Former Wynn Resorts Ltd. executive vice president and general counsel Kim Sinatra will receive a $1.8 million cash settlement as she leaves the company, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing included a copy of the five-page settlement agreement as well as a 26-page employment agreement between the company and Sinatra’s successor, Ellen Whittemore, writes Richard N. Velotta.

“Whittemore, a gaming attorney with 30 years’ experience and a former shareholder in the Las Vegas law office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, will be paid $600,000 a year, plus benefits,” according to Velotta.

Read the Review-Journal article.

Above the Law reports that a new ranking of compensation of general counsel shows that each of the GCs in the top 10 made more than $3 million in 2017.

Eric Grossman of Morgan Stanley tops the list with compensation last year of nearly $7 million.

Other companies in the top 10 in GC pay include American Express Co., Twenty-First Century Fox, Walt Disney, Leucadia, CBS, Halliburton, Microsoft, HRG Group and Netflix.

Corporate Counsel created the ranking, which considered base salary, cash bonus, and nonequity incentives.

Read the Above the Law article.

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics has announced the lineup of keynote speakers for the 17th Annual Compliance & Ethics Conference. The event will be Oct. 21-24, 2018, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Scott Eblin, author of The Next Level and Overworked and Overwhelmed, will speak on Monday, Oct. 22, 8:30-9:30 a.m.

Amber Mac, a TV/radio host of Internet of Things, will speak on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 8:15-9:15 a.m.

Ty Francis, MBE, a global governance and ethics advisor, will speak on Monday, Oct. 22, 3:15-4:15 p.m.

On Tuesday afternoon, a panel discussion will consider “What We Need to Know About #MeToo.”

Panelists will be Jenny O’Brien, JD, CHC, CHPC, Chief Compliance Officer, UnitedHealthcare; Rebecca Walker, Partner, Kaplan & Walker; Paul E. Fiorelli, JD, MBA, Director, Cintas Institute for Business Ethics and Professor of Legal Studies, Xavier University; and Robin H. Everhart, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Cintas Corporation.

Register for the conference.

Colin Stretch, Facebook’s top lawyer and the man who led Facebook’s investigation into Russian election interference efforts following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is leaving the company at the end of the year, according to a Recode report.

Stretch posted on Tuesday that he’s planning to leave the company but will stay on until the end of the year to help find his replacement, writes reporter Kurt Wagner.

Wagner adds:

Stretch’s departure comes during a stressful time for Facebook’s legal team. Not only is the company still grappling with the controversial role it played in the 2016 U.S. election — Russia used to platform to try and divide U.S. voters with inflammatory and inaccurate posts — but it’s also gearing up for the 2018 midterms. Company executives have been open in saying that they expect foreign governments might try again to sway voters.

Read the Record article.

Concord will present a complimentary webinar titled “From Cost Center to Profit Center: Leveraging the Data in Your Contracts to Prove the Value of Legal.”

The event will be Thursday, July 26, 2018, at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

Legal’s new role as a strategic business function has forced legal teams to evolve, shifting from cost-center to profit-center, Concord says on its website. This shift has transformed the overall value legal provides—moving well beyond risk management and cost savings—increasing the pressure on legal teams to become a source of revenue for their organization.

The webinar will equip participants to:

• Identify the crucial KPIs for Legal when it comes to spend
• Uncover strategies to take your legal team from cost center to profit center
• Discover how Leverage the data in your contracts to prove the value of Legal

The webinar is presented in partnership with General Counsel News.

Register for the webinar.

Under California’s groundbreaking privacy law, general counsel face stringent compliance requirements for managing the personal data of consumers, including personal data shared with third parties, points out the Association of Corporate Counsel.

The issue can be far-reaching, considering that 60 percent of a company’s personal data resides with third parties, the ACC says on its website.

“Companies must take stock of what personal data their company has, where it resides, how long it’s retained, and third parties with whom they share their data. Third-party diligence is explicit or implied in the CCPA, the GDPR, Colorado’s Privacy Legislation, 23 NYCRR 500, and many others,” the organization warns.

The ACC has posted a white paper titled “Third-Party Data Compliance” to review seven important considerations for every general counsel. The paper can be downloaded at no charge.

The ACC  provides its Vendor Risk Service, the world’s only third-party diligence process designed specifically to help corporate legal teams rapidly assess third parties and meet compliance requirements.

Download the white paper.

Get information on the Vendor Risk Service.

The National Association of Corporate Directors has published an article titled “Proxy Season Survival Tip: Make Board Composition a Priority” and made it available for downloading.

It’s from the latest edition of NACD Directorship Magazine.

During proxy season, directors may feel as though they’re navigating a minefield of activist issues. Major institutional investors are also taking activist stances, especially in the area of board composition.

This puts boards under pressure to comply with investors’ guidelines. But how? It isn’t possible for boards to track and address many thousands of investor issues.

This article explains how boards can avert activist demands–by knowing what their shareholders are thinking and staying ahead of possible grievances. Directors can make needed changes in the boardroom by

• increasing board diversity with both female and minority members;
• strengthening risk oversight with tools and resources provided by NACD; and
• updating governance guidelines in light of those proposed by investors.

Download the article.

Conga and Gartner are offering Gartner’s Fast-Track to Creating a Contract life Cycle Management Shortlist With These 3 Steps to help companies kick-start the contract lifecycle management evaluation process by identifying what exactly is important to the organization and which tools can support the abundant needs of all stakeholders.

“The business landscape has becoming increasingly fast-paced and competitive,” Conga says on its site. “Having visibility into contract status while collaborating with stakeholders throughout your entire enterprise is imperative for success. From creation all the way through negotiation and execution, gain insight into your business with the addition of a contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution.”

The CLM market has become increasingly crowded, so finding a solution that supports the volume needs of enterprise contracts can be challenging.

Download the guide.

LawGeex will present a live webinar titled “How Contract Review Automation Helps Mitigate Risk to Your Organization,” on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, at 2 p.m. EDT.

The 60-minute event will cover how to:

• Automate contract review
• Enable company-wide compliance with corporate policy
• Mitigate an organization’s contracting risk using AI
• Free up a legal team’s time for more strategic work

Register for the webinar.

The playbook for moving between in-house and Biglaw is well known and pretty straightforward, points out Above the Law.

“But if you are working in-house and want to move to an in-house role in another company, well, the playbook is not as clear and the path is a little more obscure. Even though you may be more marketable given your previous in-house experience, the application process can be a challenge,” writes columnist Stephen R. Williams, in-house counsel with a multi-facility hospital network.

He offers a sampling of some of the most common interview questions and some possible honest answers, which could run afoul of attorney-client privilege.

Read the Above the Law column.

Law firms have made massive investments in content, mostly aimed at deepening their engagement with in-house counsel. But, for the most part, their efforts are falling short, according to a recent survey by strategic communications firm Greentarget and consulting firm Zeughauser Group.

Only about half of in-house attorneys consider law-firm content “good to excellent,” the same as in 2017, and up only slightly since 2015, according to the 2018 State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey, released by Greentarget and Zeughauser Group.

But the survey also provides clear guidance on how firms can make inroads with their most important readers. For our seventh annual survey we asked in-house counsel not only about their content consumption habits, but also what content they value most, where they get it, and how often they go there. The survey found that:

• In-house counsel want content that helps them do their jobs. More than three-quarters of our respondents say they most value utility in the content they consume – ahead of timeliness (58 percent), reliable sources (56 percent) and compelling headlines (51 percent).
• And they want it in the form of articles, alerts and newsletters, respectively. Those are respondents’ most preferred content vehicles.
• Email works – when it’s good. Forty percent of in-house counsel say they get information from email notifications every day – but only 25 percent say they find them valuable. That’s a huge opportunity to reach clients and prospects, and to stand out from the noise, by creating email alerts that deliver on the qualities in-house lawyers are looking for.
• Traditional media most trusted. Fifty-four percent of respondents go to traditional media (e.g., The Wall Street Journal) on a daily basis for legal, business and industry news and information, and 45 percent find such sources very valuable – far above any other source.
• Brevity matters. Nearly a third of in-house counsel value shorter content, while only 5 percent value longer pieces. They also want email alerts to be brief. And they only rank in-depth as a key attribute for a single content category – research reports.
• Podcasts show promise. More than a quarter of respondents put podcasts among their preferred content vehicles – ahead of video and perhaps surprising for a relatively new medium. Audio content gives consumers hands- and eyes-free information for their commutes or during workouts. And podcasts are the only medium where respondents say they consider entertainment value – an opportunity to rise above the noise for firms that are willing to break from the industry’s staid conventions.
• On social media, more noise than signal. About a third of in-house counsel look at social media every day, but only 11 percent find anything of value there. By contrast, less than a quarter view industry association publications and websites every day, but 43 percent find those valuable.

“This is the age of information overload,” said John Corey, founding partner of Greentarget. “In-house counsel want content that’s useful, timely, well-sourced and provides lively engagement starting from the subject line. If they want to elevate the conversation, firms have to quickly and efficiently tell in-house counsel what they have to say, why it matters and what law departments should do about it.”

The 2018 report went further than in past years, identifying which content types were most preferred by in-house counsel – and what attributes are most valued regarding those content types. Respondents’ top three content types are articles, alerts and newsletters – and in each case, they want that content to be relevant and timely. For articles and newsletters, respondents want content to be educational – and they prefer that alerts be brief.

“Drilling down to this level of detail about what is and isn’t working when it comes to law firm-generated content is important – and consequential,” said Mary K. Young, a partner with Zeughauser Group. “Firms can take this information and the related guidance and find ways to stand out and build their brands with in-house counsel, who are, of course, key decision makers within their organizations.”

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics will present its 17th Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute, October 21-24, 2018, in Las Vegas, with top industry experts and professionals from around the world.

At this four-day networking and educational event, participants will gain information they need to effectively manage their compliance programs and mitigate risk, the SCCE says on its website.

At the Compliance & Ethics Institute, participants will:

• Network with over 1,800 professionals from all industries and 40 countries.
• Choose from 10 learning tracks, 100+ sessions, and over 150 speakers.
• Get up-to-date on issues relevant to your current challenges, including global antitrust compliance, cyber security, anti-corruption, and harassment and discrimination prevention.
• Leave with practical solutions you can immediately put into practice at your organization.

This conference is for compliance and risk professionals and those who work with them in an advisory or partnership capacity. Positions include: in-house and outside counsel, audit managers and officers, consultants, corporate executives, human resource managers, privacy officers, researchers and policy makers, risk managers, staff educator and trainers, and more.

Get more information.

A company’s human resources department has only one criterion for a candidate for an in-house position, but “fit” isn’t the real issue, suggests an Above the Law columnist identified as “a harried in-house counsel at a well-known company that everyone loves to hate.”

Using the pseudonym of “Kay Thrace,” the author recalls her days in Biglaw, when the firm HR team carefully culled thousands of résumés of the ivy elite and organized perfectly balanced recruiting lunches.

“[I]n Biglaw, every single one of us knew that we were only as good as last year’s talent pool, so we had to strive to get the best and brightest. In-house? Not so much.”

It’s different in the business world, however, because “apart from a few basic qualifications (do you have a law degree, are you in good standing, have you killed someone in this state in the last five years, etc.), HR has nothing else to hang their hats on other than fit.”

Forget fit, she writes: “Do you know when you’re being patently misled by the business and are you gracious about rectifying the situation and guiding it to a satisfactory, risk-mitigating conclusion? Yes? You’re freaking hired.”

Read the Above the Law article.

Exterro has published “The State of E-Discovery 2018,” the results of a survey of industry trends, practices and challenges. The publication is available for downloading at no charge.

Pulling from the most recent research into the economics, in-house legal departments, the judiciary, and more, this State of E-Discovery 2018 report provides a holistic overview of where e-discovery is, as an industry, today.

Download this complimentary report and learn:

• How trends in e-discovery are affecting in-house legal departments and law firms
• How technology is affecting the way professionals practice e-discovery
• Which challenges in-house legal departments and law firms need to address to continue growing

Download the survey results.

The 2018 annual meeting of the Association of Corporate Counsel will be Oct. 21-24 in Austin, Texas.

Participants at this year’s event may select from 110 CLE/CPD programs.

The complete schedule is posted online.

Some of the topics are:

Compliance & Ethics
Corporate & Securities
Employment & Labor
Energy
Environmental & Sustainability
Financial Services
Health Law
Information Governance
Insurance Staff Counsel
Intellectual Property
International Legal Affairs
IT, Privacy & eCommerce
Law Department Management
Litigation
New to In-house
Nonprofit Organizations
Real Estate
Small Law Department
Sports & Entertainment

Jason Dorsey, Co-Founder & President, Center for Generational Kinetics will be the keynote speaker on Monday, Oct. 22.

Get more information.

The 4th annual Bloomberg Law In-House Forum will Explore the steps that general counsel need to take to mitigate the internal cybersecurity threat.

The event will be Wednesday, June 27, 2018, at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, 345 Stockton Street, San Francisco 94108.

Specifically, the event will dissect one of the most pressing issues affecting the modern corporate workplace: cybersecurity threats from its own employees. Participants will learn how general counsel can effectively partner with other teams at the organization to guard against this growing risk.

Speakers will guide the discussion, outlining how corporate counsel can build relationships between IT and Human Resources in order to act in a leadership role, crafting an effective risk avoidance plan that includes auditing, training, and both preemptive and post-breach initiatives.

Register for the event.

The Association of Corporate Counsel will hold the 4th annual ACC Legal Operations conference in Chicago on June 11-13, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

On its website, the ACC says the conference offers members a unique opportunity to learn about the latest trends and advancements in a peer-rich environment, while also collaborating to address shared issues and opportunities.

The program will feature:

• Sessions on AI, blockchain, and so much more
• Multiple workshops and expert-led roundtables
• Benchmarking metrics
• Takeaway tools you can use right away
• A workshop with an organizational development expert on “Leading Yourself and Others (Including Your GC.) Through Change”

Register or get more information.

Companies must shift from focusing on rules and consequences to emphasizing culture and values, according to Carolyn Frantz, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel and corporate secretary, in an article published by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

The article is available for downloading from the NACD website.

n this interview from the Strategic Asset General Counsel forum, an annual day-long event hosted by The National Association of Corporate Directors, Frantz answers these questions:

• Who presents compliance-related information to the board?
• Do you need an outsider CEO to change a company’s culture?
• What does tone-in-the middle training look like?
• What shapes culture at the bottom?
• How do you address differences in moral values as a global company?

Download the article.

A new study from BarkerGilmore confirms that female lawyers are still paid less compared to their male counterparts — and the disparity is greater for GCs.

The Global Legal Post reports on the study: “On average, female in-house counsel earn 84 per cent of what male in-house counsel earn. The gap is much larger at the general counsel level, with a 78 per cent disparity, than at managing counsel or senior counsel levels, which show 90 per cent and 89 per cent disparities respectively.”

Above the Law takes a look at overall compensation for general counsel of both genders: “As one might expect, general counsel have the largest variation — with total compensation ranging from $350K to around $900K based on company revenue. Managing counsel, those with at least one direct report who aren’t the GC, are much more consistent across companies, with comp averaging from just under $300K to around $350K.”

Read the Legal Post article.

Zapproved and Hobson & Company recently partnered to research the average return on investment (ROI) that businesses gained by implementing Digital Discovery Pro for in-house ediscovery. A report on the research is available for downloading at no charge.

Zapproved reports that its research shows a 4X return on investment with an automated, cloud-based software solution.

“Companies in this study reported that for many of their investigations and legal matters, in-house ediscovery is more cost-effective than outsourcing,”  Zapproved reports. “Our experience with clients backs that up: for organizations that are ready, automating data processing and review in house is well worth the investment. But how quickly does that investment pay for itself?”

Download the report.