Substantive Law

The protection of trade secrets and confidential information can be paramount to the commercial success of a business. With the transition to working-from-home, businesses are facing technological and practical challenges as they seek to protect their confidential information from theft or misuse by employees. 

This webinar presented by Gilbert + Tobin’s Employment team, will cover measures that you can implement to protect your confidential information, including:

• implementing security measures, including usage monitoring and other surveillance practices; 
• having robust contractual protections and IT usage policies; and
• developing and implementing procedures to ensure high-risk employees’ devices are monitored and examined to ensure that confidential information is protected.

This session will also cover the steps an employer could take if its security measures fail, including obtaining personal devices for forensic examination, injunctive relief requiring the return of information and damages for breach.
 

As most COVID-19 restrictions are lifted across Australian states and territories, workplaces are contemplating this new post-pandemic landscape and its implications for their workforce. 

There are undoubtedly lasting effects shaping the present and future of work and much to consider regarding employment and work health and safety law. 

Join Wolters Kluwer Australia and Michael Byrnes, Partner in Employment, Workplace Health and Safety at Swaab, to discuss the pressing matters in-house counsel need to know to advise in this situation.

What you’ll learn:

• How employers can manage requests for flexible arrangements
• How/whether employers can encourage or require employees to return to office-based work
• Ensuring hybrid or work from home arrangements comply with legal requirements
• Workplace privacy and information security for employees working from home
• Managing performance and communicating with employees who are not in the office
• WHS and workers compensation issues for employees working at home

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how we work in almost every way.

As the Government response moves out of the “containment” phase into a “living with COVID” phase, employers are now dealing with new challenges. While remote work became the norm during lockdowns, many employers are now looking to move back to the office. Employers are now also having to consider the reality that there will be outbreaks of COVID-19 within the workplace and grappling with how this risk needs to be managed.

This session will look at some of the developments relating to how employers and tribunals are dealing with requests for remote working arrangements and what is happening with mandatory vaccination policies.

Australia’s changing geo-political situation is evident in the intensification of regulation around critical infrastructure assets including energy, water, healthcare, data, finance, space, defence and more.  The Government has identified a need for greater critical asset self-sufficiency and resilience, leading to stronger intervention powers by government and regulators in investment approvals and operational risks around data and cyber security.

This session, hosted by Gilbert + Tobin, will explore:

• the recently enacted legislation which requires owners to provide control and operational information about the critical infrastructure asset, rendering them subject to enhanced cyber security obligations; and 
• the implications for investment in the sector, including approvals under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act and new regulatory risks for asset owners.

This webinar, presented by Gilbert + Tobin’s market-leading Technology + Digital team, will look at recent case law and the techniques and rules used to construe real examples of contract clauses. 

The session will consider the following important questions:

• Can ‘commercial purpose’ override the literal meaning of the language used;
• Can a court ‘rewrite’ or ‘fix’ the bargain by construction?;
• How can you protect the construction you want when drafting?

This webinar is targeted at commercial lawyers who draft and advise on commercial contracts.

2021 will be remembered for the staggering speed at which global momentum shifted towards the clean energy and decarbonisation transition, as public and private sectors pivoted to align with a transformation akin to an industrial revolution.  The hype and intensity surrounding the United Nations’ COP26 conference, in Glasgow, in late 2021, only served to reinforce this trend.  It is clear that immediate, effective and meaningful action is occurring across governments, industry and society, but that much also remains to be done.  

The breadth of the challenge means that all industries, including the legal industry, are working fast to understand the range of issues and become familiar with the unique needs of the clean energy and decarbonisation transition and the risk of not having a clearly articulated and fact-based transition strategy.

This session, hosted by Gilbert + Tobin’s market leading Energy + Resources team, will cover:

• the driving forces behind clean energy and decarbonisation;
• practical considerations and challenges in integrating decarbonisation actions and goals into strategic and operational decision making; and
• the opportunities and risks arising from clean energy and decarbonisation, including the currently mooted land tenure reforms in WA.

Management of the workforce in every industry has been impacted to some extent by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.  After two years of continuing “unprecedented times”, it is timely to reflect on how employment and workplace law has developed and evolved, particularly with respect to the renewed focus on effective consultation and what it means to work flexibly.  

Our Employment Relations partners will provide an update on how the law in this space has “pivoted” and where workplace law may be headed in the near future, covering topics such as:

• Consultation requirements
• Stand downs 
• Flexibility requests
• Workplace mental health
• Developments in worker-related claims

This session will be relevant to employers and in-house counsel advising their organisations.

Back to basics.

You know that privacy is important, but if you're not quite sure what is and isn't a privacy issue, how to manage a data breach, or how to communicate privacy's importance as an in-house counsel to your workplace, then this workshop is for you. The workshop will give you the tools you need to help understand the basics of privacy and key commercial considerations for your organisation. 

The workshop will cover: 

1. Introduction to Australia's privacy laws

2. Australian Privacy Principles

3. Practical issues and considerations:

• Privacy policies and privacy collection notices
• Direct marketing and privacy/spam laws
• Outsourcing and disclosure of information
• Audit clauses in contracts and overlap with confidentiality
• Data breach clauses in contracts

4. Data security and data breach incident management

5. Australian privacy law reforms

A proper estate plan involves more than simply having a valid Will in place.  There are often other critical matters that a Will cannot address, such as superannuation and incapacity.  

This webinar will explore superannuation and powers of attorney from an estate planning perspective, as well as review several cases that demonstrate what can happen when these matters are not properly considered.

Global cyber and privacy incident costs in 2021 will exceed $6 trillion. The United States remains the biggest target with more than half of all cyber attacks committed against small to mid-sized businesses who lack the financial resources and skills to combat the constantly evolving cyber threat.  As a business owner, risk officer, in-house counsel or anyone responsible for cybersecurity for an organization, do you understand your role when a cyber attack occurs?

On this webinar, top leaders in the field will provide you with a playbook and share best practices that you can follow when a cyber attack occurs. The following areas will be covered:

• The role of in-house counsel regarding cybersecurity
• How to appropriately manage an attack
• Obligations of your business
• Addressing regulatory issues and potential litigation

Register below.  Link to be provided within 24 hours of webinar.