Annual Meeting Recap

Digitalizing their businesses is a critical priority and strategy for today’s CEOs. However, many find putting the internal structure in place to handle the rapid and ongoing disruption caused by digitalization a struggle.

In the session, “Business Education for In-house Counsel: Getting Ready for Digital Transformation,” M. Kathryn Brohman, PhD, thought leader and associate professor at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University in Canada, cited a Gartner study noting that corporate legal departments must be prepared and ready to support these digital initiatives.

 “Digital transformation is about offering a robust customer experience, increasing performance, and equipping the organization to sustain changes in the long term,” notes Dr. Brohman. 

According to the Gartner study, “digital-ready” legal departments can increase digital project delivery by 63 percent and increase appropriate legal and compliance risk taking by 46 percent. Dr. Brohman discussed the foundational concepts necessary for digital transformation and the role legal departments need to play to advance their organizations’ digital readiness.  

In-house counsel don’t need to be experts in the technology, noted Dr. Brohman, however they need to understand the implications of the technology and why it’s important. She advises in-house counsel to sit down with the technology professionals and have them explain the technology, why it’s important to implement, and the business implications. Because technology will continue to drive rapid change, and because digitalization is a key priority for CEOs, it’s important that in-house counsel be prepared and knowledgeable about legal implications of digital transformation to earn a seat at the table.

SHIFT the Way You Execute for Sustainable Results 

Organizations often create impressive strategies but, unfortunately, fail to execute them in a way that gets results.  “Execution is the only strategy that your customers see,” said Dr. Brohman in another session, “SHIFT the Way You Execute for Sustainable Results.”

Dr. Brohman explained how companies can improve their ability to deliver results by identifying specific execution barriers that are too often overlooked and need to be addressed.  At the core of her message  was the concept of  “drag,” which she defined as a competing force that can hinder execution;  organizations can quantify (as a key performance indicator)  this force and use it to assess the degree to which inherent obstacles, such as corporate culture, can impede results.  

With the aid of mobile technology, the audience participated in identifying barriers that cause “drag” in their own organization and discussed best practices for removing them. Some key takeaways and advice for in-house counsel:  

• Understand that strategies are useless without sustainable execution.
• Determine and examine what drag factors are negatively affecting your organization and your legal department’s ability to achieve results.
• Identify barriers that you as in-house counsel can be proactive in removing for better results and outcomes.

Major jurisdictions in civil law and common law jurisdictions have begun reacting to the innovation and evolution in blockchain technology, including deciding if they will take a laissez faire approach or a protectionist approach.

In the session “Blockchain Regulations Around the Globe,’’ Joshua Boehm, counsel, Perkins Coie LLP; David Brill, founder, Brill Advisors; and Gayle Gorvett, founder and managing partner, Gorvett Consulting LLC shared some of the most significant jurisdictions’ latest legislative initiatives, reviewed case studies from the United States and European Union,  and offered practical tips on how to harmonize these differing requirements in cross-border transactions.

The session provided an introduction to Blockchain and a discussion about how, at this point, its application remains largely theoretical in terms of application on a larger scale.  Some of the legal applications and implications discussed included:

• Potential tensions between GDPR, which includes a right to erasure, and blockchain, which promotes immutability of data.
• Opportunities and potential for in-house counsel to apply blockchain technology outside of exchange of cryptocurrency, including smart contracts and applications to ease the international transfer of money.
• How different countries are approaching blockchain and positioning themselves as being “blockchain countries” – like France via “innovative regulation” and Switzerland by becoming early adopters of the technology, creating the first cryptocurrency-based exchange. 
• Uncertainty over how the public at large will embrace blockchain technology and exchange of digital assets. The possibility of those using blockchain needing a certification or some sort of stamp of approval from a known entity to get public buy-in was also discussed.