ACC Corporate Counsel University®

Why are you here? We hope it's not only for the CLE credit. Setting the tone for this Corporate Counsel University, a panel of young successful in-house lawyers will draw on their experiences and discuss practical tips to be an effective in-house counsel and advance your career. In this session:

• Gain a better understanding of what is different in-house compared to other contexts;
• Hear how your peers develop their knowledge of the business, its legal issues and risk tolerance, its key business drivers, profit sources, decision-makers, and corporate culture;
• Discuss strategies to build relationships, credibility and reliance with the business, and provide effective in-house legal advice and business guidance; and
• Explore career advancement opportunities in-house, such as moving to a management position with a business unit.

This highly engaging and interactive session will help attendees enhance their ability to successfully negotiate a wide variety of agreements, as well as to effectively analyze and draft important provisions in such agreements. In this plenary session, attendees will:

• Discuss the impact of, and how to avoid, common negotiation mistakes;
• Learn about negotiating lines that are intended to get you to concede an issue, including why they often work and how to respond to them;
• Explore best practices for working with your business units in connection with contract issues; and
• Analyze common-but-challenging contract provisions, spot the issues, and discuss risk mitigation techniques.

“I know what is expected of me at work.” How can in-house counsel leverage value-drivers for their legal department and their own role in the business? In this session, attendees will:

• Learn how annual goal-setting can increase employee engagement, align individuals and teams to cascading company commitments, help prioritize work and plan resource needs, and allow individual performers to differentiate themselves and managers to more objectively reward those who exceed expectations; and
• Explore historic examples, and learn how to create SMART goals that drive positive behavior, boost performance, create value, and fund the bonus pool.

• Identify tips to better understand your organization’s culture and goals regarding litigation;
• Discuss key steps your peers take when faced with a new lawsuit;
• Understand how to assess the financial impact of a lawsuit on the organization and enable management to make decisions about risk;
• Explore what tools your peers use to determine whether to get in, stay in, or get out, and resolve disputes as early as appropriate; and
• Learn to take steps and create programs to prevent litigation.

• Outline the key IP rights and risks you should be mindful of;
• Examine the necessary steps to protect valuable corporate assets on a national and global scale, and how not to infringe on the intellectual property rights of others;
• Explore how to prevent employees and independent contractors from misappropriating and using company confidential information and what remedial steps to take;
• Learn to spot and respond to common issues in advertising, trademarks, licensing, and other areas so that you leave empowered to respond accordingly; and
• Discuss the ins and outs of nondisclosure agreements and ownership provisions in contracts, and receive a few samples to take back to the office.

• Gain a better understanding of the data privacy legal and regulatory landscape;
• Learn to better identify where and how privacy and data security issues may arise, and how to assess the risks of your data privacy and information security protocols;
• Discuss how your peers develop a privacy program and the tools they put in place to prepare for incidents and engage business teams on privacy and security risks;
• Explore how to mitigate your company’s cyber risk with cyber and traditional insurance; and
• Examine how to manage an international patchwork of privacy rules and cross-border transfers of data.

• Discuss what an effective compliance and risk management program comprises, and how to build and maintain one;
• Learn to implement and maintain monitoring mechanisms and audit plans;
• Discuss the implications of compliance reporting channels, e.g., reports to the general counsel/chief legal officer vs. reports to the chief compliance officer; and
• Understand how experienced in-house counsel respond to regulators’ requests and calibrate information disclosure.

• Outline the main employment issues and regulations you need to keep in mind;
• Explore the legal considerations associated with hiring new employees;
• Discuss the basics of identifying and addressing employment issues such as disability, compliance with the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act, accommodation, overtime pay, U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act classification compliance and leave, independent contractors vs. employees, non-compete provisions, discrimination prevention, mental health in the workplace, employees monitoring, pay equity laws, and training staff on key employment issues; and
• Cover emerging issues such as social media, diversity programs, genetic information discrimination, and class action waivers.

• Learn tips for selecting, evaluating, comparing, and retaining the outside counsel that best suit the organizational needs of your company (including through competitive processes such as Requests for Proposals);
• Examine the benefits and pitfalls of legal process outsourcing (LPO) and learn how to recognize when it’s time to bring in an expert;
• Explore value-based fees and how they can align internal and external incentives; consider which types of value fees are best for different types of work;
• Discuss how to work with outside counsel to scope the work, set budgets that stick, monitor progress, and conduct after-action reviews to drive strong performance; and
• Gain a better understanding of metrics selection and use.

• Discuss key practical tips for managing employment litigation, domestically and across borders;
• Cover the basics of investigating internal complaints, preparing and responding to government inspections or investigations, and avoiding retaliation claims; and
• Explore how your peers use incentives to improve employees’ conduct, best practices for termination, and severance agreements.
   

• Explore strategies to develop the legal, business, leadership, and interpersonal skills required to succeed as in-house counsel and lead the law department and the business;
• Discuss pitfalls that could hinder your development toward a general counsel role;
• Learn practical tips on interacting effectively with a board of directors;
• Hear how peers develop relationships with their corporate stakeholders; and
• Obtain insight into how to improve your time management, prioritize work, and effectively communicate about your time investment and priorities. 

The ethical problems that arise in-house can be very different from the typical private practice issues. Focusing on the ethical challenges in-house counsel face, this session will address their obligations under the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.6, 1.13, 1.7 and 5.5. In this session attendees will:

• Gain insight into the ethical implications of the dual business and legal roles that in-house counsel are expected to fill;
• Explore how to manage attorney-client privilege in the corporate context;
• Understand in-house counsel’s ethical obligations to the organization as a client; and
• Learn tips for navigating conflicts of interest, multi-jurisdictional practice, and other common in-house ethical issues.