Resource Listings

A study of the state of maturity among in-house legal departments across 15 legal operations functions.

This article outlines five key considerations for in-house counsel looking to cost-effectively enforce trademark rights in Canada.

This article explains the top ten amendments to the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) that were made after the 2018 American midterm elections. These new amendments affect Canadian IP law .

In this ACC Guide, an overview of recent developments in post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board are explained. With relatively new administrative proceedings developed for challenging competitor grants, in-house counsel will need to familiarize themselves with this knowledge to prepare for hearings.

Not letting its small size impede its innovation, Fir Tree has streamlined its legal operations by using many of the same processes and technology solutions adopted by large corporate law departments. Using the ACC Legal Operations Maturity Model as a roadmap, the team targeted legacy pain-points and leveraged data, alternative legal service providers and ingenuity to add tech solutions.

Suite of vendor reports includes Spend, Invoices, Operations and Matter-specific dashboards (includes total spend, discounts, staffing ratios, diversity, with breakdowns by vendor, matters, budget category, etc.)

Fir Tree Partners Legal Operations Project Background and Pillars of Success

This North American energy company decided that innovation was needed to be nimbler in the delivery of jurisdictional licensing opinions to its engineers. TC Energy engaged (past Champion) Shook, Hardy & Bacon to design a secure, scalable, easy-to-use online tool that is accessible around-the-clock.

To keep up with a rapidly growing $10B+ business, VMware Legal needed to scale how they operated. To redefine the way they worked, and to elevate their value, they focused on three core areas: (i) taking their technology and data analytics strategy to the next level; (ii) expanding their outsourcing and insourcing capabilities; and (iii) building a team with diverse skills, competencies, and talents.

To keep up with a rapidly growing $10B+ business, VMware Legal needed to scale how they operated. To redefine the way they worked, and to elevate their value, they focused on three core areas: (i) taking their technology and data analytics strategy to the next level; (ii) expanding their outsourcing and insourcing capabilities; and (iii) building a team with diverse skills, competencies, and talents.

To keep up with a rapidly growing $10B+ business, VMware Legal needed to scale how they operated. To redefine the way they worked, and to elevate their value, they focused on three core areas: (i) taking their technology and data analytics strategy to the next level; (ii) expanding their outsourcing and insourcing capabilities; and (iii) building a team with diverse skills, competencies, and talents.

New Employee On-Boarding Checklist

Incoterms, or International Commercial Terms, are a set of pre-defined terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce for international trade. In this article, revisions from the newest edition are explained for the international in-house counsel.

New security measures to protect company's information are being tested throughout the world. With General Data Protection (GDPR), employees have a right to see where privacy and security meet. In this article, new security measures are discussed within the frame of GDPR.

In Australia, whistleblowers are protected by law and recently, are gaining more protections. In this article, learn more about how company's interact with whistleblowers, who constitutes a whistleblower and how in-house counsel can prepare for such issues.

Project Management Best Practices Checklist (LibertyMutual)

In this Top Ten, learn tips as to how to organize your data protection practices. Now more than ever, companies are under pressure to create, implement, and maintain effective data protection plans.

The Covid-19 health crisis has affected the way businesses operate around the world. In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about the impact to Australian and New Zealand foreign investments, commercial real estate and subsidies for employees. This resource was published by Meritas in April 2020.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investment in Chinese businesses and commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investment in Hong Kong businesses and commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investment in Japanese businesses and commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investment in Singaporean businesses and commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in the Philippines and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in the Thailand and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in Vietnam and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in India and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in February 2018.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in Australia and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in May 2019.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn more about investing in businesses based in New Zealand and developing commercial relationships. This resource was published by Meritas in May 2019.

In this article, in-house counsel can learn about employer/employee rights, privacy and security issues in workplaces throughout Europe and the Middle East. This resource was published by Meritas in 2018.