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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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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.

Both your board and your company need to understand basic issues relating to Board liability. This program reviewed recent cases where directors were held directly liable. It also addressed how to educate Boards about this subject without scaring them off, provided practical tips on how to counsel the Board to help them avoid liability, and the extent to which D&O insurance covers the Board members. If you’re responsible for the care and feeding of the Board—this program was for you.

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.

Decision-tree analysis is a powerful and underused tool in litigation. Its greatest benefit to lawyers is as a bridge between legal advice and business strategy. For clients it transforms terms like “good chance” or “reasonably likely” into probabilities and dollar values. Litigators care about legal issues, litigation strategy and winning, while in-house counsel and management care about costs, probability of success, the potential value of the litigation either in terms of potential benefit or potential loss, and whether settlement is feasible.

Climate change is about more than smokestacks. Lawyers need to understand what legislators, regulators, and plaintiffs plan to do about climate change, carbon, green house gasses, and energy efficiency statutes and regulations. Learn from a panel of authorities about the demands that may be placed upon your buildings, operations, public disclosures, and energy purchases, and the role that you as inside counsel will be required to play in the implementation of, and compliance with, emerging environmental regimes.

Think your commercial contracting experience will easily transfer to understanding and negotiating government contracts? Think again. This session delivered a primer on how contracting with federal agencies differs from private sector contracting. We also showed you how to determine which statutes and regulations apply and discussed how to develop the requisite compliance program. More importantly, you will walk away understanding how signing a public contract might affect your business and its property rights and when you need to hire an expert.

Records management does not need to be overwhelming. This panel of ACC members discussed practical steps companies take to address the underlying causes of records management issues around privacy, compliancy, and ediscovery, the common causes of these and other records management related problems, and provided overview and discussion of the practical steps their companies took to reduce related costs and risks. Learn how to uncover where an organization may have these issues in management of their information, potential exposure and practical steps to address them.

Increased levels of corruption, a heightened regulatory environment, and pointed questions from their auditors and boards, have led companies to be much more vigilant in their efforts to address corporate fraud. This session focused on the role of in-house counsel in designing, implementing, and communicating an anti-fraud program. We considered areas of vulnerability, early detection processes, how to avoid and prepare for possible litigation stemming from corporate fraud, and how to reduce potential for class action lawsuits.

Environmental regulatory and liability concerns increasingly touch upon thousands of products in the marketplace based on the chemicals they contain. In some cases, if not reformulated, products are banned. A panel described how the list of controlled chemicals (like lead and mercury) has grown in the last decade, what laws regulate products, and how manufacturers are reacting to demands for bans or restrictions on certain chemicals.

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