Increased online trading between the United States and Europe has also heightened the need for increased caution in matters of privacy and data protection. And while there are no hard and fast rules about ecommerce between the two unions, the smooth sailing of trans-Atlantic transactions may become a bit bumpy. Enter the EU Safe Harbor as a possible solution.
With such an emphasis on value these days, law firms may be judged on their ability to shed the confines of the billable hour, improve efficiency and resourcefulness. But the most rewarding results may come from mastering the age-old concept of work/life balance.
How are good compliance and due diligence programs the safeguard of a successful company? They protect against potential legal liability and financial hardship. They preserve the sanctity of a corporate reputation. There's another upside to this type of programming: done correctly, it can also cut company costs.
Companies need to make their clients, colleagues and customers feel that their information is private and secure. That's just good business. But instituting relevant privacy policies and implementing new technologies is just the tip of the data security iceberg. Risk assessments, when performed regularly, are also a critical component to ensuring the effectiveness of a privacy compliance program.
Armed with recent amendments to the statute that initially targeted contractors, the government has also recouped millions of dollars using the False Claims Act to battle healthcare fraud. But just what does that have to do with your company and its employees?
Company-wide training: It sounds good on paper and is theoretically designed to improve your staff's knowledge and performance. But long after the hours are completed, the booklets are shelved and the notes are misplaced, how much will you and your colleagues be able to recall from that hour or so of company training? Find some realistic solutions to making that information stick.
People in positions of power generally have the intelligence and experience to lead their companies into the next level of success. Their executive qualifications, however, do not guarantee that they are warm, fuzzy people persons who treat their staffs with respect. When execs are behaving badly, corrective coaching can be a way to transform a roughshod employee into an exemplary one.
Read this 2010 Communicator Award-winning article!
The deposition of corporate counsel isn't the isolated incident that it once was. In fact, it has become somewhat business as usual in the legal arena. It seems that the more you know and are entrusted, the more likely you are to become a deposition target. Get prepared - opposing counsel may be coming for you and your information.
An extensive network of professional contacts is one of the greatest career assets a corporate attorney can have. Most lawyers work hard to establish contacts, particularly in the early stages of their careers, but over time, many misuse their networks or forget about them altogether. To prevent this from happening, in-house lawyers need to be sure to avoid the most common mistakes even seasoned attorneys can make when it comes to the care and feeding of their networks.
Contract management can mean a number of things to a number of people. In many cases they are looking at one stage in the contract life cycle. There is money to be saved at each stage of the life cycle if you have the resources to manage your contracts rather than responding to each. Every point identified in this article will not apply to every contract, but it will give you an idea of the things to consider at each stage of the process.
Part of the 2009 Annual Meeting Program Materials for Session 408.