Outlines examples of the tolerated practices that invite the kind of self-dealing and corrupt practices by corporate directors and officers and provides corporate governance practices that will maximize the risk of costly and crippling corporate scandals.
Read this 2008 Apex Award-winning article!<br/>The "new job" of in-house and outside counsel involves acting as a private eye of sorts. Tracking down allegations of wrongdoing, which range from the improper use of the company car by a manager, to securities fraud by the CEO, has developed into a legal sub-specialty that is taking up a lot of lawyer's days. Here, the authors point out the recent trends in corporate America that will possibly effect how this area of the law will continue to evolve.
This issue covers corporate subsidiary governance, litigation privilege, and partial pension wind-ups.
When corporate abuses or illegal actions force an internal investigation of a senior staff person, your number one priority is to act promptly. Learn more about whistleblowing, the pathway to a successful investigation, and attorney-client privilege and you can limit your company's liability.
Determining which documents to keep and which to destroy requires your company to perform a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, the company must
retain documents needed to satisfy its business operational requirements, as well as preserve documents relevant to any potential litigation. On the other hand, your company needs to hold down its costs for storing records. This balancing act becomes particularly complicated if your company is doing
business in Europe, where your company has to comply with a bewildering array of
retention requirements imposed by the various European governments.
Discusses available options when your company sees its stock price go down, then receives a class action alleging securities fraud, and it sounds like plaintiffs' counsel is getting, and using, confidential information from one of your employees—a corporate mole.
How many times have you experienced the "quick look review"—you know, the one where you get to review a contract 25 minutes before the business people are set to sign it? You don’t want to be the company’s roadblock to revenue, but you need to ensure that your company does not enter into a contract loaded with real risk to the corporation. Read how you can win in this situation and other common, vexing contract negotiation situations.
Over the past four years, a stream of news reports has described SEC enforcement actions and criminal prosecutions of inside corporate lawyers. Many in the corporate bar have asked whether the news coverage is exaggerating the frequency of these actions, and if the frequency is real, whether any common factors prompted these proceedings. If the answer to these critical questions is "yes," then inside lawyers can take steps to reduce their risks.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board recently issued its long-anticipated rules on auditor independence issues and the relationship with the company's independent auditor. The authors give tips on how you can keep your audit committee up-to-date and on the straight and narrow.