Non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements are ubiquitous and used daily in a variety of contexts, from mergers and acquisitions to more ordinary course commercial transactions. Faculty will cover recent case law regarding confidentiality agreements in the acquisition context and describe some broader implications. We will provide a walk-through of common confidentiality provisions, and tips and perspectives for both the disclosing and recipient parties. Although most in-house counsel have experience with confidentiality agreements, this presentation will drill down on some of the pitfalls and important provisions that get missed. We will provide a confidentiality agreement form, marked to show different provisions and negotiating positions to serve as a useful guide.
The best general counsel are invaluable members of the business team - able to nimbly navigate between and harmonize the legal and business interests of their organizations. How do they do it? What do they expect from you? How do you manage the tension between providing legal and business advice? Join us to learn how to work with your business colleagues so that they will see you as not just legal but someone who means business. This panel will also address the ethical issues of how to navigate the attorney-client privilege and other ethical obligations while wearing "two hats" for the company.
Each of the respective industries in healthcare face different issues when negotiating contracts. This program will highlight what are essential provisions to be included in health care agreements from the perspective of hospitals, providers, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies and health plans. Concepts to be discussed include the requirements of the variety of U.S. and international laws impacting the healthcare industry, the different needs of for-profits and non-profits, and the changes imposed by healthcare reform.
A candid and thoughtful discussion regarding the role that the general counsel (GC) has in managing the heightened level of ethical scrutiny as it applies to the “C-Level” suite. Included in this review will be the challenges that the office of the general counsel faces in balancing the role of ethical counselor to the members of the executive management team and the GC’s fiduciary responsibility to the board of directors. We will review recent “C-Level” ethical transgressions and debate appropriate courses of action as they relate to preventing ethical breaches and dealing with the consequences once they have occurred.
Trade secret owners are faced with a myriad of issues, especially with the increasingly global marketplace. Business owners and leaders must address the risk of outright theft of their intellectual property by competitors or would-be competitors. International communication networks that make the theft of trade secrets as easy as pushing the “send” button magnify this trend. This interactive workshop will allow the attendees to work in groups and act as business leaders facing a trade secret crisis in their companies. The attendees will then choose how to address their crisis and which legal actions to take. Each team will take turns presenting their strategy to the entire group and, if necessary, the presenter will make recommendations for additional ways the teams could have protected their trade secrets.
This session will focus on the creation of a strategic plan that establishes the law department as a creator of value in addition to delivering superior service of core legal functions. Starting with how a legal department can create strategy that delivers a financial benefit to the company, as well as moving the function to becoming a cost-neutral function, and in some circumstances, a positive financial contributor to the company. The program will review different law department structures and current trends in how to optimize your structure, align with your business, build an inclusive law department, and assess how to optimally source and staff work internally for different tasks to achieve your strategic goals. This program is designed to benefit every corporate attorney, from the entry-level associate to the experienced general counsel, as it argues for a less traditional perspective of the legal department within the modern corporate structure.
The Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor found unconstitutional the definition in DOMA that only persons of the opposite sex can be married for the purpose of federal law, and courts and administrative agencies recently have approved claims by transgender individuals. Issues ranging from extending benefits to same-sex partners to confusion about what sports a transgender individual can play (and which bathrooms and dressing rooms can be used), provoke impulse reactions. In-house attorneys need to address these issues. Unfamiliarity with the law can expose a business to both legal liability and terrible press.
This program is designed to give in-house counsel advising businesses in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) states a better understanding of the laws and business dynamics of the region. Issues to be covered include opportunities for investment to and from the region; regional variations and Dubai as a hub; contractual issues and joint ventures; disputes and arbitration; Islamic finance; anti-bribery and corruption; diligence and know your customer (KYC); Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and sanctions; and cultural understanding for those from outside the region.
International mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are likely to pose special challenges for in-house counsel by adding a multi-jurisdictional dimension to the regulatory review and approval process. Discover the differing merger control regimes that must be complied with in doing M&A transactions in the European Union, Canada, China and elsewhere, including the notification thresholds, notification requirements and review processes. Then, explore the issues that arise in managing multiple regulatory compliance processes when the transaction triggers reviews in two or more jurisdictions.
Cross-border compliance obligations for multi-nationals means a lot more headaches for in-house litigators tasked with managing cross-border discovery. Discovery obligations vary from country to country — but try telling that to your home regulator who is clamoring for you to turn over documents that another regulator forbids you to. Explore the growing international complexity of discovery/ediscovery compliance with a lively panel discussion that looks at recent regulatory actions, litigations and sanctions, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Code of Business Conduct and the Eighth Amendment to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China.