A new webinar from LawGeex will cover how to create an internal contract triage process in five steps, all the way from planning through to execution.

The complimentary 45-minute webinar will be Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017,  at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

The event is intended to provide a practical look at building on-the-ground solutions for contract triage.

The webinar will cover:

• What is contract triage, and how leading legal teams are implementing these solutions today.
• How to dramatically reduce the time and cost of contract review and approval.
• Practical steps to improve your existing triage process and streamline contract review.

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) has published a report titled “Culture as a Corporate Asset: Translate Values into Value,” the topic of this year’s NACD Blue Ribbon Commission Report.

Just released at the 2017 NACD Global Board Leaders’ Summit, the report provides directors with the following information:

• A definition and key characteristics of organizational culture
• Priorities for action for the entire board and committees
• 10 strategic recommendations for overseeing culture

Organizations with strong, positive cultures have been shown to outperform their peers in customer satisfaction, quality, productivity, and profitability, the NACD says on its website. The absence of a healthy culture can create or increase many types of risks.

Yet, in a recent NACD survey, less than half of directors reported that their boards assess alignment between their company’s purpose, values, and strategy. And only 50 percent say they understand the “buzz at the bottom” — how culture actually translates into norms and behavior among rank-and-file employees.

Download the complimentary report.

 

 

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.

 

 

A jury has awarded the widow and heirs of Sabre airline reservation system pioneer Max D. Hopper more than $6 billion in damages after finding JPMorgan Chase in breach of its fiduciary duty in administering the multimillion-dollar Hopper estate.

“JPMorgan Chase is one of the world’s largest and most respected banks, and its clients expect honesty and fairness in the handling of trusts and estates,” said James S. Bell of James S. Bell, PC, trial lawyer for Hopper’s adult children, Dr. Stephen Hopper, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, psychiatrist, and Laura Wassmer, mayor of Prairie Village, Kansas.

“In this case, the JPMorgan Chase name doesn’t mean the institution put its clients’ interests above its own. When challenged, the bank used the family’s own money to fight them in court over the handling of their father’s estate,” said Bell.

Hopper, who helped create the Sabre reservations system, died unexpectedly in 2010 without a valid will. At the time of his death, his estate was estimated at more than $19 million.

Read details about the case.

 

 

 

Yerra Solutions has introduced Clearly 2.0, a legal spend management system that works by combining technology and human intelligence to simplify invoice handling and derive greater savings from the eBilling and spend management process.

The solution provides 100 percent global invoice capture, configures workflows, offers advanced mobile reports and flexible solutions.

“Yerra Clearly combines human intelligence & technology,” the company says on its website. “Our spend management tool is supported by a team of legal and IP spend management experts, as well as specialized analysts trained in invoice review and spend reporting. We understand that our clients have differing priorities and offer a flexible solution that enables you to choose and pay for only what you need to get the best results.”

Get more information.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Onit will unveil its Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution at the 2017 ACC Annual Meeting in Washington, DC,, Oct. 16-18.

The company is offering 30-minute demonstrations to show how the new solution can manage the entire lifecycle of contracts — from origination to execution, storage, administration and renewal.

Some unique features include:

• A clause library with various clause-level controls to help drive workflow with the legal department
• Version control and negotiations management to allow multiple parties to manage versions during the redlining process
• Contract authoring functionality that gives users the ability to build custom contracts with clauses from a clause library

Simply fill out the form below and let us know when you can join us in our demo room on the exhibit floor.

We are also scheduling demos of our other offerings (ie. legal e-billing, matter management, legal holds, legal service requests, NDA management, etc).

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Download our whitepaper “Simple Contract Management” (direct PDF download) to learn more.

 

 

Nine lawyers at Ware, Jackson, Lee, O’Neill, Smith & Barrow LLP have been recognized by Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers in 2017, the firm announced.

The lists are compiled by using a multi-phase selection process based on peer recognition and professional achievement.

At Ware Jackson, this year’s Super Lawyer honorees include Don Jackson and Paul Smith for business litigation, Tim Lee and Eileen O’Neill for appellate law, and Dennis Barrow for construction litigation. Partners Tim Lankau, Wes Jackson, and Tyler Henkel, as well as associate Michelle Meriam were recognized as Rising Stars.

Read details of the recognition.

 

 

Texas trial attorney Clyde M. Siebman has earned selection as the Dallas/Fort Worth Lawyer of the Year for patent trials in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. His selection is based on nominations from attorneys throughout the D/FW area, including the Eastern District cities of Plano and Sherman.

Siebman is the founder of Siebman, Burg, Phillips & Smith, LLP, which maintains offices in Plano, Sherman and the other Eastern District cities of Marshall and Tyler. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and has appeared as counsel in more than 400 federal court cases during his career.

In addition to his patent litigation expertise, Siebman also is recognized in Best Lawyers for his extensive work in commercial litigation, copyright law, and trademark law. He was named D/FW’s top patent litigator after earning the highest overall ranking from other local trial attorneys who handle patent cases.

Read about the award.

 

 

Conga has published The Ideal Buyer ‘s Guide to CLM, to help users learn more about the steps to take to identify the ideal contract management platform for an organization.

“You’ve already heard about the tremendous ROI and impressive time to value that a contract management platform can offer your organization: a good CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) solution can provide overall ROI of 150-200% in one year,” Conga says on its website.

The free e-book includes a sample template listing key functionality and features every full CLM should have. It also features sample questions you should ask vendors during their software demonstrations.

And it takes a look at features such as:

• Customization and flexibility
• Document management capabilities
• Improvements in visibility
• Integration capacity
• eSignature capabilities

Download the e-book.

 

 

Exterro has released a new guide titled “Rule 26(f) Meet & Confer Checklist: How to Be Prepared.” The guide can be downloaded from Exterro’s website.

Preparation is key for any meet and confer conference to be successful, the company says on its website. This checklist can help a practitioner ensure you’re adequate preparation to negotiate and identify reasonable e-discovery terms within any meet and confer.

The guide includes:

• 39 Questions you must ask your legal team and your opponent before and during meet & confer
• A list of questions that will help you negotiate e-discovery parameters that are proportionate and reasonable
• Reassurance that all the necessary e-discovery questions are asked every time for every matter

Download the guide.

 

 

Zapproved has published The 3 Archetypes of Corporate E-Discovery to shed light on the widening gap between corporate legal teams that have conquered their e-discovery challenges and those that are still struggling to do so — or simply haven’t prioritized it.

The report summarizes the common attitudes held by e-discovery executives — and how those beliefs are influencing behaviors, processes and priorities.

Amid this environment are the inescapable pressures nearly every legal professional faces:

• Responsibly lower costs while managing risk.
• Provide better visibility and accuracy into litigation timelines and costs.
• Expand portfolio to manage compliance and regulatory response.
• Keep up with the rapidly evolving digital data and ephemeral communications landscape.

By identifying Achievers, Strugglers and Idlers as the three predominant archetypes amongst corporate e-discovery professionals, the report shows how each attitude impacts success. Achievers, which represent 30% of the e-discovery market, believe automation is good for business and report high confidence in defensibility. That leaves 70% of e-discovery professionals struggling or disengaged.

Download the report.

 

 

The Healthcare Compliance Institute is scheduled for Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Washington, DC.

The event will give participants the opportunity to go beyond legal analysis, learn how to implement systems that ensure the law is followed, and gain practical advice from experts in a one-of-a-kind forum where lawyers and compliance officers work together, according to the Health Care Compliance Association.

Some of the topics to be covered include:

• Are We Ineffective at Assessing Compliance Program Effectiveness or Are Industry and Government Using Different Standards?
• Handling a Criminal Healthcare Fraud Case
• Tips and Tools for Mitigating CMS Enforcement Actions
• Using Data and Statistics to Defend Against Health Care Enforcement
• Your Company Has Been Served with a Civil Investigative Demand: Now What?
• Managed Care Fraud Enforcement & Compliance

Register or get more information.

 

 

The National Association of Corporate Directors has published an article that outlines five key steps to help companies prevent negative headline events and respond when a crisis can’t be avoided. The article can be downloaded from the NACD website.

With social media as an accelerant, a smoldering corporate crisis or failure can almost instantly flare into the firestorm of a viral headline event. In this recent interview in NACD Directorship magazine, Robert E. Bostrom outlines the five key steps companies can follow. He strongly recommends that companies take the following measures:

• Establish an enterprise-wide risk committee.
• Proactively evaluate and prioritize a broad portfolio of risks.
• Empower the GC as the representative on risk to the board.
• Use risk management as a business tool for evaluating strategies, plans, and investments.
• Strategize and plan for managing negative events.

Bostrom provides some strong insights into the role of the GC in both preventing and managing crises. He also offers his thoughts on how boards and management must align in order to prevent (or survive) headline events.

Download the article.

 

 

Veteran trial lawyer David Elrod has joined the business and entertainment law firm Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP, as a partner in the Dallas office, marking a significant expansion of the firm’s existing litigation practice, the firm announces.

Also joining Shackelford are partner Worthy Walker, of counsel Barbara Wohlrabe and associate Hayley Ellison. The attorneys all have substantial experience in complex commercial and energy disputes in Texas and around the country.

“It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to bring upper-tier litigators such as David and his team into your firm. Their addition strengthens our litigation and trial capabilities regionally and throughout the country, while also adding a robust energy litigation section.”

Read the firm’s announcement.

 

 

eSignLive by Vasco has published a white paper discussing the importance of making sure electronic signature providers meet the highest security standards. The paper can be downloaded from eSignLive’s website.

Security is at the core of a trusted digital experience between a company, its employees and customers, says eSignLive.

That means more than simply passing an audit. eSignLive recommends taking a broader view of e-signature security that also addresses:

• Choosing the appropriate level of authentication
• Protecting signatures and documents from tampering
• Making it easy to verify e-signed records
• Ensuring vendor-independent records
• Verifying the vendor has a consistent track record of protecting customer data
• Creating end-to-end trust through white-labeling and integration with your existing IAM framework

Download the white paper.

 

 

LawGeex, developer of an AI contract review platform for businesses, has launched product enhancements that provide more control, speed and consistency than ever before.

LawGeex combines machine learning algorithms and text analytics to quickly review and approve everyday contracts, helping businesses answer the question “Can I sign this?”

The new features and significant design upgrade empower customers to have deeper and wider control of their AI-powered reviews, contract editing and approval process, the company said in a release.

One of the main features of the latest release is more granular control when creating legal policies in the LawGeex Policy Center. The introduction of specific variations of legal concepts allows businesses more granular control in clause concepts they want to see — and do not want to see — in contracts before signing them. Based on these pre-set policies, the LawGeex’s AI can automatically accept, red flag or reject clauses in incoming contracts., and a revamp of LawGeex’s Action Center.

Another feature of the new release is a revamp of LawGeex’s action center — where the contract can be edited after the AI’s first line of defense. When reviewing a contract within LawGeex, customers can now clearly see which of their policies were applied to each clause and can red-line the contract within the platform, instantly inserting their company’s standard clause language with one click (LawGeex also provides default language). Users also have full visibility on their company’s clause definitions, fallback positions, tips, and more, during the editing process, bringing an unparalleled transparency and cohesiveness between a company’s policies and the actual contract review. The enhancements also include improved layout for LawGeex AI-reviewed contracts. Clauses are grouped simply by their status as “Missing” or “Present”, and reviewers are simply able to manually override the acceptance or rejection of clauses.

Read more about the release.