If your company is involved in a merger, acquisition, or joint venture, and one of the businesses involved has activities in Europe, be careful. The European Union (EU) recently put into effect new and tougher rules governing mergers. We guide you through the maze of an EU competition review with this article.
"Put it in writing." Those four words used to be sage advice to parties looking to ensure their legal rights. The advent of technology and the essential reliance on computers to conduct business have made the traditional battle of the forms notion almost obsolete. Today, thanks to shrinkwrap, clickwrap, and other electronic agreements, there are a myriad of ways to form a contract, and even more ways to modify it. In a nutshell, contract management has become much more difficult in the digital age.
Most private company acquisitions, regardless of structure, contain provisions for some form of post-closing purchase price adjustment. These adjustment provisions can be an area for significant post-closing dispute, but often do not get the attention they deserve during the negotiation process, resulting in a nasty shock long past the time anything can be done about it. Here's how to make sure that the your company doesn't get burned after the deal is struck.
Your company has announced a merger. Most counsel will immediately start to assemble their factual and economic evidence and develop their best arguments to present to the agencies. Yet, equally important is developing a strong working relationship with agency staff. Here are some practical tips on how you can better communicate with agency staff in order to increase the chances that your company's deal will ultimately be approved.
Discusses how vital it is to implement a solid electronic information retention system and provides practice pointers for choosing an appropriate methodology to fit your company's budget.
Does the use of alternative dispute resolution equal good business? According to research by American Arbitration Association, it just might. Companies that are "dispute-wise" also sport legal departments whose lawyers feel less stretched, and have larger budgets. Is there a correlation between committing to ADR and having a less stressful professional life?
Mention defending an asbestos case and many in-house counsel blanch, with thoughts of company bankruptcy racing through their heads. Yet, what many counsel don't know is that their client may well be able to require the federal government to contribute to a settlement or judgment in such a case, due to the government's pre-eminent role in building World War II-era industrial facilities that contained asbestos. Learn how to overcome sovereign immunity stumbling blocks to establish government liability in today's asbestos litigation arena.
It's a thorny set of questions that, in an era of hyper-scrutiny on SEC filings, carry more weight than ever: How do you decide when a litigation matter must be disclosed on financial statements and to shareholders? And for how much?
Make sure you know how to conduct an informal investigation properly to avoid adding to the problem.
GCs have a great opportunity to evolve their roles into that of a "lawyer-statesman." Learn to lead with concern about both private good and public interest.