Your company has experienced a data security breach – is your company prepared to respond?

Data security breaches can have significant reputational, business, and legal costs for companies. To manage risk around data breaches, businesses must have in place procedures to guide a quick and effective response.

[via: 10 Steps for Responding to a Corporate Data Security Breach at CorpCounsel]

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During this free PLC webinar, leading experts will discuss differences between the main types of equipment leases and what you should consider when structuring equipment leases. In addition to providing insight on how the language and structure of equipment leases impact their legal, tax and accounting status, this session will cover:

Business considerations when leasing and lease-financing equipment.

- UCC “true” versus “non-true” lease status.
- Special considerations for finance leases: very special “true” leases.
- If not a lease, why a secured transaction?
- “True tax” lease status: what it is and why it matters.
- Capital lease versus operating lease status and the impact of FASB changes.

CLE credit will be provided for NY and IL.

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Time: 1pm- 2pm ET (10am – 11am PT)

[via Structuring Equipment Leases: Tips for Achieving Your Economic and Business Goals.]

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Social media is taking the world by storm, and for businesses, this means their employees are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a host of other social media services. A recent piece at InsideCounsel has ten tips for crafting a social media policy.

[via: 11 tips for crafting a social media policy at InsideCounsel]

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A recent article at InsideCounsel discusses whether your employees should have separate counsel during internal investigations:

At some point, almost every organization encounters questions of actual or suspected wrongdoing by its employees, officers or directors. When that scenario arises, it is time to launch an internal investigation to ferret out any wrongdoing and to take swift action to correct it. For most employees, cooperation in an internal investigation is a required condition of their continued employment. However, if the suspected wrongdoing turns out to have been conducted by one or more employees, the investigation may lead to anything from disciplinary proceedings against employees to criminal charges.

[via: Litigation: How to conduct internal investigations at InsideCounsel]

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CorpCounsel features an article by lawyers from Brown Rudnick on Wal-Mart’s bribery scandal, and how in-house and outside counsel should work together when facing potential corporate corruption.

[via: An In-House Counsel Corporate Corruption Playbook at CorpCounsel]

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A recent article at InsideCounsel discusses points to consider for FCPA due diligence.

[via: Regulatory: 7 points to consider in regard to FCPA due diligence at InsideCounsel]

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How is your law department managing international business?

The globalization of corporate America is nothing new. Over the years, more and more companies have begun to extend their businesses outside of the U.S., and it’s no surprise that the expansion has led to unique challenges for legal departments.

[via: In-house counsel discuss best practices in managing international business at InsideCounsel]

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As the summer approaches, many companies look to enlist unpaid interns as a means of evaluating potential future talent. An article at InsideCounsel examines some of the perils involved.

[via: Labor: The perils of using unpaid interns at InsideCounsel]

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In-house lawyers in Europe and the United States face many similar challenges. However, there are issues unique to the European Union that demand particular attention from GCs of multinational businesses. CorpCounsel has a piece on the 3 biggest EU challenges facing GCs.

[via: The 3 Biggest E.U. Challenges for General Counsel at CorpCounsel]

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UPDATE: This CLE is apparently no longer free. Thank you to an InhouseBlog reader for pointing this out!

Want to learn more about Title 1 of the Affordable Care Act in the comfort of your home or office and earn some free CLE at the same time? Check out the presentation by Stephen Herbes, Esq., at LawLine.com. CLE credit is available for Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, New Jersey and New York. The presentation has received very positive reviews and you can’t beat free. Head over to LawLine today to watch the presentation online.

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When discovery first met the “e-“ that precedes it today, it fell upon trial judges nationwide to figure out how to harmonize primordial sources of electronically stored information (ESI) with traditional discovery rubrics—essentially, how to fit a round peg into a square hole.

[via: An overview of state e-discovery rules at InsideCounsel]

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Does your company have an effective compliance policy?

Our forefathers realized that angels do not govern men, and that rules were needed to successfully govern. Corporations are the same. While most employees and managers have good intentions, rules are needed to successfully run the business.

[via: Labor: An effective compliance policy can be the cheapest insurance a company can buy at InsideCounsel]

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Are you up to speed on the legal and practical issues that need to be addressed when negotiating service provider agreements for retirement plans under ERISA? During PLC’s free webinar, take an hour to learn practical negotiating tips from experts, including an analysis of the most heavily negotiated provisions, the impact of recently enacted final regulations under ERISA Section 408(b)(2) and more. This program will cover:

• Selecting an ERISA plan service provider.
• Negotiating the services agreement, including a discussion of:
• The appropriate scope of services and allocation of responsibilities.
• Consideration of whether the provider is a fiduciary under ERISA and, regardless of the answer, the related standard of care.
• Handling new compensation and fee disclosures under ERISA Section 408(b)(2).
• Common approaches to negotiating indemnification and limitation of liability provisions.
• Routine contract provisions that require special attention under ERISA, such as termination provisions, electronic communications, and bonding and insurance provisions.
• Monitoring the service provider.

CLE credit is available for this program for the States of NY, CA and IL. *

Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012

Time: 1:00pm- 2:00pm ET (10:00am – 11:00am PT)

Cost: Free

Speakers:

Heidi Winzeler (moderator), Head of Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Practical Law Company

Paul M. Hamburger, Partner
Proskauer Rose LLP

Sarah E. Downie, Partner
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Andrew L. Oringer, Partner
Ropes & Gray LLP

*CLE will be provided by Ropes & Gray, an accredited CLE provider in the States of NY, CA and IL. This program offers 1.0 NY transitional professional practice credit, 1.0 CA general credit and 1.0 IL general credit. Programs are only eligible for CLE credit in Illinois if at least 5 participants attend.

To register today, visit the registration page.

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The emergence of Jeremy Lin as a bona fide NBA star isn’t just a sports story: Linsanity has important lessons to teach in-house attorneys and their corporate clients.

[via: Four Linsane Lessons for Corporate Counsel at CorpCounsel]

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Crisis management – is your legal department up to speed and ready to react?

While some companies crumble in the wake of disaster, others grow stronger as a result of the way they reacted. Understanding the common causes of crisis and best practices for responding can help in-house counsel guide a company through the minefield of media and public scrutiny that follows a catastrophe.

[via: In-House Counsel's Guide to Crisis Management at CorpCounsel]

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Now that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is proceeding on schedule to accept applications for new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), trademark owners need to know how to protect their rights.

[via: Technology: 8 strategies to protect trademarks against new domain names at InsideCounsel]

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One general counsel recently said he would rather change a tire in the rain than work on a records management project.

[via: 7 tips for starting information governance projects at InsideCounsel]

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Group terminations can be an effective tool in managing labor costs in a down economy, but they also present a host of potential issues that could lead to liability.

[via: Labor: The ins and outs of group terminations at InsideCounsel]

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Epstein Becker Green has launched a free Wage & Hour Guide for Employers app for the iPhone and iPad. The app puts federal wage-hour laws and those of many states (including California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Texas, and Virginia) at the fingertips of employers.

Rather than search through a variety of resources to find the applicable law, users can follow this easy-to-navigate app to find the answers to many of their questions, including citations of statutes, regulations, and guidelines. To provide the best experience possible, the app enables users to download the guide to their iOS device for reference anywhere, at any time, with or without a connection. Additionally, for up-to-date commentary on wage-hour developments, the app provides quick access to Epstein Becker Green’s award-winning Wage & Hour Defense Blog.

At a time when wage-hour litigation and agency investigations are at an all-time high, this app offers an invaluable resource for employers, human resources personnel, and in-house counsel. The multitude of wage and hour claims that employees have filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act and its state law counterparts have made compliance with the intricate wage and hour laws more important than ever. Employers in all industries – including health care, financial services, hospitality, retail, construction, technology, and communications – are susceptible to claims under these statutes.

Epstein Becker Green’s Wage & Hour Guide for Employers has been prepared by some of the most respected counselors, litigators, and authors in the field, to help you achieve your business objectives in compliance with federal and state wage-hour laws, and to avoid government investigations and class action litigation.

To learn more and install the app, search the App Store on iTunes for “Wage Hour” or click here. The app is free of charge.

About Epstein Becker Green

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., founded in 1973, is a national law firm with approximately 300 lawyers practicing in 11 offices, in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Stamford, and Washington, D.C. The Firm is uncompromising in its pursuit of legal excellence and client service in its areas of practice: Health Care and Life Sciences, Labor and Employment, Litigation, Corporate Services, and Employee Benefits. Epstein Becker Green was founded to serve the health care industry and has been at the forefront of health care legal developments since 1973. The Firm is also proud to be a trusted advisor to clients in the financial services and hospitality industries, among others, representing entities from startups to Fortune 100 companies. Our commitment to these practices and industries reflects the founders’ belief in focused proficiency paired with seasoned experience. For more information, visit www.ebglaw.com. Attorney Advertising.

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The misclassification of independent contractors will likely be one of the hottest wage and hour issues of 2012.

[via: Labor: 4 steps to identifying and handling high-risk independent contractors at InsideCounsel]

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Aside from creating a lot of controversy, President Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) left many people asking: What exactly is the CFPB and what does it do?

[via: Regulatory: A primer on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at InsideCounsel]

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Communication is an area in which many people feel insecure and could use some help.

[via: Effective communication for in-house counsel at InsideCounsel]

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Handling references for former employees is becoming increasingly complicated.

[via: Labor: How to properly handle references for terminated employees at InsideCounsel]

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Human resource managers and the legal counsel working with them likely know who the worst performers are at the company.

[via: Labor: Managing a down economy: Individual terminations at InsideCounsel]

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Steve Boutwell, Director of Client Services at Kean Miller in Baton Rouge, posted “In-house Insight: Outside Counsel Rules to Live By”. A concise list that most in-house counsel will agree with – and could potentially add to!

[via 14 Rules by In-House Counsel for Law Firms : Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog.]

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Looking for ideas on re-inventing legal service delivery? Check out this recent article at Canadian Lawyer Magazine:

If you were given a blank sheet of paper and asked to design your in-house legal department from scratch, what would it look like? That’s a question posed by futurist and author Richard Susskind, to a group of about 50 in-house counsel during a Canadian Corporate Counsel Association Master Class yesterday in Toronto.

[via Futurist tells in-house to rethink service delivery | Canadian Lawyer Legal Feeds]

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While there is no sure way for a company faced with a securities violation to ensure that it will not become the subject of a whistleblower report, there are steps corporate counsel can take to minimize the risk, as a recent article at CorpCounsel points out.

[via: From the Experts: Preparing for Whistleblowers Under Dodd-Frank at CorpCounsel]

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How does your company protect itself in the event of a key employee departure? A recent InsideCounsel article discusses the topic.

[via: Labor: 5 ways to protect your company when a key employee departs at InsideCounsel]

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Need to read up on corporate breast-feeding policies? CorpCounsel has a recent piece on the topic:

“Nurse-ins” have been in the news recently, as mothers stage peaceful protests aimed at promoting women’s rights to breast-feed their children in public. These events should prompt in-house counsel to examine their companies’ breast-feeding policies, including how their companies handle employees who need time to attend to breast-feeding responsibilities while at work and how employees interact with customers who are nursing.

[via: In-House Counsel's Guide to Breast-Feeding Policies at CorpCounsel]

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Reporter Sheri Qualters of CorpCounsel asked several patent practitioners to come up with a list of things lawyers should know about the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.

[via: 10 Things You Should Know as the New Patent Law Goes Into Effect at CorpCounsel]

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