Archer Norris published its second annual California Business Litigation Report, revealing that corporate lawyers continue to view many aspects of California’s business environment as perplexing, downright exasperating, and in many ways more challenging than other states.

In a release, the firm said employment laws and labor issues were found to be by far the most significant legal concern of companies doing business in California, reported by 62% of respondents. When it comes to areas in which litigating in California is more challenging than in other states, employment law and labor issues again landed in the top spot (69%), followed by environmental law and regulation (57%). The survey showed that the most-cited legal stumbling blocks also include commercial litigation, product liability, intellectual property, land use, and health care. Among out-of-state counsel specifically, regulatory compliance was repeatedly cited as a chief challenge across a wide spectrum of legal concerns.

Conducted in partnership with ALM Marketing Services, Archer Norris’s survey polled general and corporate counsel with business interests in California on their opinions of the California legal climate, how they evaluate litigation matters, and how they choose outside counsel for handling these matters.

This year, Archer Norris also examined current attitudes toward hot issues such as cybersecurity, finding that anxiety about exposure to cyber risks indeed runs deep among in-house counsel, with nearly two-thirds reporting they are “very concerned.” They are most worried about information loss and associated costs resulting from data leakage or systems attacks, damage to critical IT infrastructure, and risk arising from malware and computer viruses.

“The results of our 2016 survey make it clear the legal terrain in California continues to prove daunting not only to companies new to litigating in the state, but also to those who have been handling matters here for some time,” said Gene Blackard, Managing Partner of Archer Norris. “In order to overcome these challenges, it’s more critical than ever for companies doing business in California to have highly responsive and knowledgeable outside counsel. Archer Norris has guided hundreds of businesses through the complex litigation and transactional landscape here, with the goal of seeing our clients succeed in California long-term. With more than 100 attorneys practicing in five offices across the state, we’re exactly where our clients need us to be to best handle their diverse needs.”

The survey also yielded insights about how in-house counsel evaluate which outside California counsel is the right partner. While 55% of respondents noted the importance of a firm offering competitive rates and fees, a number of other factors were deemed more important than cost. Respondents first and foremost look for dependability and consistency (74%), followed by responsiveness, depth of experience, knowledge of the business and industry, and whether the law firm is one known for thoroughly exploring options for resolution other than going to trial.

Respondents reported spending about one-quarter of their overall legal budgets on outside counsel, and most said their budgets will stay the same or increase this year (37% and 29% respectively) compared to last. Many admit they would consider paying “premium” fees (up to 30% above the norm) to defend “bet the company” issues (23%) or legal matters where the client risks losing $1 million or more (32%).

The previous Business Litigation Playbook white paper, which also reveals corporate counsels’ greatest legal concerns within a variety of practice areas, can be downloaded.

Knowledge@Wharton and AKO Foundation have published the first of four reports designed to explore how firms can enhance their understanding and implementation of corporate governance.

The report, which features insights from Wharton faculty and other experts, considers five key topics: the relationship between corporate governance and the purpose of a firm; whether firms have a moral responsibility; the link between corporate governance and compliance programs; the impact of corporate culture; and the role of leadership and boards of directors.

Future reports in this series will examine themes such as moral philosophy, corruption and business for peace.

Download the report.

FisherBroyles, LLP has a warning for employers dealing with an employee who is doing — or is suspected of doing — illegal drugs: Situations of this kind are fraught with potential for large legal fees, company embarrassment, and major diversion of management time if you become involved in formal proceedings — even if you eventually win.

Drugs permeate our society. It’s on the news, in social media, and all over movies and television. It may also be in your workplace when you discover that your awesome SVP Frank Fantastic’s belief-suspending prior year’s sales record might be due to — or despite — a little cocaine habit combined with his daughter’s ADHD meds.

Some questions you want to consider — do you know this hotshot is doing illegal drugs or abusing alcohol or prescription drugs, or do you just suspect? Is Frank’s employment terminable at will or only for cause if he is a party to an employment contract? Is a substance addiction a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

While the answers to such questions depend on the particular facts in each situation, one thing we can tell you is tread lightly, navigate carefully. You want to minimize involvement in such proceedings if at all possible.

The firm offers advice on how to proceed: maintain a clear anti-drug policy, manage the situation with care, review employment agreement, remember that the ada protects recovering addicts, and be proactive in future employment agreements. The article expands on each of those points.

Read the article.

The Center for Board Excellence is offering a free whitepaper that describes moving the directors and officers questionnaire process to a dynamic online system.

CBE says the paper explains how to save time and money by moving the D&O questionnaire online to:

• Reduce the number of questions
• Make them easier to follow and answer
• Turn definitions and schedules into dynamic flyovers or online links

“Focus particularly on the cost of your Directors’ and Officers’ time,” CBE suggests. “How much time did it take them to complete the process? How many irrelevant questions did they have to read and skip over? How many definitions did they have to look up in an appendix? Add to that the time it took you to compile the questionnaire and parse the results only to find that three forms came back incomplete.”

Download the paper or request a demo.

Foley & Lardner LLP announced that Lou Cohen and Elgie Sims Jr. have joined the firm’s Business Law Department as of counsel in the Chicago office.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lou and Elgie. Together, they add unique transactional and public policy experience combined with a deep understanding of the Chicago market that will significantly enhance our offerings to clients,” said Myles Berman, managing partner of Foley’s Chicago office.

In a release, the firm said Cohen has led and handled high-profile real estate transactions for international and domestic lenders, developers, real estate investment trusts, public pension funds, pension fund advisors, insurance companies and governmental entities. He served as lead counsel for the owner and redeveloper of the Chicago Soho House Club, and represented the City of Atlanta in negotiations surrounding the development of the $1.4 billion stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. His practice is focused on commercial real estate development, including acquisitions and dispositions, venture structuring and formation, leasing, lending, restructuring and workouts.

“Lou is an accomplished and well-known real estate attorney in Chicago and the Midwest. His ability to manage complex real estate transactions will be a great service to our institutional and other major real estate clients,” said Fred Ridley, chair of Foley’s Real Estate Practice.

Sims, who is currently the Illinois state representative for the 34th District, will focus on government affairs and municipal finance as a member of the firm’s Government & Public Policy and Public Finance Practices. Sims has an extensive background representing clients and spearheading complex legislative initiatives before various branches of federal, state and local governments. Several of his legislative accomplishments include passage of Illinois’ film tax credit, which helped the film industry generate over $330 million in spending in 2015, and changes to Illinois’ nursing home reimbursement model. As state representative, he was the chief House sponsor of Senate Bill 1304, which established a clear policy and guidelines for police body-worn cameras and police reform initiatives. He currently serves as chairman of the Illinois House Judiciary Criminal Committee and a member of the Business and Occupational Licenses, Elementary & Secondary Education; Curriculum and Policies, Higher Education, Transportation, Regulation and Roads and Revenue and Finance Committees.

“As a lawyer and legislator, Elgie’s knowledge of the intricacies behind local and state government policies will benefit a broad range of our clients, from Fortune 500 businesses to health care companies to non-profit organizations. We look forward to adding his Midwest expertise to our established national bench,” said David Ralston, chair of Foley’s Government & Public Policy Practice.

Prior to joining Foley, Cohen was a partner at Locke Lord.

The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) will present its inaugural Corporate Counsel Training Academy, in partnership with Georgetown Law CLE, June 16-17 at Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Registration is still open for the two-day CLE program designed to provide practical training for counsel with three or fewer years of in-house experience, as well as those who are planning a transition from a law firm or a government position to a corporate legal department.

“The IADC created the Corporate Counsel Training Academy as a practical ‘bootcamp’ to help ease the sometimes difficult transition from outside law practice to in-house counsel,” said Alfred R. Paliani, IADC’s vice president of corporate and co-organizer of the Academy. “Our Academy faculty is composed of experienced corporate counsel with first-hand experience with the issues that they will address during the Academy – focusing on the practical, not the theoretical.”

A 2,400 member, invitation-only organization, the IADC serves its members and their clients, as well as the civil justice system and the legal profession. The organization maintains a leadership role in many areas of legal reform and professional development.

Academy attendees will receive advice and real-world tips that they can take back to their desks and use immediately. Session topics will include:

–Transitioning from Outside to Inside: What is this Strange New World?;
–It’s Your Money Now: The Reality of Life as An In-House Attorney;
–Mini MBA for In-House Lawyers: Essential Accounting and Financial Concepts;
–Ethics for Corporate Counsel 101: A New Paradigm;
–What DO GCs Look For in Newly Hired In-House Lawyers?; and
–21st Century Darwinism: Evolving from Corporate Lawyer to Corporate Leader.

“Through these and other topics, Academy faculty will share the kinds of practical insights that will make senior in-house lawyers say, ‘Wow, I wish I knew some of that stuff when I first left my law firm to go in-house,’ ” Paliani added. “We look forward to the Academy becoming an annual event and popular addition to IADC’s high-quality education programming that benefits our members and the legal community at-large.”

The Corporate Counsel Training Academy is open to IADC members and non-members. For additional information, including the program brochure, or to register for the program, visit http://www.iadclaw.org/education-events/cle-events/corporate-counsel-training-academy/. A live webcast of the program will be available for attendees who are unable to participate in-person.

The International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) is an invitation-only global legal organization for attorneys who represent corporate and insurance interests. Founded in 1920, the IADC’s members hail from five continents, 45 countries, and all 50 U.S. states. The core purposes of the IADC are to enhance the development of skills, promote professionalism, and facilitate camaraderie among its members, their clients, as well as the broader civil justice community. For more information, visit www.iadclaw.org.

Some U.S. companies are now paying a top hourly rate of $2,000 to partners at the country’s biggest law firms, according to a report on a survey released by BTI Consulting Group.

The report says the top rate of $2,000 an hour in 2015, up from $1,600 last year, represents a 25 percent one-year increase.

BTI conducted more than 300 independent, individual interviews with CLOs and general counsel at Fortune 1000 companies and large organizations.

The company said GCs pay the highest rates for:

• Bet-the-company IP work
• Enterprise level M&A related litigation
• Large-scale government investigation
• Defense against high-profile activist hedge funds

Read the article.

Live Conference:
Tuesday, May 3, 2:30 p.m.,
New York, NY

Bloomberg BNA will present a live conference titled Big Law Business Diversity & Inclusion Conference: A Call to Action, the third in the series of Diversity & Inclusion events, where Big Law Business will begin to take the next steps toward driving results and holding our profession accountable for progress.

The event will be on Tuesday, May 3, 2016 in New York, NY, beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT and ending with an hour-long reception at 5:30 p.m. It will be at  the Harold Pratt House at 58 East 68th Street. General Counsel News readers may attend at no charge. (Registration form)

General counsel and their legal teams play a unique and important role in the conversation regarding Diversity & Inclusion in the legal profession – as the buyside of legal services, they are well-positioned to drive and influence the quality of legal services they receive. They are also currently moving more legal work in-house and the department’s ability to ensure diversity of ideas and thought leadership within their own teams is critical.

During this exclusive event, Big Law Business will convene chief legal counsel and their corporate senior diversity officers as well as law firm managing partners to focus on actionable results, accountability, and drive movement forward toward diversity in the legal profession.

The event is an opportunity to explore the success Big Law practices are having meeting their own workforce diversification goals, plus:

• Interviews and presentations on best practice
• Methods law schools, law firms, and the judiciary can utilize to collaborate to feed the in-house pipeline
• Ideas to take back to legal departments for immediate and long-term action

The conference agenda is available online.

Register for the conference.

Veteran real estate lawyer William “Bill” Ellis has joined Akerman LLP‘s Los Angeles office as a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group.

Ellis is former general counsel of global real estate conglomerate Reading International Inc. Prior to Reading, Ellis was a real estate partner at Sidley Austin, and he began his career at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius in Los Angeles.

“Bill is an industry veteran, who is known for his experience in complex real estate transactions for institutional investors and lenders,” said Richard Bezold, Real Estate Practice Group Chair. “He brings tremendous market knowledge in the hospitality and retail sectors, and adds important depth to our fast-growing practice in Los Angeles and across the region.”

In a release, the firm said Ellis has more than 30years of transactional real estate experience handling workouts and restructurings, leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, financings, joint ventures and developments across the United States. He works with private equity funds, global financial institutions, investment banks, real estate investment trusts, investment funds and private developers based both in New York and on the West Coast. He also has significant experience in corporate and securities transactions, including corporate mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings.

Ellis previously served as general counsel and NASDAQ-listed Reading International Inc., the successor to Reading Railroad and now developer, owner and operator of retail and commercial real estate in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, including entertainment-themed retail centers, multiplex cinemas and live theater assets in Chicago and New York.

Corporate compliance could be in for some changes in 2016, based upon the events of 2015, forecasting increased self-policing, personal accountability for leaders, and physician arrangements as the top risk areas. The government is seeking major, if not radical, changes in compliance oversight, writes Don Quigley, retired Chief Legal Officer for an East Coast health system, on the blog of The Source.

“When health care providers commit or tolerate fraud and abuse in their delivery of services or billing for such services, the unfair and avoidable costs to the government, payors, and patients are enormous,” he says.

“All health systems and hospitals need compliance programs. The ACA-mandated CMS review of compliance currently under way will likely make them mandatory and the risks today do not justify delay. The more pertinent question is how organizations with existing programs need to review and revise them to be ‘effective,'” Quigley writes. “Governing boards have a variety of committee structures that have been effective; one model for compliance risk is not necessary.”

Read the article.

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) recently released Director Essentials: Strengthening Compliance and Ethics Oversight, providing an overview of the role of the board in compliance oversight and outlining key questions directors can ask management to assess whether compliance and ethics programs have a real impact on business conduct.

This guide will be especially helpful for onboarding new directors and as a resource for board members who wish to refresh their knowledge about core governance topics.

In light of renewed regulatory focus, directors should consider strengthening their oversight of corporate compliance and ethics programs. New U.S. Department of Justice emphasis on the effectiveness of compliance and ethics programs in preventing, detecting, and mitigating the risk of individual wrongdoing is raising the bar for companies’ compliance efforts.

The full publication is available exclusively to NACD members, but a complimentary executive summary is available for anyone to download.

Download the summary.

The cornerstone of a productive client and outside counsel relationship starts by setting clear and consistent expectations for the legal department at the outset of the client engagement, says Kelly Spratt-Szarzynski, senior strategic consultant on the LexisNexis® CounselLink team.

This involves developing an outside counsel guidelines document that formally communicates the legal department expectations.  These guidelines apply to all external legal vendors and helps hold all parties accountable to the same set of standards related to billing, matter management and corporate policies.

According to Spratt-Szarzynski, outside counsel guidelines generally contain information broken into the following three categories: Processes and procedures, requirements, and policies.

Read the article.

By Paul Williams
Partner and Co-Lead of Board & Governance Practice at Allegis Partners

Few people need to be told of the increasing degree and variety of risks to corporate entities in the 21st century. And anyone familiar with the ramifications of those risks on the governance structure knows that vulnerabilities extend to individual board members as well as the companies and shareholders they serve.

Those risks include digital breaches, corporate scandals, rising litigiousness, globalization, acquired problems in M&As, increasingly stringent regulatory regimes – and what is unforeseeable. Everyone from the C-suite and directors through senior and middle managers on down bears some role in mitigating these risks. But to inform our perspective as the global leader in legal professional search at Major Lindsey & Africa, we recently hosted a panel discussion on how the presence of senior lawyers, those who currently or formerly have served in the role of the general counsel (GCs), can play a vital role in the management and prevention of risk as board members.

I was one of four panelists corralled by Kim Rucker, former General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Kraft Foods Group, the panel moderator. Kim led a lively discussion that unearthed several important ideas and concepts from my fellow panelists: Sara Hays, Managing Director and Co-Leader of the North American Board Practice, Allegis Partners; Mary Ann Hynes, Senior Counsel, Dentons and a GC veteran of five international corporations and a board member of several corporations and non-profit organizations); and Rick Palmore, Senior Counsel, Dentons and board member for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and Express Scripts.

The area of risk that gets the most attention lately is cybersecurity. It’s clear from the alarming business news on digital security breaches that there is much to lose when nefarious parties hack into our information systems. These attacks can damage reputations and brands, affect employee morale and cost a great deal of money. Additionally, they carry obligations to notify third parties, to work with law enforcement, to meet state and federal compliance matters, and they might trigger litigation (for example, the class action suits by financial institutions and individuals against Target Corporation in the wake of their 2013 data breach that affected 110 million customers). This provides a good case for why board members with the background and expertise of lawyers, preferably those with GC experience, can be extremely valuable.

My fellow panelist Sara Hays mentioned an attorney she’s worked with who, while widely recognized as a solid GC, in fact developed supplementary expertise in cybersecurity. Given the list of issues that can arise in a breach or even in planning for a potential attack, is it any wonder why that particular lawyer is also an excellent candidate for a corporate directorship?

Also, in October 2015 a California federal judge ruled that whistleblowers may seek compensation from company directors. This was a definitive expansion of liability in cases where directors might be judged for retaliating against such individuals. This same level of responsibility extends to instances of product failure, fraud and tort actions.

Perhaps foremost on the minds of directors and officers are the implications of the Department of Justice’s “Yates Memo,” where Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates directed federal prosecutors to focus on individuals and hold them accountable when investigating and resolving allegations of corporate misconduct (of either a civil or criminal nature). This promises to significantly impact how corporate internal investigations are conducted, including by in-house counsel. Again, a director with a broad business understanding complemented by a granular understanding of recent courts rulings might prevent as well as fix adverse situations.

The panel discussed other issues that elevate the importance of a legal background in key decision-making and oversight. I pointed out how in the case of a merger involving a foreign-run business we unearthed a significant issue relative to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) that could have been of concern to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In my role as a GC, it became clear we need to self-report to the SEC. Note the other party wasn’t trying to cheat but instead was simply acting within their own country’s business culture (i.e., they didn’t understand U.S. regulations). These are the kinds of things that directors are at an advantage to consider as early as possible in the M&A process.

Risk planning includes establishing priorities

My colleague Sara pointed out there is a tendency in risk planning to think a preconceived structure such as a risk management plan covers off on risk. I’ve observed this too and feel that everyone owns risk – and at all times. This includes all board members and every board committee. Perhaps what might Riskbe more important is to know when to elevate an issue to other parties. Mary Ann Hynes related a scenario of a cybersecurity breach that ultimately required calling in the FBI. The GC had to work with the CFO, the CIO and the audit committee, all of whom had to work “hand in glove” with their respective board members. This is why I personally advocate for having a board-adopted crisis management plan, where you can work through a hypothetical process that would identify ideas on how to act as well as which people need to be involved.

Mary Ann asked who among us had worked with a chief information systems officer, a CISO. We agreed this is more common in larger companies, those with as many concerns about brand and reputation as they have about potential litigation. But even in cases where the problem is low profile (i.e., no media) there very often can be a huge impact on the enterprise in information systems-related litigation.

The characteristic of good GCs is that they are “steady Eddies,” with a composed demeanor in the face of crisis. They have a sense of where and how to separate legal and compliance functions. They also understand the tension points in risk-containment scenarios – which include external communications and board member liabilities. Again, these are the kinds of considerations that a GC should be attuned to if he or she wishes to be considered for a board appointment.

A point on which all panelists agreed was the need to plan: Develop a framework for managing in a crisis. It has to be adaptable to the variety of known and unknown risk scenarios because one size does not fit all, so to speak. This is where, as panelist Rick Palmore pointed out, you set the enterprise priorities. The board may determine that litigation ranks first or fourth or somewhere in between – knowing that much in advance, calibrating possible outcomes, helps everyone move quickly toward a resolution, to adopt positions and to communicate with consistent messaging. Regardless of the intensity of a situation, a GC will typically understand you cannot operate effectively “with your hair on fire;” rather, everyone up and down the ranks will take their lead from the steady Eddies at the top.

Anticipate the most probable scenarios

This is not to say the crisis/risk planning process shouldn’t on some level address known probabilities for certain kinds of risk. Sara related to the panel how the board of a company where she was the GC did an annual “deep dive” to explore potential risks. From the short list of what might happen they were able to determine which committees and individuals would assume oversight responsibilities. From there, those individuals were tasked with providing quarterly updates on various scenarios – which might include running practice drills and developing a framework for messaging and identifying who delivers the message (note: something as simple as having up-to-date personal and business phone numbers of board members and officers should not be overlooked).

To be clear, there is some risk in documenting risk. While it needs to be approached on a case-by-case basis, the board should consider how and where such documentation might later be used against the company and its governance structure – another reason why a board member with GC experience can provide fundamentally important perspective.

There are some ways in which even a seasoned attorney on the board could be problematic. First, he or she shouldn’t simply put up roadblocks due to a known or suspected legal risk. The lawyer has to have sufficient business acumen to propose two or more workable alternative solutions. Second, that individual should not be mistaken for legal counsel; it’s not the board member’s responsibility, and would likely trip on what the company’s actual GC is engaged with every day.

In wrapping up, several panel members stressed how the risk management strategy needs to line up with the overall company strategy – all the more reason why having a seasoned attorney on the board means having a business-minded attorney. In fact, my colleague Sara Hays herself has an MBA, made all the more valuable in one appointment because of her experience in the construction industry. “The mistake some GCs make is when they think of themselves as just being a lawyer,” she said, noting how this goes against the grain of conventional wisdom that attorneys can only advise on legal questions. The value proposition for filling a board seat is different from what makes someone a good GC, she told us.

What does success look like when a board manages risk with an attorney as part of governance? It is when instead of risks being siloed, with attorneys picking up the pieces after the damage is done, that instead everyone thinks about risks, adopts them as a fact of life – and acts proactively to minimize or mitigate problems before they occur or are able to cause meaningful damage.

Thomson Reuters has unveiled Practice Point, which it calls “an innovative solution that delivers the most relevant content and tools for a given task or legal issue. It leverages key content, expertise and technology from Practical Law and Westlaw in an entirely new manner through task-based organization and editor-selected content.”

Practice Point was developed with the help of research and feedback from practicing attorneys and in-house counsel. It is  designed for attorneys whose practice primarily involves advising, negotiating, drafting legal documents, and ensuring that business dealings comply with relevant statutes and regulations, the company says in a release.

The release continues:

Practice Point is uniquely organized with menus arranged by practice area, task or project, to make it easier for attorneys to find exactly what they need. Its task-based organization draws content from the best of Westlaw and Practical Law that is specifically selected by expert attorney-editors. This ensures the most relevant information is most prominent, giving users the confidence that they are getting the most complete and relevant information for every task.

“Practice Point is another great example of innovating workflow solutions that leverage our unique content, tools and deep legal expertise in entirely new ways to help an important group of customers,” said Emily Colbert, vice president, Global Workflow Solutions, Thomson Reuters. “Practice Point is designed to be the touch point for your practice or legal department, directing you to the precise resources needed. The result is legal guidance, research and know-how, plus time-saving tools – all conveniently integrated into one solution and organized to provide greater time savings and ease of use. It provides another proof point for the Thomson Reuters approach to innovating for our customers by creating products that work like they do.”

Practice Point offers a truly integrated experience, allowing users to seamlessly access both Westlaw and Practical Law, placing information at their fingertips without the need to switch back and forth between the solutions. Practical Law content forms one of the cores of the Practice Point experience, providing users with access to thousands of up-to-date, practical know-how resources to manage their matter, including practice notes, standard documents and clauses, checklists, and toolkits, created and regularly updated by Practical Law attorney-editors. Practice Point also delivers Westlaw authoritative primary law, exclusive analytical materials, practice area insights, secondary sources, forms, and more.

Exclusive to Practice Point are the Rulebooks, an online collection of key federal laws, rules, regulations and agency materials to pinpoint and track rules and regulations covering securities offerings, SEC disclosures and reporting requirements, proxy solicitation and more. Additionally, it includes time-saving organizing features, such as foldering, favorites and search history.

Shearman & Sterling has published its 2015 Corporate Governance & Executive Compensation Survey of the 100 largest U.S. public companies.

This year’s Survey, 13th in the series, examines some of the most important governance and executive compensation practices facing boards today and identifies best practices and merging trends. Senior partner Creighton Condon writes that the analysis provides insights into how companies approach governance issues and will allow readers to benchmark their companies’ corporate governance practices against best practices.

An introduction to the survey is published on the website of the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. And Shearman & Sterling has published the complete report on its website.

Mitratech, a provider of Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) solutions, has recognized legal service provider Elevate as a Certified Partner to offer legal bill review services to Mitratech’s fast-growing client base.

“Our leading spend management and e-Billing systems automate much of the invoicing process and can save up to 10% in legal costs, but even more value is generated when a team consistently reviews the adjustments made by the technology. We have found that many clients don’t have the time or resources to take this on, and Elevate’s services address precisely that need,” noted Jason Parkman, CEO of Mitratech.

In a release, the company said several Mitratech clients already use Elevate’s services and have achieved several benefits, including:
• 3–10% additional cost savings as a result of more sophisticated and consistent review
• Reassignment of in-house staff to other valuable work within the department
• Reduced cycle time between invoice receipt and payment, enabling early payment discounts
• Enhanced invoice management and cost control processes

Read the release.

Legal operations leaders are driving an unprecedented level of focus on discovery processes, data security, and the efficiency of outside litigation teams.

Ari Kaplan Advisors presents the benchmark 2015 Corporate Legal Operations Survey (sponsored by Recommind), providing both quantitative and qualitative insight into:

• cloud readiness
• eDiscovery key performance metrics
• investigations activity
• data security and consolidation strategies
• critical process pain points

Learn what key corporate legal operations leaders are doing (and not yet doing) to optimize visibility, security, and efficiency.

Download the white paper.

The effort to measure and manage legal risk pays dividends in the reduction of real losses from legal issues. It also pays dividends through improved collaboration between the legal team, operations, and senior management, writes Mark Little, compliance and risk management technology executive at Berkman Solutions.

In an article published on Medium.com, he presents the proper answer for a member of a corporate legal department who faces the requirement: describe how you will review all outstanding issues, set priorities that almost never change, improve interdepartmental trust, and make customers happy within an acceptable timeframe.

The answer, he writes, involves implementing a qualitative risk model to measure and manage legal risk.

Read the article.

A contract manager’s role involves an enormous amount of relationship building as well as highly developed problem solving skills, ContractRoom says in an article on its website.

“Organizational skills are also required but advances in technology have meant that contract managers can relax a little as software can be programmed to guide them at each stage of the process. This means key deliverables can be met and all processes and procedures can be complied with without contract managers having to rely solely on their memories or manual organizational abilities,” according to the article.

The article outlines principles of relationship management, problem solving and organizational skills.

Read the article.

There are many ways to measure the success of a contracting cycle, according to an article published by ContractRoom. “For example, the time the contract took to negotiate, the timeliness of the delivery of services and the accuracy and quality of the services delivered are all things that could be measured and considered. But how many of these factors can be used to measure the performance of your internal contract managers? Is it the case that some factors lie outside of their control and should not be considered in managing their overall performance?”

The article says that many of these factors can and should still be considered. It discusses nine factors that should be reviewed.

Read the article.