Mayer Brown has posted presentation slides and video from its recent webinar about increasing the value of sourcing contracts by linking the supplier’s profitability with how quickly and how well the supplier advances your business objectives.

The free webinar is a part of the firm’s Business & Technology Sourcing Webinar Series.

“Incentives can even be used for ‘stretch goals,’ where suppliers would be unable to commit to performance,” the firm says on its website.

Mayer Brown partners Brad Peterson and Linda Rhodes talk about supplier behavior and discuss how to use contract terms to drive exceptional supplier performance. Topics include:

• Use general terms to align incentives for success;
• Set and enforce service levels to drive exceptional performance;
• Implement milestone and other key incentives for projects; and
• Leverage liability provisions and termination rights to drive performance.

View the slides and the video.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP presents a complimentary MCLE webinar, “The Two Faces of Establishing Patentability of a New Chemical,” featuring Fitch Even attorney James A. Zak. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, June 24, 2015, at 9 am PDT / 10 am MDT / 11 am CDT / 12 noon EDT.

To be a patentable invention, a chemical compound must be new and non-obvious. To establish that the compound is non-obvious, a lead compound is selected in the prior art, and the new compound is compared to the lead compound to determine if the new compound is merely an obvious modification. A lead compound is selected by one of two methods, which differ with respect to the rationale used to identify the lead compound and how allegations of obviousness can be refuted. Given the critical role of the lead compound to the non-obviousness determination, when attempting to patent a new compound, one must be mindful of how the lead compound will be selected.

Topics will include:
• Methods of selecting a lead compound: structural similarity and rational selection
• Assumptions made based on structural similarity and how to overcome them
• Why what is believed about a rationally selected lead compound is more important than its real properties
• How to make others select the lead compound of your choosing

Speaker James A. Zak chiefly focuses his practice on the intersection of intellectual property and FDA law, often working with startups in FDA-regulated industries to develop and align their IP and FDA market approval strategies while simultaneously developing robust patent portfolios.

CLE credit has been approved for California and Illinois and is pending in Nebraska. Other states may also award CLE credit upon attendee request. There is no fee to attend, but please note registration is required.

Register for the webinar.

A one-hour complimentary webinar from eTERA will provide executives and their legal teams with best practices for managing document review projects, regardless of size and scope.

The webinar will be Wednesday, June 17, 2015, from 11 am to noon EDT.

In a release, eTERA said that document review, in many respects, is considered to be the most fundamental, costly and time-consuming aspect of the eDiscovery process. With the complexity and volume of today’s data only increasing, it is imperative for organizations to utilize best practices in managing the document review process, which will result in cost savings, increased efficiencies, enhanced decision making abilities and defensibility.

The release continues:

eTERA’s Ashish Prasad, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Todd Haley, Vice President of Business Intelligence, and Vazantha Meyers, Esq., Director of Managed Review, will discuss the following key topics:

• Development of the document review team
• How to ensure quality control
• Targeted keyword searches
• Review reporting and key metrics
• Avoiding several common pitfalls
• Privilege review
• Technology Assisted Review (“TAR”) including threading, near-duplication, context and predictive coding

Speakers:

Ashish Prasad
Vice President and General Counsel
eTERA Consulting

Ashish is a leading expert on the law and practice of eDiscovery. He is a former Litigation Partner and Chair of the Electronic Discovery and Records Management Practice at Mayer Brown LLP, the author of several treatises and dozens of articles on discovery topics, and the teacher of hundreds of legal education seminars over the past decade on topics of eDiscovery.

Todd Haley
Vice President of Business Intelligence
eTERA Consulting

Todd is an expert on the technology of eDiscovery. He is the former Chief Technology Officer of a major law firm, and has over two decades of experience managing the technology, business process and other aspects of eDiscovery and data management engagements.

Vazantha Meyers, Esq.
Director of Managed Review
eTERA Consulting

 Vazantha has extensive experience in all matters of eDiscovery.  She worked as a litigation associate at Mayer Brown LLP in the Electronic Discovery and Records Management Group, contributed to the Practicing Law Institute treatise Electronic Discovery Deskbook: Law and Practice (2009), and has written many articles and presentations on various topics related to eDiscovery.  

To register today for this complimentary webinar, please click here.

For additional information, please contact: Cassey Elder, Manager, Public Relations at marketing@eteraconsulting.com.

Feel free to forward this email to others in your organization that would benefit from this complimentary webinar.

About eTERA Consulting

eTERA Consulting, Built by the clients, for the clients™ is an award-winning leader in data and technology management providing innovative solutions to help clients overcome the high costs of managing large volumes of data, electronic discovery and content searching. As an international consultancy, eTERA offers five key services across the Electronic Discovery Reference Model including Early Information Assessment®, Forens1cs One℠, 1ntelligent One™, Rev1ew One™ and Opt1mum One.® These services help clients to proactively identify and analyze data early in the process allowing for significant data reduction, enhanced decision-making abilities, significant savings on eDiscovery costs and defensibility. eTERA Consulting provides clients with the necessary swat-team of experts needed to effectively manage litigation, government investigations and regulatory matters. eTERA Consulting utilizes software tools verified by the Gartner Group and is SSAE-16 certified to ensure the protection of client data. Headquartered in Washington, DC, and with offices in Chicago, Brussels, London and Paris, eTERA Consulting has served the legal industry since 2004. eTERA Consulting was selected by the Legal Times in 2014 as the Best End-to-End Litigation Consulting Firm and in 2013 as the Best Data and Technology Management eDiscovery Provider. eTERA Consulting has also been recognized by the National Law Journal for four consecutive years as the nation’s top End-to-End eDiscovery Company.

Tom Allman, Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati

DTI presents an on-demand webinar featuring Tom Allman, a former general counsel and well-known student of the civil rulemaking process, in a discussion on how the new federal rules expected to go into effect Dec. 1 of this year will impact e-discovery obligations and strategy.

Tom Allman chaired both the Sedona Conference and the Rules Committee of Lawyers for Civil Justice. He participated in the Duke Conference Panel and has followed the rulemaking process resulting in the current rules. Currently, he serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati and speaks and writes extensively on the topic. His paper on the rules amendments is regarded as a classic source on the topic.

The other presenter, Samantha Green, serves as e-discovery counsel for DTI and has more than a dozen years of litigation and consulting experience. At DTI, she serves as a subject matter expert on all aspects of eDiscovery and advises clients on strategy. Prior to joining DTI, she was the eDiscovery attorney in Blank Rome’s New York City office. Prior to that, she worked on a variety of complex litigation matters and conducted in-house CLEs and training programs on eDiscovery topics for Moses & Singer’s New York office, after having been an attorney with Proskauer Rose.

Download the recording and slides.

Bridgeway Software Inc. will present a webinar titled “5 Ways Matter Management Can Transform Your Legal Department and Why e-Billing Alone is Not Enough” Wednesday, June 10, at noon CDT.

“From advanced collaboration to improved early case assessment and robust reporting to risk management, global corporations are leveraging the value of matter management beyond e-billing to gain a competitive advantage,” Bridgeway says.

Industry leaders at Mattel, MetLife and Mutual of Omaha will be presenters during this uniquely formatted Bridgeway University webcast, moderated by legal industry analyst Ari Kaplan.

Some of the topics include:

• Where matter management starts and e-billing ends
• The value of broad data and ways to apply metrics to streamline your law department
• How a centralized source of information can unify legal operations to reduce cost and increase efficiency
• Best practices for simplifying the complexities associated with running a modern legal department
• A roadmap for getting started

RSVP for the webinar.

In a new complimentary webinar posted by Tensoft Inc., Jeffrey Werner, Silicon Valley software revenue recognition expert and lecturer, discusses revenue recognition for services and contracts.

In the presentation, Werner talks about time and materials contracts and fixed fee contracts. He also discusses the percentage of completion method, the completed contract method, and the zero margin method among other ways of accounting for service and contract accounting projects for companies.

Watch the on-demand webinar or download the slides.

A free on-demand webinar hosted by NAVEX Global says one of the most effective ways to measure a compliance program is by analyzing data from internal reporting systems. But how can you know what is good or bad without context?

The firm compiled 2014 calendar year statistics from more than 4,600 company reporting systems for its annual Hotline Benchmark Report. Some of the key findings be surprising; for example, retaliation reports are up 125 percent since 2013.

NAVEX Global says the webinar is intended to help participants be able to use industry benchmarks to understand:

• Whether your anonymous ethics hotline/helpline is truly effective
• If you’re getting the right numbers and types of reports
• How to interpret hotline findings and put them to work in your compliance program
• What types of hotline data are best to use in board and executive reporting

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Gibson Dunn has posted a free webinar discussing practical approaches for building a robust compliance program that is risk-driven and integrated into the business.

“The extraordinary events of the past year, from international cybersecurity breaches to significant economic and trade sanction developments, emphasize the expansive array of challenges facing today’s compliance professionals,” the firm says on its website.

The presentation features new Gibson Dunn partner Lori Zyskowski, formerly Executive Counsel, Corporate, Securities & Finance at the General Electric Company, where she advised GE’s board of directors and senior management on corporate governance and securities law issues, and of counsel Daniel Chung, an experienced trial and appellate attorney who previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York where he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of complex federal criminal cases.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

D4, LLC , a national in eDiscovery managed services, litigation support, computer forensics and deposition solutions to law firms and corporations, will host a complimentary webinar on April 30 at 1 p.m. EDT. Attendees will learn how to justify an eDiscovery managed services agreement for law firms or corporations, and best practices for achieving stakeholder buy-in.

Panelists include Stuart B. Claire, J.D., Manager of Litigation Technology Support at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney (an AMLAW 200 Firm); Jennifer Lemire, Senior Litigation Paralegal with The RiverStone Group (A Fairfax Company); and Elissa Livingston, J.D., Director of Project Management, D4. The event is part of D4’s webinar series aimed at educating legal and technology professionals on key topics around managed data and eDiscovery.

Panelists will share unique insights and advice based on their experience with the RFP process, different actions they may have taken had they known what to expect, and how they obtained approval from their stakeholders. The main goal is to impart relevant knowledge that can be applied in preparation for a managed services journey. Attendees will learn:

• Things to consider during the RFP process
• Potential pitfalls and how to avoid them
• How to justify a managed services model

“Finding an eDiscovery managed services vendor may not be a quick or easy process, but it doesn’t need to be painful,” said Martha MacPherson, Vice President of Marketing at D4. “Our experienced panelists will help answer questions about their journeys and offer advice on how to justify a managed services agreement.”

The webinar will take place on Thursday, April 30, 2015, 1-2 p.m. EDT.

Register for the webinar.

Hatmaker Law Group will present a one-hour webinar designed to teach supervisors how to recognize the signs of drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace.

The event is hosted by Susan K. Hatmaker, Esq. with guest speaker Eric Andersen, CSM SH&E Professional, with L.L. Andersen Consulting.

The webinar will be Wednesday, May  20, at 2 p.m. Central time.

Hatmaker Law Group conducts a monthly webinar series on various employment and labor law topics to provide up-to-date information to California employers, owners, managers, accountants, attorneys, and human resource professionals. The webinars are provided free of charge. HRCI and State Bar of California continuing education credit available.

Register for the webinar.

Willbros, McCarthy Tétrault and Duff & Phelps will present a free webinar on April 28 to discuss the 2015 oil and gas outlook in the midstream and downstream markets.

The webinar will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Panelists will discuss North American and European M&A activity and industry trends.

Topics will include:

• Oil prices and geopolitics
• Commodity price impact on M&A activity
• Long-term outlook in midstream and downstream markets

Register for the webinar.

Growing concern from lawmakers and increasing press on the relative lack of historic IRS attention on large partnerships is driving a shift toward an increased number of partnership-level audits with potential dramatic changes in partnership procedure on the horizon.

In a free on-demand webinar from Latham & Watkins, Washington, D.C. partners Miriam Fisher and Brian McManus and Houston partner Tim Fenn address the growing discussion around the increase in large partnership audit activity.

This presentation provides an overview of the key issues and legal considerations associated with an increase in such audits and how they are likely to affect the energy sector, the firm says on its website.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Deloitte will present a Dbriefs webcast on strategies and potential paths forward for oil and gas companies across the value chain, including upstream, oilfield services, midstream, and downstream, in a challenging investment environment.

The free webinar will be Tuesday, April 28, at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

After driving a period of record capital inflows and spending, growing supplies from shale oil fields have led to a new investment environment for crude oil and natural gas companies, Deloitte says on its website. This environment is low-priced for exploration and production companies globally and short-cycled for shale-focused exploration and production companies.

The webinar will cover the recent record capital growth in the oil and gas sector, and today’s situation of capital disturbance that threatens the profitability and sustainability of many oil and gas companies.

Register for the webinar.

The Expert Institute will present a free webinar covering the standard of care in orthopedic spinal surgery.

The webinar will be Tuesday, April 21, at 1 p.m. Central time.

The expert presenting the webinar is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon who was trained at New York University School of Medicine. He attained an advanced fellowship in spinal surgery from a top medical center in Wisconsin. Currently, he is an affiliated faculty member at a major regional healthcare center, as well as a clinical instructor at a top medical university.

Register for the webinar.

Aconex has posted a free webinar discussing the finer points of process management in energy industry projects.

The provider says participants will see IIR’s outlook for the oil land gas industry, hear how Fluor manages key processes on complex projects, and get a brief look at how Aconex can put you in control.

Chris Perkins, Interface Manager at Fluor, discusses improving productivity and accountability on selected projects. Jared R. Rastegar, System Consultant with Aconex, discusses handling critical processes such as interface management and design reviews. And Jesus Davis, VP of Oil & Gas Research at IIR, gives an overview of market conditions and trends in the Oil & Gas sector worldwide.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Platts presents a free on-demand webinar discusses the role the Gulf Coast of the United States plays in supplying refine petroleum products to the world.

The U.S. Gulf Coast has become the world’s factory floor for refined products. The region has many of the most complex refineries in the world, Platt’s says on its website. They are able to feed off cheap crude from the shale revolution. And they can spit out massive amounts of clean products onto an immense system of pipelines and ports. The result is quick product movement to far-flung parts of the world at competitive costs.

The webinar covers:

• ULSD is king of the barrel in the US
• U.S. becoming net exporter of gasoline
• LPG, naphtha and more heading offshore
• Domestic demand, too, as U.S. product pipelines max out

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Seal Software offers a free on-demand webinar on contract fundamentals needed to extract the maximum value from your contracts.

On its website, Seal says whether your interest lies in procurement, sales, finance, legal or elsewhere, in order to extract the maximum value from your contracts, you must be able to answer the following fundamental questions:

• How many contracts do you have and where are they located?
• Can you quickly and easily locate specific contracts or clauses in the event of a critical occurrence?
• Do you know which of your contracts or provisions buried in your contracts pose the greatest risk?
• Are you missing out on cost savings and revenue opportunity hidden in your contracts?

Watch the on-demand webinar.

How many electronic devices used in your organization store electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI)? If you work in a healthcare setting, this is not easily answered. While there has been considerable attention paid to ePHI stored on computers and networked servers, and recent attention given to portable devices like tablets and cell phones, one class of ePHI bearing technology remains rather mysterious – medical devices.

The Compliancy Group will present a webinar that shines a light on medical device data storage and introduces ePHI breach risks in direct patient care, clinical lab, and medical imaging settings. A brief case study for each setting will be presented.

The free webinar will be Tuesday, April 21, 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern time.

The presenter will beRay Davey, Chief Technology Officer for Maxxum, Inc., a technology asset disposition company near Minneapolis, MN. His career includes working for technology product and service companies like Hewlett-Packard, EDS, Cap Gemini, and others. As Maxxum’s CTO, his primary focus is helping clients manage risk associated with data bearing technology assets scheduled to exit their organizations.

Register for the webinar.

A free on-demand webinar from the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy compares the carbon intensity of natural gas and diesel long haul trucks.

On its website, the Institute says the webinar also explores the contribution of different assumptions, such as methane leakage, engine efficiency and natural gas storage — to the well-to-wheels carbon intensity of natural gas trucks.

Additionally, the webinar examines how to calculate the break-even methane leakage for natural gas trucks and the extent to which renewable natural gas can improve the climate performance of NGV trucks.

Watch the on-demand webinar.