As a part of its Homebuilder Series, Bilzin Sumberg has posted a free on-demand webinar that discusses protecting your company from misrepresentation claims through contractual exculpatory clauses.

This seminar discusses the case of Duggan, LLC v. Peacock Point, LLC, which held that under an “as is” contract containing disclaimers of warranty, a sophisticated purchaser is not entitled to recovery when the seller unintentionally misrepresented entitlements on the property.

Bilzin Sumberg litigation attorneys Mitch Widom and Wendy Polit are presenters in the webinar.

On its website, the firm says the webinar discusses the application of the Duggan decision to: i) the 2013 trial in Lennar v. Olivia’s Savannah, where the Second District Court of Appeals upheld the enforcement of the written contract against a purchaser who sued Lennar for negligent and fraudulent misrepresentations and ii) the potential benefits of the use of exculpatory clauses in purchase and sale contracts.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

An NDA is generally one of the most straightforward contracts you manage. So, why is the process of getting the right agreement into the right hands at the right time so complex?

General Counsel News and Onit present a complimentary whitepaper that explains how the right technology can streamline the process and protect your company from potential liabilities, not to mention keep sales happy.

Onit’s NDA App:

• Ensures each NDA is executed with the correct liabilities
• Provides a dashboard or all requested, open and signed NDAs
• Closes the loop on NDAs by integrating with document repositories

This white paper can help you understand how to remove undue burdens on your legal department attorneys and staff.

Download the white paper.

A white paper published by Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that addresses the question: In a contract governed by federal law, does “The End” really mean “The End”?

The conclusion of the paper is that, although some federal courts have said “no,” the U.S. Supreme Court has just said “yes.”

“Most contract cases in federal court involve the application of state substantive law and so it is uncommon for the U.S. Supreme Court to expound on what it considers to be the contract principles to be applied in federal cases where no state’s substantive law applies,” the paper says. “But in a recent unanimous decision, M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, 135 S.Ct. 926 (2015) (four justices concurring in a separate opinion), the Court took the opportunity to do just that when it vacated a Sixth Circuit decision because that court had failed to apply ‘ordinary principles of contract law’ to a collective bargaining agreement.”

Mike Mitchell, Scott Miskimon and Kayla Marshall wrote the paper.

Read the white paper.

Silanis Technologies has posted a free white paper special consideration required when delivering consumer disclosures online.

When delivering disclosures electronically, financial services companies gain the ability to control the process as well as gather comprehensive evidence to prove compliance with laws and regulations, Silanis says on its website. Consumers gain convenience and faster application processing. There are benefits for all involved. However, delivering consumer disclosures online requires special consideration. The key is to ensure all legal requirements are met in a way that provides a great customer experience and drives adoption.

This whitepaper takes a pragmatic look at how to do just that, and answers questions like:

1. What are the benefits of secure e-disclosure delivery?
2. What are the top legal and regulatory considerations?
3. What are the best practices for implementing ESIGN requirements for e-disclosures?
4. What does a well-designed disclosure delivery process look like?

Download the white paper.

Berkman Solutions has posted a video provideing an introduction to contract management software and the company’s product, Contract Analyst.

The company provides software and services for legal and compliance risk management.

Berkman Solutions says that since it began more than10 years ago with its contract management software, Contract Analyst, its team has managed, negotiated and drafted almost $4 billion in contracts, agreements, and licenses across industries and around the world.

“Berkman Solutions are recognized experts on contracts, risks, due diligence, and legal entities,” the company says in a release. “We are lawyers, compliance experts, and business people first; technologists, second.”

Watch the video.

Sally Hughes, Vice President, Europe, for the IACCM

The International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM) will conduct a free “ask the expert” webinar on preventing and dealing with under-performing contracts.

The webinar will be Thursday, March 5, at 11 a.m. Eastern time (4 p.m. in London and 12 a.m in Singapore).

“Your contracts are core business assets, but unless you tackle the common sources of erosion, they are leaking value every day,” IACCM says on its website. “On average, companies could be generating over 9 percent improvement to their bottom line if they tackled the issues that commonly undermine contract performance.

“Contracting is of course just one element of commercial excellence – but quite a significant element when it comes to financial results.  In this webinar we will look at the ten pitfalls in the contracting process which are most likely to be costing your organization money and damaging the quality of your supplier relationships.”

The webinar presenter will be Sally Hughes, Vice President, Europe for the IACCM. She supports the IACCM global team in the pursuit of both the recognition of and excellence in Commercial and Contract Management.

Register for the webinar.

In a case that has been closely watched by the oil and gas industry and its insurers, the Supreme Court of Texas issued its opinion in In re Deepwater Horizon on Feb. 13, 2015, and settled the debate concerning whether a company’s insurance policies stood alone or were married to and dependent upon an insured’s limited obligation in a separate contract to insure and indemnify a third party, according to a white paper published by Baker Hostetler.

The article says the court found that Transocean’s $750 million primary and excess insurance policies did not offer unrestricted coverage to BP as an additional insured, but instead incorporated and were bound by the limitations placed on Transocean’s liability under the parties’ drilling contract.

The major takeaways, acording to the firm’s report: know your partner, know your risks, and know your insurer.

Read the white paper.

Sherpa Software is offering a complimentary four-part white paper series on enterprise information governance.

This series, titled Corporate Information Governance Program (CIGP), helps organizations create a trustworthy enterprise-wide program to facilitate effective management of information authority, control, accessibility and visibility throughout the information lifecycle. This methodology is typically referred to as information governance, which is a set of multifaceted policies, procedures and controls that help companies manage legal, regulatory, operational and other risks.

Author Rick Wilson describes a proven process for undertaking an information governance program from understanding and assessment to planning and documenting then implementation and finally the ongoing management. Download the four parts below:

Part 1: “Implementing an Information Governance Program: The Planning Process”
Part 2: “Building Your Roadmap: The Plan & Document Phase
Part 3: “Exploring the Implementation Phase
Part 4: “The Management Stage”

SeyfarthLean Consulting has published a free white paper saying that design isn’t just about making things look nice, it is about finding ways to more clearly, efficiently, and effectively convey information from one person to another and do so without making the experience dreadful.

“I see several reasons that lawyers should bring designers into the process and change the look and feel of what they produce,” writes Kenneth Grady. “Before I enumerate a few, let’s talk the twenty-first century. We are in a visual age, which actually works well for humans because our brains work well with visual information. Look around and you will see that you are bombarded with information visually, sometimes overtly and sometimes in the form of subtle cues. Visual information can be quite complex or very simple, but we shouldn’t dismiss information just because it is visual.”

Design thinking will teach you how to be a lawyer whose clients come first,” he writes.

Read the white paper.

Apttus has posted a free white paper about the value of a centralized contract template library and automated contract playbook.

On its website, Apttus says that a common response to the need for a contract is to search for the latest contract used with a counterparty similarly aligned to the current situation. Once identified, a quick search and replace process takes place to remove the legacy information and the current deal’s details are added to make it look like new.

“There’s just one problem,” Apttus says. “Using executed contracts as a base template for new agreements can create a variety of compliance risks and impact negotiation leverage. A centralized template library and automated contract playbook can make your company’s contract lifecycle management more effective, more efficient and ultimately more profitable. In this white paper, learn how you can leverage template libraries and playbooks to reduce legal risk and increase efficiency and compliance in just five easy steps.”

Download the white paper.

A free on-demand webinar posted by Baker Tilly discusses the finer points of dealing with change orders in construction projects.

The webinar helps participants learn how to identify change orders, learn how to decompose a change order, determine the underlying change order driver, understand the risk associated with different types of change orders, and develop strategies for auditing change orders and managing construction professionals.

The presenter is Tony Ollmann, CPA, CCA, Director, Baker Tilly.

Watch the on-demand presentation or download the presentation slides.

In an article published in the ABA’s Law Technology Today, CEO Ned Gannon of eBrevia explores why litigation has reaped many benefits of technological innovation, while corporate law, particularly transactional contract review, has remained largely untouched by high tech — until now.

According to Gannon, “Due diligence and contract management are significant cost drivers in corporate law, making this an area that would particularly benefit from the efficiency of technology.”

eBrevia automates the contract review process by using machine learning technology. The company’s products, which leverage artificial intelligence research from Columbia University, are used by law firms and corporate legal departments to more efficiently, accurately, and cost effectively extract and summarize key provisions from legal documents. Applications include due diligence, contract management, lease abstraction, and document drafting.

Read the article.

CobbleStone Systems, a leading provider of contract management software, announced it has launched enhanced multi-language support for Contract Insight Enterprise Edition. The latest version of Contract Insight Enterprise offers optional multi-language support for dynamic menu items and fields for international users.

“CobbleStone has been providing contract management software for organizations around the world that allows them to better track, manage and automate the full contract lifecycle,” the company said in a release. We understand the importance of collaboration between international divisions, and our software now offers the ability to support each user comfortably.”

The release continues:

CobbleStone Systems Corp. is a leader in user-friendly, enterprise contract lifecycle management software solutions. CobbleStone has been a best-of-breed vendor since 1995, provides the benefit of years of experience, is a Federal GSA vendor, is rated by Gartner and Dun & Bradstreet, and offers one of the most feature-rich products on the market.

Complete product information, feature comparisons, and 30-day trial signups can be found at www.CobbleStoneSystems.com

Free online demos can be obtained by calling 866-330-0056 or scheduled at http://cobblestonesystems.com/ContactUs.aspx

About CobbleStone Systems

CobbleStone Systems is based in New Jersey, USA, and has been providing contract lifecycle management solutions since 1995. CobbleStone Systems also offers software solutions for electronic signature, eSourcing (RFx/Bid) management, Purchase Order management, contract public access (Freedom of Information Act), client collaboration management and general committal management.

An “app-centric” approach to contract review and approval brings immediate transparency to the process, reports Onit Inc. in a white paper now available for download.

The white paper addresses why tools like email and spreadsheets fall short, why traditional approaches are not sustainable, how Apps are reinventing the contract review and approval process, and why Apps are the wave of the future.

On its website, Onit says multiple parties are often involved in the review, approval and negotiation of a contract. Unfortunately, there is limited visibility into the process. Business owners typically rely on email for status updates but it is very difficult to know:

• Who is reviewing the contract
• Who has the latest version
• What is the next step
• What is the deadline and expectations

Download the white paper.

Gordon & Rees presents a free on-demand webinar on the nationwide trends and hot topics in prevailing wage and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) claims; best practices for compliance; and practical strategies to reduce risks.

Government contractors often face unique employment issues, especially in the areas of wage and hour and safety. Things become more complicated with overlapping spheres of regulatory control on the local, state, and federal level, the firm says on its website.

The firm’s labor and employment attorneys provided a roundtable discussion on the nationwide trends and hot topics in prevailing wage and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) claims; best practices for compliance; and practical strategies to reduce risks.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Icertis Inc. and the International Association of Contract and Commercial Management present a free on-demand webinar  on the impact of collaboration on the effectiveness of contracting.

“Today, there is a significant focus on improving the quality and availability of information for managing contracts. IACCM research shows that the level of collaboration [internal and external] and visibility has a direct impact on the effectiveness of contracting, especially when things go wrong,” Icertis says on its website. “Addressing these organizational concerns, automation systems are increasingly providing analytics and collaboration functionalities that result in enhanced risk management capability versus being driven by terms and condition compliance.”

This webinar explores these characteristics and the extent to which an improved and holistic view of contract information can contribute to proactive compliance management and effective contract risk reduction.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

In an agreement Tuesday that settled an 11-year-old deal gone awry, Boston Scientific agreed to pay Johnson & Johnson $600 million, an amount far less than the more than $7 billion in damages that Johnson & Johnson sought in relation to its botched acquisition of Guidant, a medical device company, in 2004, reports The New York Times.

The case resurfaced last year after nearly a decade of inaction on the issue with Johnson & Johnson suing the smaller Boston Scientific, seeking damages that would have equaled nearly half of Boston’s Scientific’s market value.

The Times says the legal wrangling dates back to 2004, when Johnson & Johnson agreed to acquire Guidant for $25.4 billion.

Read the story.

ESI International offers a complimentary on-demand webinar designed for contract managers, program managers and business analysts, and their professional duty to communicate effectively in a way that informs, persuades when appropriate, and always protects the interests of the organization.

The webinar can help provide an understanding of why effective communication is a critical skill in contract management, ESI says on its website.

It also covers knowledge of specific areas in the contract management cycle where clear communication is vital to success, such as: requirements analysis, statement of work development, proposal preparation, price justifications and rationale for vendor selection. And it offers practical tips on developing and improving effective communication skills.

Download the on-demand webinar.

Draft rules from the U.S. Department of Labor clarify how the government will investigate pay disparities between men and women, according to a report in the Hartford Courant.

“It just puts contractors on notice there’s going to be a broad review of their compensation practices,” said Dean Singewald II, an associate at the Stamford office of Epstein Becker Green, who defends government contractors around the country in Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs reviews.

That department, in the U.S. Department of Labor, is the one that published the notice of new rules Jan. 28. Contractors or other members of the public will have a chance to critique the new rules through March 31, the Courant reports.

Read the story.

AwareManager has posted a free on-demand webinar on how to achieve better service levels and gain greater transparency into vendors’ performance.

On its website, the company says the webinar can participants discover important takeaways:

— Improve your vendors’ performance.
— Save you money.
— Enhance tenant, employee and guest satisfaction.

Watch the on-demand webinar.