American Red Cross General Counsel David Meltzer has resigned after a ProPublica story detailed troubling aspects of how he handled a sexual misconduct case involving another senior official at the charity, according to a ProPublica article.

In a resignation letter, Meltzer told the American Red Cross CEO that he deeply regretted his handling of the case.

Meltzer originally drew fire after he praised a former senior executive who was pushed out after being accused of sexually harassing a subordinate. Another employee also accused that former executive of rape. At that time, Meltzer praised the deposed executive for his dedication and leadership.

Read the ProPublica article.

Image by BCorn MarketingDiv (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Bloomberg reports that Belinda Johnson, formerly chief business affairs and legal officer, has taken the new role with the company as part of a shakeup in the senior ranks.

“Before joining Airbnb, Johnson served as general counsel at Yahoo and Mark Cuban’s Broadcast.com,” according to reporter Olivia Zakeski. “She was named to the board of PayPal Holdings Inc. a year ago. As Airbnb’s operating chief, she becomes one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

Michigan State University Trustee Brian Mosallam is calling for the resignation of Bob Noto, the school’s vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal, reports The Detroit News.

The university issued two reports on the allegations of Nassar misconduct involving girls and young women he treated when he was a team physician.

Reporter Kim Kozlowski writes: “Both reports cleared Nassar, but the unabridged report that recently surfaced and was marked confidential showed that Nassar was a liability to the university and ‘is exposing patients to unnecessary trauma based on the possibility of perceived inappropriate sexual misconduct.'”

Read the Detroit News article.

A recent research study developed by Globality in collaboration with The Lawyer found that general counsel prefer working with smaller law firms but often lack the means to find them. The survey went out to more than 300 GCs from organizations with over $1 billion in revenue to uncover the latest industry viewpoint about hiring outside counsel.

The report, “Global Trends in Hiring Outside Counsel,” is available for downloading at no charge.

Key findings:

• Almost 70% of General Counsel rely on pre-existing relationships or referrals to source new legal providers. In-house teams overwhelmingly appoint law firms based on personal connections rather than a systematic appraisal of which firms would be best for the job.
• Levels of dissatisfaction are three times higher with larger law firms than with smaller competitors. Companies find smaller firms deliver better client service, but often lack the means to source them.
• When presented with a series of new legal technologies, 86% of survey respondents were most excited by tools for sourcing and/or communicating with legal providers outside of their immediate network.

Download the Globality report.

In an upcoming webinar, LawGeex will demonstrate how modern legal teams are revolutionizing their daily contract review processes.

The 45-minute event will be Wednesday, Feb. 21, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, LawGeex says the webinar will show how modern legal teams are revolutionizing their daily contract review processes. This will be a practical look at using on-the-ground solutions for contract review automation.

The webinar will cover:

• What is contract review automation?
• How are leading legal teams using this technology today?
• How to dramatically reduce the time and cost of contract review and approval.
• A live demonstration of contract review automation in action.

Register for the webinar.

Large companies increasingly want to work with smaller, more innovative law firms but have trouble finding them due to over-reliance on personal connections, according to a new survey reported by Courthouse News Service.

“Along with an increasing preference for smaller firms, the survey revealed the levels of dissatisfaction rated three times higher with bigger firms—19 percent as opposed to 6 percent,” writes Matthew Renda.

Renda quotes Joel Hyatt, CEO and co-founder of Globality, the company that commissioned the study:

“It’s clear clients are increasingly unhappy with larger legal providers. They’re expensive, aren’t as innovative, and don’t provide the same level of customer service smaller firms can offer.”

Read the CNS article.

NAVEX Global will present a complimentary webinar on recent and anticipated enforcement and regulatory changes as they relate to third-party risk.

The online event will be Thursday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. EST / 10 a.m. PST.

Michael Volkov, renowned FCPA and third-party due diligence expert, will help participants learn about new FCPA policies and DOJ advice, data privacy regulations coming in May and more.

Participants also will learn what’s ahead in the world of anti-bribery, corruption and third-party risk management efforts.

Anyone who can’t watch the live online event may register to receive a recording of the webinar afterwards.

Register for the webinar.

Zapproved has published a report providing insights from a PREX17 summary on meeting the new GDPR rules by May 2018. The summary may be downloaded free of charge.

In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect, requiring companies that do business in Europe to adjust their strategies for data management. The GDPR standardizes data protection law across the member countries, but it doesn’t specifically address preservation and discovery for U.S. legal proceedings.

The PREX17 session summary, “Data Privacy, the GDPR and Security All in One” explores the practical considerations for this transition with insight from Intel’s Dan Christensen, U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte and Jeane Thomas, Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP.

It discusses strategies to address:

• Article 30 requirements for detailed record keeping
• U.S vs EU perspectives on cross-border discovery and personal privacy rights
• ISO2l701 certification

Download the summary.

A new book by the former general counsel of American Airlines tells the story of the company’s journey from the brink of insolvency following the loss of two of the airline’s jets in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks through the most successful corporate bankruptcy and restructuring in U.S. history.

The Dallas Business Journal, with The Texas Lawbook, has an advance copy of Gary Kennedy’s “Twelve Years of Turbulence: The Inside Story of American Airlines’ Battle for Survival,” scheduled for release in February.

According to writer Mark Curriden, the book reveals that American Airlines paid lawyers and financial advisers involved in the bankruptcy proceedings $300 million – or $500,000 a day. It also goes behind the scenes of the terrorist attacks of 2011.

Read the Dallas Business Journal article.

Salle Yoo, who resigned as general counsel of ride-hailing giant Uber in September, reportedly came up with an idea to foil government raids on the company’s computers: set up a system to wipe the data when the cops come through the door.

Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the system, reports that, between spring 2015 until late 2016, Uber used a system designed to thwart police raids in foreign countries.

When authorities showed up at Uber offices, employees could page a number that alerted specially trained staff at company headquarters in San Francisco.

Citing a raid in Montreal, the report says, “When the call came in, staffers quickly remotely logged off every computer in the Montreal office, making it practically impossible for the authorities to retrieve the company records they’d obtained a warrant to collect. The investigators left without any evidence.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) will host a meeting of progressive general counsel, directors, and subject-matter experts for an intimate discussion on the continuing evolution of the general counsel’s role, and its impact on boardroom issues. This exclusive, one-day event seeks to help GCs to better align themselves with director expectations, as well as elevate their role in the boardroom, the company says.

The event will be on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.

Once seen solely as legal advisors, general counsel are now regularly called upon to provide the board with an objective opinion about the company’s strategy based on their legal and ethical training. In fact, almost 70 percent of NACD’s full board memberships have a general counsel on their board roster. As part of our continuing goal of equipping boards with the information they need to create long-term value for businesses, NACD launched a new initiative: The Strategic-Asset GC.

Now in its second year, the Strategic-Asset GC event will aim to provide general counsel unique insights from directors, subject-matter experts, and fellow general counsel in order to help identify effective strategies for continued partnership with the board.

Register or get more information.

LawGeex, publisher of “LegalTech Buyer’s Guide,” has published a guide to change management for legal teams: “In-House Counsel’s Guide to Change Management.”

The book delivers the definitive eight-stage process of navigating and reinforcing enduring change. It contains dozens of interviews and real-life experiences from a host of industry leaders, including Pearson, Telstra, Avis Budget Group, NetApp, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Cisco, Google and many more.

The guide includes:

• The secrets of legal change management from Pearson, Telstra, Avis Budget Group, NetApp, L’Oreal, Microsoft, Cisco, Google and many more.
• The definitive eight-stage process of lasting change, including everything from identifying opportunities, to measuring and reinforcing success.
• Dozens of interviews and real life experiences from the world’s leading in-house lawyers and legal experts on navigating lasting change.

Download the guide.

NAVEX Global has released its first ever role-based Ethics & Compliance Benchmark Report for Legal Professionals, designed to help legal professionals get unique insights into compliance challenges and solutions.

Download this report to learn:

• What general counsels value most in their ethics and compliance programs

• A proactive approach to resource constraints

• The most common methods legal professionals use to administer and manage attestations

The report provides insights and benchmarks for compliance programs, from the eyes of legal professionals. It includes best-practice recommendations and discusses how legal departments view compliance training, third-party due diligence and policy and procedure management.

Download the free report.

Just days into his new job as chief legal officer at Uber, Tony West sent an email to the firm’s security team telling them to stop any competitive intelligence projects that included surveilling individuals, reports Recode.

In the email, West said he and new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi “are still learning the details about the extent of these operations and who was involved in directing them, but suffice it to say there is no place for such practices or that kind of behavior at Uber.”

Reporter Johana Bhuiyan writes that Khosrowshahi also sent an email to all employees, saying in part, “I will not tolerate misconduct or misbehavior that was endorsed or excused in the past. Period.”

The ride-hailing company has had to deal with the sudden loss of its former CEO, a lawsuit from a competitor, and other challenges in recent months.

Read the Recode article.

For 10 years, Blickstein Group, in cooperation with Consilio, has surveyed hundreds of law departments solely on the operations function to provide benchmarks that are useful to all law departments.

The written survey report is available now and may be downloaded at no charge.

On December 14, at 1 p.m. Eastern time / 10 a.m. Pacific, Blickstein will host a webinar to provide exclusive LIVE analysis of survey results by five industry leaders.

Those leaders are Brad Blickstein; David Cambria, Global Director of Operations – Law, Compliance and Government Relations at Archer Daniels Midland Co.; Joe Polizzotto, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Client Services at QuisLex; Kristin Calve, Publisher of Metropolitan Corporate Counsel; and Robin Snasdell, Managing Director at Consilio.

They will benchmark topics such as:

• The role of Legal Ops
• Change management
• Alternative fee arrangements
• Technology and tools
• Metrics and reporting

Download a copy of the report.

Register for the webinar.

NAVEX Global will present a webinar to launch a new role-based Ethics & Compliance Benchmark Report for Legal Professionals.

The event will be Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017, at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern time.

The program will provide insights into how a legal department manages compliance program initiatives. Participants will discuss best-practices for building effective programs, revealing particular challenges and strengths unique to the legal function.

Featured speakers will be Randy Stephens, Vice President, NAVEX Global; and Scott Nelson, Partner, Baker McKenzie LLP.

Anyone interested in the webinar who is unable to attend the online event may register and receive a link to the recording and a full copy of the report afterwards.

Register for the webinar.

Conga has published an eBook designed to help readers get clearer visibility across contracts  through automating and integrating the contract lifecycle.

“Use-it-or-lose-it budgets are a fact of life, but they don’t have to derail your organization,” the company says on its website. “Your remaining dollars will go farther when everyone in your organization works smarter, more efficiently, and more diligently. Lightning-fast automation, policy enforcement, and true oversight will help you get the most out of end-of-quarter initiatives without taking on unnecessary risk.”

Download “The Path to Year-End Efficiency” to:

• Do more with your year-end dollars
• Learn how to accelerate sales processes
• Understand the importance of getting contract management right
• Stop the bottlenecks associated with year-end
• Boost purchasing efficiency and oversight

Download the guide.

A former general counsel of insurer WellCare Health Plans Inc. has been sentenced to six months in prison for making a false statement to Florida’s Medicaid program as part of what prosecutors called a $35 million healthcare fraud scheme, Reuters reports.

A U.S. district judge in Tampa sentenced Thaddeus Bereday, who was indicted in 2011 along with four other former WellCare executive. The former GC pleaded guilty to a false statement charge in June, according to court records.

Reuters reporter Nate Raymond writes that Bereday, 52, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release during which he must spend one year in home confinement, prosecutors said. He was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.

Read the Reuters article.

Apple’s incoming chief lawyer Katherine Adams has received a bonus package in the form of restricted stock units, or RSUs, according to a mandatory disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week, reports Mac Rumors.

“Based on Apple’s closing price of $169.08 on Wednesday, each portion of 57,482 RSUs is worth slightly over $9.7 million for a potential total value of $19.4 million,” writes Joe Rossignol. “The amount could be higher or lower based on Apple’s performance.”

Adams, formerly senior vice president and general counsel of Honeywell, is Apple’s new general counsel and senior vice president of Legal and Global Security, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and serving on Apple’s executive team.

Read the Mac Rumors article.

Day Pitney LLP has announced that it has entered into an agreement to serve as pro bono outside general counsel for the International Spy Museum.

In a release, the firm said the museum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Washington, DC, brings the world of intelligence to life – illuminating how it has changed the course of history and continues to play a significant role today. People from across the globe come to the Museum to explore an objective, unbiased account of the history of intelligence and espionage and to make better sense of current events and the world around them.

“Day Pitney’s presence in Washington is growing, and assisting the International Spy Museum in carrying out its mission gives our DC lawyers, as well as their colleagues in our other offices, the opportunity to contribute our expertise to an important educational institution in our nation’s capital,” said Stanley A. Twardy, Jr., the firm’s Managing Partner.

The release continues:

The International Spy Museum, which opened in Washington, DC on July 19, 2002, is the only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage and the only one in the world to provide a global perspective on an all-but-invisible profession that has shaped history and continues to have a significant impact on world events.

The Spy Museum features the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on public display, many of which are being seen by the public for the first time. These artifacts illuminate the work of famous spies and pivotal espionage actions as well as help bring to life the strategies and techniques of the men and women behind some of the most secretive espionage missions in world history. For more information on the International Spy Museum, including their imminent move to their own building in DC’s growing Southwest quadrant, visit www.spymuseum.org.

Day Pitney attorneys Steven A. Cash and Evan C. Reese will lead the engagement, with Cash bringing his extensive national security and intelligence background to bear, while Reese contributes his long experience in providing counsel to corporations. “We are very excited to be working with the International Spy Museum, and look forward to introducing our clients to this fascinating institution,” said Cash.