Reed Smith has posted a white paper advising general counsel how to master the first steps of dealing smoothly with a computer intrusion.

The steps begin with the initial debriefing from the IT director, the HR director or whoever presents the information about the compromise. They progress through such steps as contacting outside cyber security counsel, directing IT staff to freeze all internal audit trails – including vendor traffic, convening a meeting of the Incident Response Team within one hour, and more, ending with contacting the CEO.

The paper describes detailed actions that should be made at each step of the process.

Read the white paper.

Mitratech will present a complimentary webinar describing how the most successful legal departments are capitalizing on disruption in the industry to drive meaningful results. The webinar will be Friday, May 22, at 11 a.m. Central time.

The event will cover six sustainable innovations that create improved efficiency and increased business value:

• Hiring non-lawyers to manage the business of the legal department
• Creating efficiencies through robust knowledge management practices
• Improving legal sourcing through data-driven decision-making
• Funding litigation with outside investors
• Purchasing goods and services through a consortium
• Applying cognitive computing to improve efficiency

Presenters will be Kevin Clem, Managing Director at HBR Consulting, Steven Greenspan, Associate General Counsel at United Technologies, and Jason Parkman, CEO at Mitratech.

Register for the webinar.

PayPal announced two new leaders will be joining the company as it prepares to separate from eBay Inc. and become an independent, publicly-traded company later this year. StreetInsider.comn reports that both will report to PayPal president and CEO designee Dan Schulman and serve on the company’s leadership team.

Louise Pentland will become PayPal’s new General Counsel, effective April 27. Pentland is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Nokia Corporation, the report says.

Jonathan Auerbach will become PayPal’s new Senior Vice President of Strategy and Growth.

Read the story.

The Louisiana State University System’s newly hired, $270,000-a-year general counsel does not have a license to practice law in Louisiana, reports the New Orleans Advocate.

New GC Thomas Skinner officially started work in January, leaving a Chicago law firm, where he specialized in regulatory and environmental matters.

The GC’s inability to litigate won’t be a problem for the system, says Daniel T. Layzell, the university’s new vice president for finance and administration. “We hired him to oversee our legal strategy, the legal needs of the university.”

Read the story.

Panasonic Corporation of North America today announced the appointment of Damien Atkins as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Panasonic Corporation of North America.

Atkins succeeds Robert S. Marin, who is retiring after nearly 40 years of service, including more than 23 years as the company’s chief legal advisor.

Atkins joins Panasonic from AOL Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. He earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and graduated from New York University School of Law.

“Damien Atkins is a respected and experienced leader in managing in-house legal teams,” said Panasonic Corporation of North America Chairman & CEO Joseph M. Taylor. “His expertise in leading mergers & acquisitions activities, managing corporate governance, and ensuring legal compliance in a global brand company aligns well with Panasonic’s plan to grow significantly as a provider of diverse technology solutions for business. We are delighted to have Damien join the Panasonic management team here in Newark.”

Many law departments are continuing to focus on lowering costs. But what needs to be considered in order to achieve that objective, and what other objectives should be set altogether?

Bridgeway Software will offer some guidance on that issue in a 60-minute free webinar Wednesday, April 22, at 2 p.m. Central time.

Developing the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and aligning them with the business’ goals can be the key to excellence, relative to both cost and performance, says a Bridgeway spokesman. Respondents to the 7th Annual Law Department Operations Survey have shed some light on what those KPIs are.

The host will be Brad Blickstein, principal with the Blickstein Group. Reese Arrowsmith, SVP & Head of Enterprise with Lincoln Financial, will be the special guest.

Register for the webinar.

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. has announced today that James Moriarty has joined the company as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

In his new role, Moriarty will oversee the company’s legal affairs by managing the company’s internal legal function, and managing outside counsel, Chesapeaker Utilities said in a news release.

“He will provide counsel on legal matters to senior management and the business units to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and advise senior management and the board on corporate governance matters,” the release continues. “In addition, he will provide legal advice on all major business transactions and assist management on governmental relations, including lobbying and other legislative activities. Mr. Moriarty will oversee the preparation, review and negotiation of contracts and other legal documents and provide legal and contractual support for project development and transactions.”

Read the announcement.

A white paper written by Howard Mavity of Fisher & Phillips give some advice on what managers need to note in order to challenge OSHA citations, especially when the citations arrive months after an inspection.

“Many articles on handling OSHA inspections provide the same basic guidelines and little explanation of why employers should take certain steps.” he writes. “You already know to take photos whenever the Compliance Officer (CO) takes shots and to take notes. But do you know why to take those photos and what to look for? What do you need to note in order to challenge citations when they are issued six months later?”

The article includes sections headed “Plan in Advance,” “Manage the Inspection,” “Take Your Time” and “Push Back.”

Read the white paper.

Arthur R. Block, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Comcast Corporation (Photo: Business Wire)

Comcast Corporation has announced the promotion of Arthur R. Block to Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Comcast Corporation.

Block previously served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Comcast. He reports to David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation.

Block is the company’s chief legal officer, overseeing Comcast’s legal, corporate governance, compliance, and strategic intellectual property functions. During his 26 years with the company, he has served as the lead in-house attorney for Comcast’s mergers, acquisitions and financings, including transformative acquisitions like AT&T Broadband and NBCUniversal, Comcast said in a new release.

“Art has been an outstanding leader of our legal affairs team and has earned great respect from his colleagues and peers throughout our company and industry,” said Cohen. “He is a trusted advisor who provides excellent judgment, strong leadership, and extensive industry experience, and has led the company through some of its most complex transactions.”

“Art is a distinguished legal expert with deep knowledge and understanding of complex matters and is one of the best lawyers in our industry and the profession as a whole,” said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation. “He has been a key part of Comcast’s growth and over the years has provided invaluable advice as part of the senior management team. I look forward to his continued success at the company.”

Prior to joining Comcast, Art was a partner in the Corporate Department of the Philadelphia law firm Wolf Block where he began his legal career in 1978. During his tenure at Wolf Block, he served as a legal advisor to Comcast before joining the company as in-house counsel in 1989.

Art currently serves as Co-Chair of the Site Board of City Year Greater Philadelphia and as the Chair of the Board of Managers of Moore College of Art and Design. He was the recipient of the 2012 Idealist of the Year Award from City Year Greater Philadelphia. He received his B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Reuters is reporting that Kevin McKay, who began his Wall Street legal career in 1978 at E.F. Hutton, will join Barclays PLC’s wealth and investment management division in the Americas next month as general counsel, a company spokeswoman said.

For the past 12 years McKay was general counsel of Dominick & Dominick, a New York City broker-dealer with fewer than 50 brokers that was purchased in January by Memphis, Tennessee-based Wunderlich Securities, according to the Reuters report.

He was briefly chief executive of the New York-based firm before the deal, and retained the general counsel title at Wunderlich.

Read the story.

CTPartners, a leading global executive search firm, has released its Global Executive Team – GET – report, which reveals cybersecurity, executive transparency and technology are among the biggest forces that will change the key skills of C-suite executives over the next five years.

“Five years from now millennials, with an entirely different set of expectations and values, will make up more than 50% of the world’s working population, and they’ll be connected digitally all the time,” said Keith Meyer, Vice Chairman and Global Head of the CEO and Board Practice at CTPartners, in a release. “Tomorrow’s C-suite executive and Board Director must be capable of achieving business and financial success while being more transparent, analytical, accessible, data-driven and global.” CTPartners’ GET2020 details the skills, temperament and foresight that will be required of C-suite leaders to be successful in 2020. Insights were collected from senior leaders to enable clients to identify the key leadership skills required for the organization they want to become, including:

• Chief Executive Officer: Will evolve from company visionary and value creator to being purpose-driven, capable of spotting the next great disruption while meeting financial and broader societal goals.
• Board Director: To protect and build shareholder value, tomorrow’s Board Director will be as capable evaluating digital transformations and new geographic markets as they are at compliance, regulation, succession and executive compensation today.
• Chief Financial Officer: In addition to being responsible for the company’s financial performance, tomorrow’s CFO will be highly visible and an accessible partner to the CEO, responsible for revenue growth and long-term shareholder value.
• Chief Human Resources Officer: Tomorrow’s CHRO will go beyond attracting and developing talent to using data and analytics to build a high-performance culture, and be a key adviser the CEO, C-suite peers and the Board.
• Chief Marketing Officer: From building brand awareness and demand, tomorrow’s CMO is part magician, politician and technologist to effectively predict and deliver topline growth.
• Chief Information Security Officer: From predicating, protecting and responding to cyberattacks, tomorrow’s CISO combines technical experience with business acumen to minimize damage, and effectively communicate the company’s security status to all stakeholders—from customers to board members.
• Chief Information Officer: Will evolve to be an exceptional business leader, who leverages IT to drive competitive advantage while commodity technology functions and services are outsourced and lead by the CTO.
• General Counsel: From being the company’s defensive player responsible for managing risk, to proactively accomplishing business goals by engaging regulators about public policy.

The full GET2020 report is available for download and information on individual C-suite roles is also available. To read CTPartners’ previous report versions, please visit: GET2010 and GET2015.

About CTPartners

CTPartners is a leading global executive search firm that is designed to deliver in-depth expertise, creative strategies, and outstanding results to clients worldwide. Committed to a philosophy of partnering with its clients, CTPartners offers a proven track record in C-Suite, top executive, and board searches, as well as extensive experience in serving private equity and venture capital firms. From its 44 offices in 24 countries, CTPartners serves clients with a global organization of more than 600 professionals and employees, offering expertise in board advisory services, key leadership functions, and executive recruiting services in the financial services, life sciences, industrial, professional services, retail and consumer, and technology, media and telecom industries.

Deutsche Bank AG has named Steven F. Reich, a former official at the U.S. Department of Justice and attorney for former President Bill Clinton, as its general counsel for the Americas.

Reich was a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York. He will join the bank in April, reporting to Deputy General Counsels Simon Dodds in London and Christof von Dryander in Frankfurt, according to Michele Allison, a spokeswoman for the bank.

His move, reported by The New York Times, comes at a critical time as the company faces criminal and civil investigations into interest rate manipulation and currency rigging.

Read the story.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (February 26, 2015) — The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP announced that partners Christopher Townsend, Joel Tragesser, and Jeffrey Wolf each have received the 2015 Client Choice award from Lexology and the International Law Office (ILO).

Established in 2005, the Client Choice awards recognize partners around the world that stand apart for their excellent client service. Uniquely, these awards survey in-house senior corporate counsel only, inquiring about quality of legal advice, value delivered, commercial awareness, and effective communication. Following one-on-one interviews with clients, this year’s winners were chosen from a pool of more than 2,500 individual nominations. Only one attorney in each market is recognized for any particular practice area.

Townsend practices out of the firm’s Chicago office and is member of the Energy & Environmental Practice Group. He leads a team of energy lawyers who help clients develop projects, save costs, and manage risks in the ever-changing energy markets, assisting with strategic counseling, regulatory, litigation, transactional, and government relations matters. Townsend received his law degree, with honors, from the University of Iowa College of Law and his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Augustana College.

Tragesser practices out of the firm’s Indianapolis office and is a member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group. He focuses his practice on prosecuting trademark applications in the United States and foreign countries; drafting software licenses; and litigating infringement, false advertising, unfair competition, and business disputes. Tragesser received his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School and his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Wabash College.

Wolf practices out the firm’s Phoenix office and is a member of the Franchise & Distribution Practice Group. He represents franchisors of all sizes in litigation involving breach of contract, fraud, trademark and trade dress infringement, restrictive covenants, and vicarious liability, among other claims. His practice also includes handling general commercial and employment litigation for a variety of clients. Wolf received his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law and his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from the University of Hartford.

About ILO
Launched in 1998, ILO is the nexus where global corporate counsel engage with the world’s pre-eminent law firms, and each other. ILO is a multifaceted online resource for senior international corporate counsel, which provides tailored, quality-assured updates on global legal developments, a database of the world’s major deals and the legal advisers involved, and a comprehensive directory of firms and partners. Recognizing its unique relationship with global corporate counsel, many of the world’s premier associations have chosen to partner with ILO.

About Lexology
Launched in 2007, Lexology is a daily newsfeed of law firm client alerts, articles, and blogs delivered to the desktops of senior business lawyers worldwide on a daily basis. Lexology has built a unique audience of over 228,00 subscribers, over 60 percent of whom are in-house corporate counsel representing the vast majority of Fortune 500, FT Global 500 and FT Euro 500 companies—including all members of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

About Quarles & Brady LLP
Quarles & Brady is a full-service law firm with more than 475 attorneys offering an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies, with practice focuses in health care and life sciences, business law, data privacy and security, and complex litigation. The firm has offices in Chicago; Indianapolis; Madison; Milwaukee; Naples, Florida; Phoenix; Scottsdale; Tampa; Tucson; and Washington, D.C. Additional information can be found online at quarles.com, as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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.

General Motors Co. on Thursday named Craig Glidden its new top lawyer, after earlier saying general counsel Michael Milikin would retire in July, reports The Detroit News.

Glidden’s appointment will be effective March 1.

The position puts him at the head of a team of staff attorneys who are integrated into all of GM’s regional and functional teams in more than 30 countries.

“The legal job is highly important to the Detroit automaker as it faces investigations by the U.S. Justice Department, 49 state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian officials,” The News reports. “It also faces hundreds of lawsuits tied to the ignition switch defect.”

Read the story.

Colt’s Manufacturing has settled multi-million claims by the company’s former general counsel and an ex-vice president who said they were wrongly dismissed during a fierce fight among stockholders for control of the company, according to a report in the Hartford Courant.

The settlement headed off a trial that was set to begin on wrongful termination suits against the gun manufacturer and two stockholders by former Colt’s Manufacturing Co. Vice President Merrick Alpert of and General Counsel Carleton Chen.

Alpert and Chen won a succession of pretrial victories over the last year, The Courant said, including a court order in April that told Colt’s to set aside $3.8 million to pay the two, had a jury ruled in their favor.

Read the story.

BTI Consulting has released its BTI Client Service All-Stars, attorneys are truly delivering superior client service, according to the general counsel and decision makers for legal services.

“14 years of research illustrates how hard it is and how strong a performance is needed to join the ranks of the BTI Client Service All-Stars,” BTI says on its website.

No attorney can self-nominate, refer a client to be interviewed, pay or otherwise find a way into the report. BTI says its went straight to the source — the general counsel and decision makers for legal services — to find out exactly which attorneys are truly delivering superior client service.

Download the report.

News Corp announced that David Pitofsky has been named General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer.

Pitofsky succeeds Gerson Zweifach. Zweifach, who remains Group General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of 21st Century Fox, was retained as the General Counsel of News Corp on a transitional basis following the separation of the two companies in June 2013.

Pitofsky has been Deputy General Counsel and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer of News Corp since 2013.

“I am grateful to Gerson for his steadfast leadership during the separation of our two companies and this time of transition for the new News Corp,” said Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of News Corp. “Gerson has been a consistent source of wise counsel and strategic thinking, and he will be missed, though I am glad he will continue to lead the legal team at 21st Century Fox.”

Murdoch continued, “Over the past two years I have worked with David, he has proven himself to be a first-rate lawyer whose insights and advice have been invaluable. We feel very fortunate to have him as our new General Counsel, where I am sure he will provide great leadership and support to our businesses around the world.”

“David’s the ideal person to slip into Gerson’s large legal shoes, ensuring a seamless transition in a major leadership position here at News Corp,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. “His impeccable integrity, legal insight and collaborative spirit will serve us all well in the years ahead.”

“All of us at News Corp appreciate Gerson’s very effective service as our General Counsel during this crucial start-up period,” said Thomson. “We knew from the outset that this day was inevitable, but Gerson’s efficacious impact will echo for many years to come.”

“I’m honored to succeed Gerson, from whom I’ve learned so much, and thrilled to have the chance to work even more closely with Robert and everyone at News Corp,” said Pitofsky. “As a new company with growing global and increasingly digital businesses, News Corp has many exciting challenges and opportunities, which I look forward to tackling with my colleagues.”

“I can’t think of a better person to take on this task than David, whose judgment and legal acumen I trust without reservation,” said Zweifach. “I’ll miss the frequent dealings with Robert and so many others at News Corp with whom I’ve worked on many issues, but I deeply appreciate the unique opportunity I’ve had.”

As General Counsel, Pitofsky will oversee global legal operations for News Corp, including litigation, mergers and acquisitions, ethics and corporate governance matters. As Chief Compliance Officer, he will chair the Company’s Compliance Steering Committee. He will lead a legal team that includes deputy general counsels Michael Bunder, Eugenie Gavenchak, Mark Jackson and James Marcovitz. Bunder also serves as News Corp Corporate Secretary and Jackson also serves as General Counsel of the Company’s Dow Jones subsidiary.

Pitofsky joined News Corp from the law firm of Goodwin Procter LLP, where he was a partner. From 1996 to 2005, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, rising to the level of Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an Executive Editor of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.

General Motors top lawyer has deferred his retirement to July because the company has not yet found his successor, according to a filing last week with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, reports The Detroit Free Press.

Mike Millikin, the automaker’s general counsel who came under fire during last year’s Congressional hearings on GM’s recall of defective ignition switches, planned to retire early this year. But the company said in its announcement last October that the 66-year-old would remain until a replacement was found.

Millikin joined GM in 1977 and served as its top lawyer for the last five years, The Free Press reports.

Read the story.

Microsoft’s general counsel says he wants 2015 to be a “year for solutions” when it comes to the intersection of the internet and international law, according to a report at GeekWire.com.

Brad Smith told an audience at a an event organized by the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, Belgium that the regulations governing how internet companies handle user privacy and government requests for data are woefully outdated and ready for a refresh.

Smith said that governments need to set up a new framework for handling security and data requests, GeekWire reports. In particular, he called for greater transparency, and protection of “fundamental freedoms,” including freedom of speech and a right to privacy.

Read the story.