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The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the world's largest organization serving the professional and business interests of attorneys who practice in the legal departments of corporations, associations, nonprofits and other private-sector organizations around the globe.

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A principal goal in contract drafting should be avoiding the ambiguity that leads to conflict and litigation. In this session, you will consider real-life examples of disputes over ambiguous agreements, and get practical tips and solutions to avoid complications and litigation. Topics that will be addressed include settlement agreements, arbitration and dispute resolution clauses, intellectual property licenses, bankruptcy and ipso facto and insolvency clauses, and independent contractor and commission and bonus agreements.

Major disputes can be complex and varied. Managing these disputes is resource intensive and process driven and often occurs in an environment where participants can be highly emotive. It is easy for the uninitiated to get lost in the fray. The parties may find themselves in court without having managed the process and properly explored alternatives.

It is impossible to keep up with it all, but this session will help. Our panel of experts provided an update of the year’s most significant litigation and regulatory decisions affecting both private and public companies. What you don’t know CAN hurt you and your organization, so don’t overlook this information-packed session.

This session presented an overview of the tax law and regulations as they relate to the deductibility of fines, penalties, and punitive damages. There was also a discussion of the current trends in settlement language with governmental institutions and strategies to obtain the optimal tax outcome for the company. And what are the economic implications of a settlement being deductible as compared to a settlement that is not deductible? We addressed that, too!

What does “litigation management” really mean? How do you do it? Are you supposed to be involved in every detail or merely outsource cases to outside counsel and receive status reports, or something in between? Does it matter what kind of case it is? How do you best advise your boss of the status of these cases? The panel discussed different methods and styles of litigation management, and guided attendees to determine which approach works best for them, their companies, and their cases.

Since the Enron and Arthur Andersen debacles, prosecutors have shifted toward deferring prosecution of companies and enhancing their scrutiny of officers, directors and professionals. Companies have become more willing to lay blame at the feet of in-house counsel and plaintiffs’ counsel are suing in-house counsel to increase the size of settlements and pit corporate insiders against each other. This program explored the personal liability risks that in-house counsel face in every day situations and provided the legal background so that in-house counsel can properly address those risks.

Your company may be or has been sued; now you must take steps to preserve documents. No task is potentially more important in terms of reducing both headline and economic risk. You face critical questions as to if, when, and how you should implement a document preservation notice and this panel of experts tackled them, such as: When and what type of investigation must a company undertake before determining that a threat is not credible and, therefore, that litigation is not “reasonably anticipated?” When is a corporate entity “on notice?” How do the courts view the parties’ efforts?

Electronic content management is a hot issue, especially with discovery’s scope extending to all electronically stored information (ESI). How can in-house counsel be proactive in managing ESI? Numerous vendors providing valuable services related to ESI attend the ACC Annual Meeting. These services help in-house counsel manage electronic records retention, document management, litigation hold policies/procedures, compliance, reporting, etc. Before talking to vendors, attend this session for guidance on defining and addressing information management problem areas within your company.

Add to that long list of considerations in mergers and acquisitions the topic of how you handle the IP. This session provided an overview of this important issue, including engagement/pre-due diligence advice, matters that must be tracked down in due diligence, handling due diligence findings, working with outside counsel and legal department subject matter experts, the technical due diligence process including addressing open source matters, and the definitive agreement and disclosure schedules.

Litigation of any kind is incredibly daunting for almost every defendant. The stigma, process, and potential costs associated with sexual harassment litigation can be especially harrowing. In this presentation audience members sat in the jury box and watched a DVD of a mock sexual harassment trial. The audience then was broken up into small groups with each “jury” asked to deliver a unanimous verdict and discuss the reasons behind their decision. This process showed corporate counsel which actions are the focus of jury deliberations and allowed them to participate in a jury trial.

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