currently seeing;
potential risks and pitfalls; and
step-by-step plan to selecting and implementing your own hybrid working model.