NAVEX Global will conduct its first-ever online master class when it presents “Addressing & Preventing Sexual Harassment.”

The complimentary, 2.5-hour event, will be Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time | 11:30 a.m. Easter time.

“With the onslaught of high-profile sexual harassment allegations and an emerging “speak-up” movement around the globe, it’s evident that ignorance and a blind-eye has plagued our culture for too long,” NAVEX says on its website. “It is imperative—now more than ever—that your organization’s leadership fully understands what defines harassment and how to address it in the workplace.”

Register for the event.

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. announced that registration is open for a relevant and timely webinar to provide employers with practical guidance on sexual harassment policies.

The 60-minute webinar, titled “Sexual Harassment Roundtable: Practical Guidance for Employers,” will be Thursday, March 1, 2018, beginning at 1 p.m. EST.

The event will feature experts from law firms in employment and labor law.

Topics will include:

• Why sexual harassment remains a persistent workplace problem
• The types of sexual harassment allegations that can be trickiest for employers
• Pros and cons of using nondisclosure clauses in settlement agreements
• How mandatory arbitration impacts sexual harassment claims
• Best practices for preventing sexual harassment and handling allegations when they do arise

Register for the webinar.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has posted an on-demand webcast that discusses what the firm has been seeing and expects to see in the future in regard to mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas industry.

Members of Gibson Dunn’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Oil and Gas Practice Groups produced the 60-minute presentation to (1) discuss the current state of mergers and acquisitions at the corporate level (“M&A”) and acquisitions and divestitures at the asset level (“A&D”) in those segments of the energy sector comprised of upstream oil and gas, midstream oil and gas, and oilfield services; (2) identify trends in M&A and A&D in those segments; and (3) use their crystal balls to attempt to foresee what the future holds for M&A and A&D in those sectors.

Panelists are partners Michael P. Darden, Tull Florey and Justin T. Stolte. The moderator is Jeffrey A. Chapman.

Watch the on-demand webcast.

Black Duck will present a complimentary webinar reviewing the past year’s legal developments in open source software.

The event will be on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Two of the leading open source legal experts, Karen Copenhaver, partner at Choate Hall & Stewart and counsel for the Linux Foundation, and Mark Radcliffe, partner at DLA Piper and general counsel for the Open Source Initiative, will lead the discussion.

This annual review will highlight the most significant legal developments related to open source software in 2017, including:

• Current litigation
• An open source security update
• Blockchain and its forks
• Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) and OpenChain
• GDPR
• And more

Register for the webinar.

HousingWire will present a complimentary webinar on digital mortgages on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, at 11 a.m. Pacific time / 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Anyone who cannot watch the presentation in real-time can register to receive a recording of the webinar afterwards.

eSignLive by Vasco will sponsor the event.

“With emerging alternative lenders aggressively entering the market, traditional banks and lenders are looking to the digital mortgage as a competitive advantage,” HousingWire reports. “While originators have successfully automated the initial stages of the mortgage application and disclosure delivery process with electronic signatures, they haven’t fully digitized the entire mortgage workflow. With the help of eClosing and eVaulting platforms however, the “holy grail” of the digitization of complex mortgage transactions is now at arm’s length.”

Topics will include:

• How and where the industry is adopting eMortgage technology
• Legal and regulatory requirements
• E-apps, e-disclosures, e-closings, e-vaulting… where you should start
• Implementation options for a phased transition
• A live demonstration

Register for the webinar.

Thomas McVey, partner and chair of Williams Mullen’s International Practice Group, will lead a complimentary webinar on the latest International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) developments for government contracts executives.

The event will be Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

ITAR is an important area of regulation for government contractors, the firm says on its website. This includes firms in the defense, technical services, information technology, cyber-security, military training and DOD-funded R&D fields. These requirements often apply even if a company is not engaged in any exporting activities – often just performing activities in the U.S. can trigger ITAR obligations. The stakes are high – violations can result in criminal penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment.

The program will provide executives a clear overview of the law and an update on important recent developments.

Who Should Attend: CEOs, CFOs, COOs, in-house counsel, compliance personnel, operations directors and contracts administrators

Topic outline:
• How do I know if my company is subject to ITAR?
• Is my company required to register under ITAR
• Requirements for ITAR-controlled technical data and software
• Controls on defense services and Technical Assistance Agreements
• Requirements for dealing with foreign national employees and other foreign individuals
• Obligations of second- and third-tier suppliers; subcontractors and vendors
• Are we subject to ITAR if we only perform services for U.S. government agencies?
• Contracts with foreign military organizations
• How to develop an effective ITAR compliance program
• Requirements under DFARS §225.79 and 252.225-7048
• Recent data security requirements
• What to do if you discover a violation

Time has been allotted for a brief Q&A for the speakers to address questions from the audience.

Register for the webinar.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP has posted an on-demand webinar, “The Ubiquitous Problem of Inherency in Obviousness: Southwire Co. v. Cerro Wire, LLC,” featuring Fitch Even attorney Giles N. Turner.

Obviousness challenges tied to the doctrine of inherency can arise during various stages in the patent life cycle, including patent prosecution, post-issuance proceedings, and litigation, the firm says on its website. Despite how frequently these challenges occur, the law applicable in this area has been less than clear. While recent case law has helped to provide clarification, the Southwire case illustrates that overcoming inherency-based obviousness arguments does not always result in a win for the applicant or patentee.

The webinar explores these topics and more:

• The nature of obviousness contentions based on inherency
• Practice pointers in applying the doctrine of Southwire and other recent cases
• Hypothetical examples showing how to demonstrate patentability

A recording of the webinar will be available to view until Nov. 28, 2018.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The evolving digital landscape continues to challenge many sitting directors with the various transformation and security issues it presents, according to Boardroom Resources. Boardroom discussions can no longer ignore the rise of the digital consumer, which has begun to affect industries far beyond just retail or business-to-consumer. These challenges are accompanied by many opportunities for directors to improve board and company performance.

In a video, Alex Schmelkin, board member with Essendant and founder & CEO of Cake & Arrow, is given an interesting task: If you could design a digital training program for today’s board members, what would it look like? Host TK Kerstetter asks Schmelkin how he would both define ‘digital’ and communicate its current and future impact for today’s directors.

In the video discussion, Schmelkin outlines several approaches that boards can take to better understand the “end user” no matter the organization or industry.

Watch the video.

Courts in several states recently have addressed questions about post-production cost deductions in petroleum production, according to an on-demand webcast from Steptoe & Johnson.

In this webcast, Andrew S. Graham reviews the state of the play in the Appalachian Basin, as well as other oil and gas producing states, on the source of the deduction problem and where the states stand on this notoriously thorny issue.

Among the topics for discussion:

• What does the Leggett case mean for West Virginia producers in light of Tawney?
• Why did the Supreme Court of Ohio decide to not decide a case on post-production deductions?
• Has the marketable product rule reached a high-water mark in Colorado?

Watch the on-demand webinar.

AdvoLogix will present a complimentary webinar designed to help participants learn strategies that legal teams today can employ to streamline matter intake, triage, prioritization, and assignment.

The webinar “Maximizing Impact of In-House Counsel Resources with Cloud-Based Matter Management” will be Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, 1-2 p.m Eastern time.

In-house legal teams today are hindered by the inability to embed unique legal workflows into commonly provided workplace tools, AdvoLogix says on its website. Highly paid individuals are spending too much time in email, phone calls, unproductive organizational meetings and manual document manipulation with lack of complete understanding of the impact of the work item to the business.

The webinar will cover how strategies give legal departments a clear understanding that the most critical legal issues are being worked in a priority sequence by the people with the right skills and availability. Presenters also will discuss tools that can automate workflow, informational intake, task assignment, document creation and more and also provide the metrics needed to provide insight into value delivered and effort expended by in-house counsel.

Register for the webinar.

NAVEX Global will stage a unique, once-a-year virtual conference to help particpants learn about current best practices and new emerging compliance issues.

The free webinar will be on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017.

More than 4,000 legal, audit and compliance professionals are expected for the 2017 Ethics & Compliance Virtual Conference to hear speakers like:

• Shankar Vedantam, Host of the Hidden Brain Podcast and NPR’s Science Correspondent

• Kristy Grant-Hart, CEO, Spark Compliance Consulting

• Richard Bistrong, CEO, Front-Line Anti-Bribery LLC

This year’s conference will have 23 sessions throughout the day with three specialty tracks on Aligning Corporate Risk & Culture, Leading for the Future and Investing in Corporate Culture.

Participants are free to come and go as they please. Anyone unable to access the live webinar may register to obtain access to the sessions later.

Register for the webinar.

Optimus BT will present a free webinar providing a comprehensive overview of Legal Contract Collaboration by Optimus and Forrester for the Microsoft Cloud.

The webinar will be Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, beginning at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT.

Forrester, a leading analyst firm, along with Optimus, a leading Microsoft Cloud Contracts Platform, will be conducting this webinar to provide an overview of the key issues facing business and legal collaboration with a presentation along with scenario based demos of Contracts and Legal solutions for both SharePoint & Office 365.

The presentation will also highlight integrations with Outlook and Word to improve legal work productivity.

“We will review various aspects of the Contract Lifecycle including document and outlook based collaboration, contract metadata management, review and approval workflows, electronic signature integration, contracts search, repository and document generation processes, reporting and metrics, alerts setup and management, among others,” the company says on its website.

Register for the webinar.

Steptoe & Johnson’s Energy and Environmental, Products & Mass Tort Groups will host a webinar to discuss the implementation of the Coal Ash Rule, the current litigation landscape surrounding coal ash, and strategies for avoiding courtroom and regulatory challenges.

The complimentary one-hour event will be Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, at noon Eastern time.

The Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities Final Rule (the Coal Ash Rule) is the first federal rule to regulate coal ash waste disposal, the firm says on its website. The Coal Ash Rule has proven controversial since it was first announced in 2015 and has given rise to regulatory changes, mass tort actions, and citizen suits under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The US Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it is considering rolling back portions of the Coal Ash Rule. Growing controversies over the disposal of coal ash, the Coal Ash Rule, and the future of coal ash regulation are not likely to end soon.

Register for the webinar.

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP will present a free webinar, “Presenting Alice-Friendly Patent Claims: Is McRo Worth a Second Look?,” featuring Fitch Even partner Steven G. Parmelee.

The event will be Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017, at 9 am PDT / 10 am MDT / 11 am CDT / 12 noon EDT.

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

While the Federal Circuit has identified small precedential islands of relative safety, the court has yet to chart a veritable Northwest Passage through which one can safely navigate the risks and concerns presented by the Supreme Court’s Alice decision, the firm says on its website.

Or have they?

McRo, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America, Inc., et al. is sometimes considered for its rather tepid and, to date, somewhat inconsequential consideration of preemption issues. McRo’s analysis and holding regarding abstractness, however, is perhaps more valuable to those writing and prosecuting patent applications than has been generally acknowledged to date.

During this webinar, presenter Steve Parmelee will be explore these questions:
• Whether McRo presents a new two-step abstractness analysis that offers useful and practical opportunities
• If so, whether such an opportunity is “more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the [abstract idea] itself”

He will also share these insights, among others:
• Anecdotal McRo prosecution experience at the USPTO
• Claim and specification drafting tips

Following the live event, a recording of the webinar will be available to view for one year at www.fitcheven.com.

Register for the webinar.

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Determine, Inc. and Jason Busch of Spend Matters will co-host a webinar titled Contract Compliance — Why it Matters to Procurement, on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at noon Eastern time.

The webinar will be available on-demand for anyone who registers.

Presenters will discuss why ensuring contract compliance through effective contract management isn’t an afterthought; it’s at the functional heart of successful end-to-end procurement savings, efficiency and supplier performance.

Topics include:

• CLM – the nexus of compliance, stakeholders, suppliers and customers
• Why compliance is the new savings
• Integrating contracts and procurement seamlessly
• How process management simplifies collaboration

Register for webinar.

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ContractWorks will host a complimentary live webinar titled “Focus on Higher Value Works: How General Counsel Can Improve Their Contracting Process” on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Managing contracts manually can be extremely time-consuming for general counsel and their teams, taking focus away from higher value work, ContractWorks says on its website. During this webinar, participants will hear about ways legal counsel can spend more hours on legal matters and less on contract management.

Participants will learn:

• How to obtain better contract visibility and avoid missed or lost contracts.
• How to automate contract approval and signing.
• How to mitigate contract risk and compliance issues.

Anyone unable to watch the webinar at the time of presentation may register and receive the recording after the webinar.

Register for the webinar.

NAVEX Global will present a free webinar, “Using Metrics to Improve Your Third-Party Risk Management Program,” on how to set up a third-party risk management program for success.

The event will be Thursday, Oct. 26, at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EST.

Participants will learn how companies with advanced programs manage their third-party risk and due diligence processes and will get industry benchmarks to size up your program.

Expert presenters will discuss the steps that should be taken to improve a program and minimize risk — regardless of organization size or number of third parties managed.

Organization following the steps have:

• Reduced their risk of legal or regulatory action
• Appropriately defined “high risk” third parties
• Found the most powerful screening and monitoring methods
• Measured the effectiveness of their third-party due diligence programs

Register for the webinar.

Ecova has posted an on-demand webinar reviewing the top takeaways from third quarter of 2017.

The webinar also covers potential short- and long-term impacts of a tighter natural gas supply and demand balance heading into this upcoming winter.

Other energy and natural gas market trends covered include:

• Upcoming winter, gas and storage vs historical averages
• Associated risks with less gas supply heading into winter
• Working risk tolerance into procurement strategy

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Compliancy Group will present a webinar on HIPAA compliance. The event will be Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 2 p.m. EDT.

“Through the years of helping the Healthcare industry become HIPAA compliant and pass their HIPAA audits, we continually run into the same HIPAA compliance issues and questions,” the company says on its website. “In this webinar we will run through a HIPAA compliance checklist of what needs to be done for your organization to meet the Federal Requirements. All attendees will receive a FREE personal walk through of their organization and to answer all their questions, concerns and to focus you on what your organization needs.”

Questions discussed include:

• What do I need to do to become HIPAA compliant?
• I’ve done my Security Risk Assessment, now what?
• Is there a such thing as overkill when it comes to HIPAA?
• Can you automate HIPAA compliance completely?
• Is group or individual training sufficient?

Register for the webinar.

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Black Duck Software has posted online a complimentary webinar examining key open source software-related issues and deal points in M&A, licensing and other transactions.

Cybersecurity has become one of the areas where substantive diligence should be conducted not as an afterthought but as an integral part of the M&A process for any deal, particularly those that involve targets with any kind of online presence, Black Duck says on its website.

The continued growth in the use of open source software underscores the importance of thorough software due diligence.

Understanding these key legal and technical risks, as well as strategies for mitigating them, will help you speed and smooth negotiations, avoid protracted due diligence and get better deal terms.

Watch the webinar.