Selectica will present a free webinar on the value of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems.

The webinar will be Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

On its website, Selectica says that, when properly managed, contracts enable leaders to effectively grow, protect and monetize their operations. But too many departments operate in silos with separate Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems.

Andrew Bartels of Forrester Research, Inc. and Selectica’s Patrick Stakenas will be speakers at the event.

Topics will include:

• The strategic business value you can gain from adopting an ECLM approach
• Key CLM functionality for point and enterprise applications
• Benefits and paybacks of linking contracts to multiple business processes and transactional systems

Register for the webinar.

Baker Tilly has posted an article and video on several changes the U.S. General Services Administration has announced for the Contractor Assistance Visits (CAVs) performed by its Industrial Operations Analysts (IOAs).

On its website, Baker Tilly says that what amounts to perhaps the biggest change yet, IOAs will review task orders issued under GSA professional services contracts to ensure that the resources performing work on GSA orders meet minimum labor category qualifications, was announced in the fall 2014 issue of “GSA Steps.”

“While this announcement serves as specific notice to GSA Schedule contractors to pay credence to the way the price, sell, and staff their projects, it also speaks to a broader trend that all professional services contractors should be aware of:  the Government is paying close attention to the services that it buys, and the Government’s enforcement community is focusing in on the qualifications of the resources providing those services as well as the pricing of those services,” the firm says on its website.

Read the article and watch the video.

Equifax Workforce Solutions will present a complimentary webinar about the latest developments in Washington affecting the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program.

The webinar will be Thursday, Nov. 20, at 1 p.m. Central time.

WOTC experts from Equifax will join lobbyist Evan Migdail of DLA Piper, who is also a consultant to the National Employment Opportunity Network, to address the prospects for renewal and as well as the actions employers need to do new to be ready for the likely re-instatement of WOTC.

Topics
–Will Congress make WOTC permanent?
–What are the key bills?
–Will Congress add new WOTC categories?
–Who are the key lawmakers and where do they stand?
–Do lawmakers understand the value of WOTC?
–What data do we have to support the effectiveness of WOTC?
–What have State Workforce Agencies been doing during the WOTC hiatus?

Register for the webinar.

Oil & Gas Journal will present a complimentary webinar on U.S. liquified natural gas policy, covering the problems and potential for export.

The webinar will be Friday, Nov. 14, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. The event will last approximately one hour.

The presentation is the third in a trilogy of webcasts focusing on the broad topic of U.S. hydrocarbon exports, the Oil & Gas Journal says on its website.

These and other topics will be discussed, with the latest thoughts on U.S. LNG export policy.

Speakers will be Asish Mohanty, Senior Director, Galway Group; and James F. Bowe, Jr., Partner, King & Spalding’s Global Energy Practice.

Register for the webinar.

Oil and Gas IQ has posted a complimentary on-demand webinar designed to serve as a primer  on energy inefficiencies, as well as opportunities to improve operational efficiency.

On its website, Oil and Gas IQ says that, as the industry moves into deeper and more costly arenas to produce hydrocarbons, energy demand will grow even further.

This webinar introduces the challenges of reliability programs that are now standard practice in companies reliant on machines, equipment, and other physical assets.

The presenter is Shane Golaup, a Business Solutions Consultant for Infor specializing in Enterprise Asset Management.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The Atlantic Council has produced a white paper focusing on the water-related issues impacting the United States’ ability to unleash domestic energy resources.

In Produced Water: Asset or Waste, Blythe Lyons  writes that sustainable and publicly acceptable water management practices are essential for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas production. This report, based on a workshop held at the Atlantic Council, promotes the idea that sustainable water strategies require that produced water be considered as an asset rather than as a waste.

“The report reaches the conclusion that produced water is currently seen as a pollutant and detriment to environmental security, but if managed appropriately, it could be recycled and utilized as an asset and new resource in the energy industry,” she writes.

Read the report.

Robert Braun and Stanley Gibson, partners at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP, have posted a white paper that they developed for Factors and Specialty Lenders to guide them in gaining a competitive edge by using electronic delivery methods, electronic records and electronic signatures.

The white paper is posted on RPost.

In its description of the publication, RPost says a variety of businesses have adopted electronic methods to deliver, accept and store documents and legal notices. The driving force behind the decision is generally the efficiency and lower cost of utilizing electronic, instead of physical, documentation.

“Among the industries that have been reluctant to enter into electronic transactions on a broad basis are factors, asset-based lenders and other specialized financial intermediaries,” RPost says. “Because concerns that arise when moving from paper, fax, and mail to electronic delivery and electronic signatures are real, this paper explores the issues and discusses how a reliable document delivery system with proper implementation of electronic record-keeping and electronic transactions is an effective solution.”

Read the white paper.

Advisen has posted a free on-demand webinar that discusses methods to employ to lower workers compensation costs.

In the webinar, Arthur J. Gallagher’s Bob Walker, Amaxx’s Becki Shafer and Michael Stack, and Advisen’s David Bradford review how organizations hone their pre-injury and post-injury procedures in order to significantly reduce their workers comp expenses.

They discuss such topics as setting realistic goals for reducing comp costs, when to get involved with a claim, developing a return-to-work program, employee communication, obtaining senior management commitment, training programs, and an in-house SIU Director vs. an insurance company’s SIU director.

Listen to the webinar audio or view the presentation slides.

Financial Executives International Daily offers public companies some advice on deciding whether and to what extent to give the market guidance about future operating results.

“Every public company must decide whether and to what extent to give the market guidance about future operating results. … There is no one-size-fits-all approach in this area. The only universal truths are: A public company should have a policy on guidance and the policy should be the subject of careful thought,” the daily reports.

The report offers 10 rules for giving good guidance, starting with Rule No. 1: Designate a Limited Number of Company Personnel to Communicate.

Read the story to see details on that rule and the nine other rules, along with suggestions to consider when drafting a guidance policy.

Read the story.

Google and LG have entered into a patent cross-licensing deal, the latest partnership seeking to reduce the threat of lawsuits between major tech companies, reports PC World.

The companies announced the agreement on Nov. 4.

According to PC World, it covers “a broad range of products and technologies” built on the two companies’ existing patents as well as those they file over the next 10 years, they said. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

“The agreement is likely to stave off any potential patent lawsuits between the two companies like the drawn out, costly legal battles that have ensued between Apple and Samsung or Google and Oracle.” the site reported. “Google’s Android OS is in a number of LG smartphones and the South Korean company owns patents covering smartphones, consumer electronics and other portable gadgets.”

Read the story.

Former National Security Agency general counsel Stewart Baker said that Blackberry’s innovative encryption efforts, which Google and Apple are planning to emulate, partially led to the company’s downfall.

He spoke at the Web Summit in Dublin, Ireland.

Reporting on Baker’s address, ZDNet said Baker told the summit that some countries restricted Blackberry’s efforts to market their products because the company wouldn’t fully cooperate with requests to hand over stored data. Those countries included Russia, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

Read the story.

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith spoke at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society Nov 4, discussing government information requests, ensuring the privacy of consumers and trust in U.S. technology companies.

When governments ask Microsoft for data on the company’s enterprise customers, the company passes the request on to their client. If that action doesn’t resolve the issue, then Microsoft will challenge the request in court. Individual customers don’t get the same treatment, he said.

As reported in BetaBoston, Smith said, “The legal right that governments have to ask for and acquire data about a consumer depends on what the person’s nationality is, and where the data is stored, and where the parent company is headquartered, among other things.”

Read the story.

Platts and Bentek Energy offer a complimentary on-demand webinar on recent changes in drilling technology that have altered the energy landscape in North America.

On its website, Platts says drill times have been reduced and unconventional drilling accounts for more than 60 percent of current activity.  Oil and gas production continues to grow as operators are pursuing more producing basins than ever. How will future price changes affect drilling trends in the United States? Is there sufficient demand to absorb the production growth?

The webinar covers drilling activity, drill times, and emerging plays; returns’ impact on producer activity, natural gas production future, and how future oil & gas prices will change the landscape of U.S. drilling activity?

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a securities class action against pharmaceutical giant Omnicare, asking to what extent, if any, a corporation needs a “reasonable basis” for opinions in its SEC registration statement, reports Courthouse News Service.

Omnicare, the largest provider of pharmaceutical services for residents of long-term care facilities in the United States and Canada, raised $750 million in a public stock offering in 2005, after filing a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But litigation around the offering accused Omnicare of taking kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies to promote certain drugs, and submitting false claims to Medicare and Medicaid.

Omnicare attorney Kannon Shanmugam, with Williams & Connolly, told the court that the company can be held liable for a false statement in its registration statement only if the person who signed the statement did not actually hold the stated belief – regardless of whether it was reasonable, Courthouse News reports.

Read the story.

Alexandre Dulaunoy, on Flickr

Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP and UBIC Patent Partners Inc. will present an afternoon of informative lectures on recent trends in patent litigation, including patent trolls in the U.S. and Japan and the effect of recent supreme court rulings on patent law.

The event will be Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2-5 p.m. EST, at the Archie K. Davis Conference Center, RTP Headquarters, 12 Davis Drive in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

There is no cost to attend this seminar, and the lectures will be presented by experienced practitioners in U.S. and foreign patent law and litigation.

Topics and speakers will be “Combating Patent Trolls,” Robert J. Kenney, Partner, BSKB; “Downstream Effects of Recent Rulings by the Supreme Court to Induce Pattern Reform,” Michael K. Mutter, Partner, BSKB; and “Patent Troll Preventive Measures Practiced by Japanese Corporations,” Hajime Shirasaka, CEO of UBIC Patent Partners, Inc.

A cocktail reception will be held immediately following the presentations.

Register for the event.

Financial Advisor and Ace Private Risk Services present a complimentary webinar designed to help high net worth families protect their assets from personal liability lawsuits, which can take years to litigate and result in awards and settlements well in excess of $10 million.

On its website, Financial Advisor says this course explores the liability exposures of high net worth (HNW) families and presents a five-step plan for addressing them. It compares the perceptions HNW individuals have about liability risk with the realities they face. It reviews how wealth and a wealthy lifestyle lead to increased liability risk, and how jury composition and widespread legal doctrines such as joint and several liability further increase this risk. The course will detail these families’ growing concerns, which include financial loss, stress of protracted legal proceedings, and damage to their reputations and earning power.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Compliancy Group will present a complimentary webinar discussing the common misconception that  “A risk assessment makes me HIPAA compliant.”

The webinar will be Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2-3 p.m. Eastern time.

The thought that a risk assessment always brings HIPAA compliance can cost your practice more than taking no action at all, said a spokesman for Compliancy Group.  A risk assessment is a requirement  for HITECH under Meaningful Use Core Measure 15, but it does NOT make you HIPAA compliant.  Furthermore, it can enter you into the section of willful neglect and open your organization into the next level of fines.

Register for the webinar.

Loyalty and good communication should be at the top of the list for outside counsel in dealing with their corporate clients, said two panelists in a recent symposium, reports Bloomberg BNA.

David Hecker and Arthur Simon were panelists at the  Oct. 17 discussion “Lawyers’ Professional Responsibilities and Liabilities from Clients’ Perspective,”held  during the 2014 Aon Law Firm Symposium in Chicago.

Hecker is general counsel of the infrastructure group for Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc. in Omaha, Neb., a construction, mining and engineering company. Simon is general counsel for William Blair & Co., a global investment banking and asset management firm headquartered in Chicago.

They talked in detail about the protection of confidential information and the appearance of conflicts of interest.

Read the story.

An on-demand webinar presents experts discussing the true value of intellectual property and how much it is worth from both ROI and NPV viewpoints.

The event is on the website of the Research Commercialization and SBIR Center and is presented by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

This webinar series is designed to help bridge the knowledge gap on intellectual property law issues between the U.S. Government and various stakeholders.

Through participation in this webinar program, the audience will be afforded both the opportunity to understand and retain best practices when deriving appropriate IP-Strategic Frameworks coupled with Business and Technology Development, as well as gain access to a much more comprehensive and holistic viewpoint on why Intellectual Property Law is such an important economic tool for entrepreneurs, the sponsors said.

Watch the on-demand webinar.