LEGAL
An issue dedicated to disruptors
The legal profession has been headed down unfamiliar terrain, with the winds of change ushering in new client demands, technological advances, and evolving societal and generational dynamics. This December issue focuses on just a few of “disruptors” challenging certain “norms” within the profession and specifically in legal departments. Whether it’s understanding the major technological advances that are affecting the industry or learning a new skill like marketing the value of the legal department across the organization or the influx of millennial, this issue is full of practical advice to assist a change-adverse corporate counsel to evolve and take advantage of these disruptions. Be sure to check out the Westlaw® Corporate Twitter feed and the Legal Solutions Corporate Counsel blog for more in-depth articles and information on these important disruptors.
Cisco's Mark Chandler on how lawyers should become disruptors
In an age of radical transformation, as digitization sweeps through every industry – making no exception for the law – attorneys may need to rethink their relationship with risk. Mark Chandler, general counsel at Cisco, addressed a group of technology lawyers about how he’s made his legal department vital and valuable during a period of tumult by driving change, not resisting it. He did so largely by hewing to a simple guiding principle: "There are no legal problems. Only business problems."
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The Insider: How to market the legal department to the business
It sucks being a cost center. While a good general counsel can argue all day long about how much value the legal department is adding to the company, at the end of the day, her legal department is still a cost center to the business. And if the business sees you as just a cost center, then you will line up with the rest of the cost centers when the budget ax comes falling or the layoff machine gets cranked up. This means all in-house lawyers should be focused on how to constantly market the department to the business.
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How corporate counsel manage the risks of global business
As the relentless march of globalization pushes corporations to pursue a full spectrum of deals and investments in the far corners of the world, corporate counsel face mounting anxieties. Not only must today’s in-house lawyers worry constantly about the possibility of legal fires breaking out in far-flung jurisdictions, but they must also concern themselves with a shifting terrain of laws and regulations. Countries are rapidly evolving the ways they regulate transactions and disputes, leaving little certainty of outcomes for even the most well-constructed agreements.
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Working with outside counsel on blockchain projects: Five proposed projects that could be game changers
While the bitcoin community is still robust, there is no denying that the focus today is on the collection of technologies that form the underpinnings of bitcoin – known as blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT). You’ll find everyone from the largest global banks to the smallest start-ups working on blockchain applications to solve a host of problems across virtually every industry, including financial services; regulatory tools for KYC compliance; and even licensing for music, art, and other intellectual property. What does this mean for corporate counsel?
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Diversity – Interested or committed? That is the question and the answer
The diversity and inclusion conversation as it relates to the legal profession is a well-worn one spanning multiple years. Unfortunately, for all the talk and glossy marketing materials, only minimal progress has been made. According to Law360’s 2016 Law Firm Diversity Snapshot, less than 15% of lawyers at U.S. law firms are minorities. Regarding corporate environments, as of 2015, the number of Fortune 500 minority general counsel is starting to decline. There are countless statistics and reports demonstrating that a truly diverse and inclusive workforce drives engagement, retention and profits. So if the benefits are so readily apparent, why so little change? And what can be done?
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New kids on the block: Influx of millennials could remake corporate legal departments, survey shows
A recent survey that gauges the perceptions of in-house millennials and explores how they are shaping their workplaces shows that many corporate legal departments may not be prepared for this influx of younger workers and how their perceptions and behaviors will change the workplace. The survey shows a legal environment in which businesses of all types are dealing with the arrival of millennials and the departure of baby boomers, and notes how the impact of a multigenerational workforce is just beginning to reshape legal departments.
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SEC determined to maintain open lines of communications for whistleblowers
The SEC’s August 2016 cease-and-desist orders reflect the SEC’s determination to prevent publicly traded companies from placing “gag” agreements on any employees who could be potential whistleblowers. The SEC is doing so by reaching deep into companies’ standard written agreements that are intended to protect the company’s confidential business information from improper use or disclosure for competitive business purposes.
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The Internet of Things: Key legal issues
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly expanding network of everyday Web-connected and interconnected smart devices, buildings, vehicles, and other things that are embedded with sensors or microchips, including radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips, that enable them to collect, use, process, analyze, transmit, store, and share data. This Practice Note provides an overview of key legal issues related to the IoT, including the benefits and risks of the IoT and IoT privacy and data security regulation under U.S. federal law.
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Three reasons the legal industry is ripe for tech disruption
As tech revolutionizes businesses as diverse as transportation, banking, and healthcare, is there an industry that is effectively “tech proof”? Naming the industries that have been reinvented by technology, one has remained conspicuously unchanged: the law. However, there are many indications that the legal industry in fact is ripe for disruption. Here are three reasons why a legal tech revolution is just around the corner.
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