In Richard Susskind's latest book The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, he develops his theory that the new information age will ultimately render lawyers obsolete. This article analyzes and critiques this premise from the perspective of in-house counsel.
Managing outsourcing relationships and negotiating technology solutions can prove to be difficult for in-house counsel, especially if they are brought into the process too late to be effective. This article discusses the benefits of adding counsel to the acquisition team early on in order to immediately influence the direction of the negotiations and ensure a more effective outcome for the client.
If your company offers internet-related services, you may already appreciate how taking steps to provide users with a safe online experience can build user trust and brand loyalty, both of which can lead to business success. Would your company prefer to be known as the "safe choice" for children on the internet or, alternatively, be publicly identified as a space on the internet where predators go to find children?
A young lawyer drops a file on your desk: "We got him cold," he says. "Here are his emails to his lawyer—I bet he has admitted the sexual harassment in some emails to his attorney and once we read them, we can nail him good." But should you open and read them? Something makes you uneasy about reading those emails. Are you right to worry? Yes. While there are cases which would support your claim that the executive waived the attorney-client privilege by using company computers, especially in light of your company policy prohibiting using computers for personal use, the law in this area is neither mature nor settled. Proceed, as they say, at your peril.
What can the brilliant Rocky Horror Picture Show (20th Century Fox, 1975) teach you about ediscovery? Read Phil Strauss’ article to find out.
Arbitration can often be viewed as something standardâ€"a process that comes up only during contract negotiations. Learn how to look at dispute resolution from the viewpoint of contractual arbitration, understanding that arbitration agreements can be customized to meet almost any contractual requirement.
In-house counsel have amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to contend with, and the high costs of complying with them tend to come from the legal department's pocketbook. Learn about how to recover from the cost of ediscovery.
It has become crucial for in-house attorneys to pay close attention to application data and compliance issues. Following the numerous reports of security data breaches that left many people with their personal information made public, a need to develop and implement policies and procedures to protect personal information has presented itself. Find out how to strengthen you current policy or get a good one into place.
No matter what type of business you are in, you probably have a website. Did you know that even if you sell purple widgets to pre-teens you could be sued for patent infringement? Read on to find out the steps you can take to access the risk and minimize the liability of an infringement that you may not even know you're involved in.
It's important for lawyers new to in-house to recognize that corporate executives may assume that you are an authority on data security and privacy or, that you "have it covered." And yet, if you are like many in-house counsel, your expertise may lie solely in litigation, labor law, or transaction areas. This article gives you the basics on data security.