From the Experts

Expert Opinion

Creating a Digital-Ready Legal Department

Abbott Martin | August 14, 2018

Legal departments must support traditional industry concerns and understand the changes that technology brings to markets, value, risk and processes.

Expert Opinion Q&A

How to Be a Board Whisperer: Q&A With Shellye Archambeau, Board Member at MetricStream, Nordstrom, Verizon

Ryan McConnell | August 13, 2018

Corporate Counsel caught up with Shellye Archambeau and asked for some insight on working with boards.

News

The Reviews Are in: EY's Acquisition of Riverview Law Has Grabbed Legal Departments' Attention

Dan Clark | August 10, 2018

Asked about EY's latest move into the legal market, one GC said the idea of having legal service providers only owned and operated by lawyers is "narrow-minded and dated."

News

As the Business Evolves, so Does Legal: a Q&A With Vonage's Randy Rutherford

Dan Clark | August 09, 2018

Rutherford shared his views with Corporate Counsel about the rise of AI and the big shift that's taken place in his own law department, among other topics.

Commentary

A Need for Lawyers With Empathy

Alexander C. Gavis and Mark E. Young | August 07, 2018

There is an opportunity—and a need—for lawyers to be better listeners, a skill not typically honed in law school and developed during the course of one’s career.

Agile Compliance Enabling Innovation at Walmart.com

Lance Lanciault | August 07, 2018

Your compliance program should look ahead for potential issues, writes Lance Lanciault, SVP and chief ethics and compliance officer for Walmart eCommerce.

Commentary

Patent Portfolio Management: Finding the Right Balance of Quantity vs. Quality

Martin Bijman | August 06, 2018

In order to address both quantity and quality, IP teams undertake a range of activities, which can be done simultaneously.

Commentary

Find a Truth Teller

Mike Evers | August 06, 2018

The most honest and helpful constructive criticism often comes from mentors, friends and outside resources (including recruiters!), people who only want success and happiness for you.

Expert Opinion

Global In-House: Wise Ideas to Advance Diversity, Inclusion in Legal

E. Leigh Dance and Vanessa Scott | July 27, 2018

Legal professionals from 10 countries gathered in Atlanta this spring for Working Wiser, a workshop which took a new approach to speeding diversity and inclusion in the legal industry. It was not your normal diversity event.

Expert Opinion

Data Governance for Legal Ops: Adding Value Through Contract Intelligence and IG

Stephen Allen and Deana Uhl | July 25, 2018

Legal departments are beginning to address the growing pressure to measure and boost value in numerous strategic and innovative ways.

Commentary

More Women Than Ever Before in General Counsel Role at Fortune 500 Cos.

Cynthia Dow, Russell Reynolds Associates | July 25, 2018

Alongside improvements to the candidate pool, the increased focus on diversity and inclusion means we are set to see a continuation of the trend of women being hired into the top legal job.

Commentary

What’s Next for Employers, Post 'Epic Systems'?

Noah J. Hanft | July 24, 2018

In the absence of legislative certainty, and facing suspicion from the #MeToo movement and the “court of public opinion,” this is a unique opportunity for companies to consider utilizing flexible and creative approaches to address these issues in a way that favorably resonates with their stakeholders.

Commentary

Attention Legal Industry Decision-Makers: Before You Spend on Legal Tech, Read This

Monica Zent, CEO of Foxwordy, founder of ZentLaw | July 23, 2018

Monica Zent lists six steps that can limit the odds of overspending or buying the wrong technology for legal departments and law firms.

Expert Opinion

A Letter to the C-Suite: What to Do When You Need to Fill a Gap on Your Legal Team

Deb Ben-Canaan and Casey Feldman | July 12, 2018

Decision-makers have traditionally relied on short-term options that are less than ideal to keep things moving while the hiring process runs its course. But you might have more options than you think.

Expert Opinion

Understanding Calif.’s Game-Changing Data Protection Law: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018

Emily Tabatabai, Antony Kim and Jennifer Martin | July 10, 2018

For any company that has assets in California or handles Californians’ personal information, California’s new Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 will likely have a significant impact on core business operations.

Expert Opinion

2018 Consumer Protection Priorities of State Attorneys General

Joe Jacquot and Ed Burbach | July 06, 2018

Attorneys general (AGs) are not only lawyers for their states; they are enforcers, regulators, and even public policy advocates. With a broad consumer protection mandate, a state AG is able to reach a wide range of industries that have a consumer touch.

Expert Opinion

Should an In-House Attorney Get an MBA?

Mike Evers | July 05, 2018

This column addresses a very specific question, which I have been asked repeatedly over the years: Should an in-house attorney get an MBA?

Expert Opinion

How Regulation A Updates Could Benefit Smaller Reporting Companies

Alexander Dinur, Alan Wovsaniker and John Hogoboom | July 02, 2018

On May 24, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (act) was signed into law.

Expert Opinion

So You Missed the GDPR Compliance Deadline. Now What?

Karl Hochkammer and Elizabeth Jacobs | June 28, 2018

To make the greatest progress at the fastest speed, companies not yet in compliance with the GDPR should assess the risk of compliance activities and prioritize the largest risk areas.

Expert Opinion

Reducing the Legal Challenges of Employing Independent Contractors

John A. Pearce II | June 26, 2018

Since businesses first classify workers and are then second-guessed by government agencies as to their accuracy, executives should consider adopting the most frequently used government system as their own basis for classification. This system is known as the ABC Test.

How a Savvy IP Strategy Helps Startups Focus on Growth

Michael A. Nicolas | June 25, 2018

Cutting-edge inventions require robust patent protection and, when those patents are infringed, aggressive defense. But for growth-stage companies, setting aside millions for legal costs is all but impossible.

Expert Opinion

Litigating 'Best Efforts' Considerations for Defining or Not Defining What Effort to Expect

Jeremy J. Gray | June 22, 2018

Unforeseen or uncontrollable events make the full extent of risk associated with development and commercialization unknowable.

Expert Opinion

Losing the Ability to Conduct Business, Period: The Potential Impact of Multilateral Development Bank Sanctions

William Jacobson and Lauren Muldoon | June 21, 2018

Every company participating in multilateral development bank-financed projects must be cognizant of their compliance guidelines and the impact of their investigative and disciplinary functions.

Expert Opinion

Does Compliance Really Have Different Interests Than Legal?

Michael W. Peregrine | June 20, 2018

Recent public comments by well-known compliance consultant Hui Chen provide an important, if not also provocative, perspective on the role lawyers should play as part of a compliance team.

Expert Opinion

Seven Steps to Ensuring Your and Your Law Firm Partners’ GDPR Compliance

Barry Ader | June 19, 2018

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect on May 25 and with it, the European Union (EU) Parliament has set an impressively high standard for data privacy with the new rule.

How US Companies Can Prepare for New Foreign Investment Rules

Priya R. Aiyar | June 18, 2018

Companies should be prepared for restrictions on Chinese investment and export of technology to Chinese persons to come into force prior to or alongside the passage of any legislation as part of the administration’s response to China on trade issues.

Expert Opinion

Stay or Go: Reading the Tea Leaves of a CEO Transition as General Counsel

Lee Udelsman and Ryan Whitacre | June 18, 2018

Leadership transitions put employees on edge, and for good reason: a new chief executive officer means that everyone in the company is once again auditioning for their job.

Expert Opinion

Mastering Legal Holds: What Is the Scope of Preservation and Best Practices to Comply? Part III

John Tredennick | June 14, 2018

When a legal hold duty arises, an organization must decide what to preserve and how to do it.

Commentary

Better Information Governance Means Better E-Discovery Outcomes—Part III: Practical Approaches to IG

Yodi S. Hailemariam and Amy Ramsey Marcos | June 13, 2018

In Part III, we explore practical approaches to establishing an information governance framework, including an overview of three IG projects that benefit e-discovery.

Commentary

What You Need to Know About the European Trade Secrets Directive

Peter Lando and Thomas McNulty | June 12, 2018

Companies doing business in Europe or with European entities should understand the new protections afforded trade secrets in Europe, as well as which countries are in compliance and which have not yet made the necessary changes.

Corporate Dating Policies: Thoughts on Balancing Employee Bliss With Employer Interests

Daniel K. Wiig | June 12, 2018

Corporate counsel, in conjunction with human resources management (HRM), should consider drafting and implementing a balanced dating policy that both respects the employee’s personal lives yet protects the employer’s interests in avoiding touchy personnel matters.

Avoiding the Next Wireless Patent War

Joseph Siino | June 08, 2018

Joseph Siino presents a three-pronged plan for ending the wireless patent wars and creating a more productive and less litigious patent licensing sector.

How to Improve In-House Effectiveness

Abbott Martin | June 07, 2018

Boosting department effectiveness doesn’t require huge investments in new systems, but instead a leadership and management focus that weighs the creation of system capacity as much as it does the priority matter sitting on your desk.

Taking Company Documents to Support Whistleblowing— When Is 'Self Help' Unlawful?

Kevin Griffith and Ed Ellis | June 05, 2018

Even as federal protections for whistleblowers have expanded, employers can still take strategic actions to address employees taking confidential and proprietary business information to provide to a governmental agency or for use in a whistleblower action.

Expert Opinion

GCs: How to Manage New Hire Expectations

Mike Evers | June 05, 2018

The results from the 2018 Career Satisfaction survey for in-house counsel make it abundantly clear that most of you crave upward mobility.

Commentary

The Power of an Idea

Frank Ramos | June 04, 2018

If you can create an environment in your legal department where ideas are born, germinate, grow and flourish, you will create a legal department that solves not only legal problems, but business problems, sales problems, customer problems and every company problem imaginable.

Commentary

Prepared for the Hack: Demystifying Cybersecurity for Corporate Executives

Lynn Haaland and Paul Rosen | May 31, 2018

Many executives are less comfortable confronting cybersecurity risks than they might be with other corporate issues.

Commentary

Tips for Running a Successful Foreign Language Document Review: It’s Not All Greek

Maureen Murchie | May 30, 2018

The ability to manage a successful FLDR in an increasingly global social system can be tricky.

Commentary

Cloud Technologies in Legal: Do More, Spend Less

Andy Wilson | May 29, 2018

New technologies are helping corporate legal teams meet the challenge of doing more with less, and cloud-based software is one of the leading tools.

Commentary

The One Thing Missing From Most CLM Platforms 

Monica Zent | May 29, 2018

CLMs should be more than just a repository for contracts; they should also provide a means for attorneys and business teams to collaboratively negotiate contracts.

News

Everyone's Worried About GDPR, but It May Be the Y2K of Data Privacy

Dan Clark | May 25, 2018

The message that lawyers have for companies nervous about GDPR compliance and heavy fines: For now, keep calm and carry on.

News

Money Isn’t Everything for In-House Counsel, Report Says

Dan Clark | May 23, 2018

Only 26 percent of attorneys surveyed by Evers Legal believed that compensation was the most rewarding aspect of their work.

News

High Court Approval of Class Action Waivers in Landmark Case Seen as Victory for Companies

Dan Clark | May 23, 2018

“It’s a significant victory for employers in that those that have arbitration agreements that contain class and collective action waivers are now able to enforce them without any question,” said one of the attorneys who argued for Epic Systems before the U.S. Supreme Court.

News

Chinese Trademark Applications Filed With PTO Could Create Headaches for US Businesses

Dan Clark | May 21, 2018

Chinese companies are on track to file more foreign trademark applications than U.S. companies in the next couple of years, according to recent data.

News

Monsanto and Husch Blackwell's Case Assessment Mastery Made Them ACC Value Champions

Dan Clark | May 21, 2018

As a result of implementing a new algorithm to assess asbestos cases early, the number of active cases has declined by 53 percent and settlement costs were reduced by 30 percent for Monsanto. Spend on outside counsel on these matters is down by 10 percent.

Expert Opinion

ADA Lawsuits and Businesses: Take Steps to Avoid Litigation Now

Patrick P. Dinardo and Erika Todd | May 18, 2018

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990, but it is newly urgent for businesses. Lawsuits filed under Title III, which requires businesses that are open to the public to be accessible to people with disabilities, have increased exponentially in recent years.

Keeping the “General” in General Counsel: Why GCs Still Need Broad Skillsets

Craig Mills | May 17, 2018

As part of the Legal Innovators Interview Series, Craig Mills, a shareholder and co-chair of the Litigation section at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, talks to Rob Edmund, the chief legal and talent officer at Kforce.

News

Is GDPR a 'Spark for New Business Models?' Some Companies Say 'Yes'

Dan Clark | May 16, 2018

A new survey indicates that, believe it or not, GDPR spells opportunity for some companies.

Q&A

HUB International GC John Albright Says Legal Has 'Only Begun to Scratch the Surface' With AI

Dan Clark | May 16, 2018

Albright gave his take on how legal departments should go about purchasing AI and whether or not it's going to replace human lawyers.

Expert Opinion

Mastering Legal Holds: When Does the Hold Obligation Arise? Part II

John Tredennick | May 16, 2018

In the first of this three-part series on mastering legal holds, I introduced the concept of a legal hold and offered seven steps for implementing a hold.