LEGAL
Knowing what you don't know
I'm often asked what the biggest difference is between in-house and outside counsel from the practicing attorney's point of view. In honesty, I don't have a great answer since my only experience at a firm was doing summer internships during my 1L summer. What I do know is how it looks to me now, having more than a decade of in-house practice under my belt, sometimes as a client to my outside counsel colleagues.
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Proving your worth in the first 100 days of a new role
Congratulations! You've landed the new general counsel role you've always dreamt of, or you have finally received the promotion you worked so hard for... Now what? The real work begins! The clock is ticking and the window of opportunity to make a positive impression is at hand.
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Flying into the cloud without falling: Understanding the intersection between data privacy laws and cloud computing solutions
As general counsel for a multinational corporation, the risk-management part of your job necessarily entails understanding the laws and regulations implicated by your corporation's activities. Meanwhile, the ubiquitous nature of electronic communication, along with the high cost of maintaining an internal information technology infrastructure, has ushered in the use of cloud computing services to store and move your company's electronic data. For general counsel, it's vital to understand this intersection and its implication.
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Ten Things with Sterling Miller: Crisis Preparation 101
As in-house counsel, you can sum up your priorities in two categories: "Maximize Value Creation" and "Minimize Value Destruction." A "crisis" situation falls under potential value destruction and can come in many forms, including major litigation, data breach, and much more. How you and the company respond to a crisis will go a long way in preventing or limiting damage to the company, including its reputation and brand.
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Don't call it new, call in invigorated: Takeaways from the inaugural ACC Legal Operations Conference
While there has been a lot of press lately on the "new" profession of legal operations, many attendees of the first-ever ACC Legal Operations Conference pointed out that there have been people in this role for 20+ years. A better explanation is that it just hit the limelight due to the many cost-cutting efforts of businesses. So don't call it new – call it reinvigorated. Regardless of age, it is definitely deserving of the attention it received at this conference. Here are just a few of the insights this legal ops professional walked away with.
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New FINRA rule on background investigations may be surprisingly expansive
On July 1, 2015, a new rule issued by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) takes effect, requiring that "each member firm ascertain by investigation the good character, business reputation, qualifications, and experience of an applicant before the firm applies to register that applicant with FINRA and before making a representation to that effect on the application for registration." A firm's failure to act in accordance with FINRA's rules may be taken as evidence of a breach of that firm's duty of care, and consequently, as evidence of negligence.
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Avoiding retaliation claims; DMCA best practices; Creditor standing under Delaware
Learn about the two recent federal circuit court decisions that take an expansive view of the type of complaints that can support statutory retaliation claims, and why your company needs to review its existing DMCA notice. Plus, a recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision confirms that creditors are not required to prove the "continuous insolvency" of a corporation to maintain standing when bringing a derivative claim against the corporation's directors.
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Top ten tips in drafting and negotiating international contracts
Contracts for international transactions contain a mix of the familiar and the exotic. Familiar, in that deals resemble each other the world over, and so does the language used to express them. Exotic, in that differences in legal and business environments can require different approaches, or at least make them advisable. If you ignore the familiar, you end up reinventing the wheel. If you ignore the exotic, you may be in for unpleasant surprises.
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