The National Association of Corporate Directors Advisory Council on Risk Oversight met in February 2017 to discuss the board’s role in the development and oversight of risk appetite. NACD offers a complimentary copy of the report.

The discussion – cohosted by NACD, PwC, and Sidley Austin LLP – highlighted a number of takeaways for directors:

• Align the risk appetite statement with company strategy.
• Use the risk appetite statement to inform critical processes and decisions.
• Continually reevaluate the risk appetite statement.

The NACD Advisory Council on Risk Oversight: Board-Management Dialogue on Risk Appetite resource can help boards to take the following steps:

• Determine which metrics to use in the risk appetite statement.
• Establish performance targets in incentive plans that promote high performance and limit unhealthy risk-taking.
• Shape company culture by defining tolerance levels for risk.
• Improve communication across the company and boost reporting to the board.

Download complimentary copy of the report.

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Exterro is conducting its 2nd Annual Law Firm Benchmarking Survey on law firms’ legal processes, specifically relating to project management practices and e-discovery services.

Participants in the survey will get full and early access to all of the survey results. Non-participants will only be able to see the published and edited version of the report.

Answers will be completely anonymous and will be analyzed in combination with other participants’ responses. This invitation will expire within seven business days.

Exterro will make a $20 donation to one charity of your choice out of American Red Cross, Stand Up to Cancer, Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Participate in the survey.

Texas law firm Munck Wilson Mandala has added seven intellectual property lawyers to the firm. The seven formerly were with Howison & Arnott.

“As one of the largest IP practices in the Southwest, Munck Wilson Mandala now has 27 registered patent attorneys, 60 plus attorneys firm-wide, and over 500 years of technical and IP law experience,” the firm says on its website.

The seven include:

• Gregory M. Howison, partner
• John J. Arnott, partner
• Brian D. Walker, partner
• Andrew C. Graham, senior counsel
• Edward I. Jorgenson, senior counsel
• Steven R. Greenfield, senior counsel
• Keith D. Harden, associate

Read more about the lawyers.

AltaClaro will present a complimentary webinar focusing on managing legal and cultural risks in cross-border investigations. The event will be Wednesday, July 26, 2017, beginning at noon Eastern time.

Expert panelists Jon Abernethy (Partner, Cohen & Gresser LLP) and Andrew Curtin (Global Head of Investigations, AIG) will join AltaClaro Founder & CEO and former Deputy General Counsel of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Abdi Shayesteh, will be presenters.

In this interactive, live webcast, Abdi will moderate Abernethy’s and Curtin’s discussion of the following topics:

(1) Handling multi-jurisdictional approaches to privileged communications in the aftermath of the recent U.K. decisions in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Ltd. and The RBS Rights Issue Litigation

(2) Identifying potential cultural challenges and local laws that may impede an effective investigation and prevent a one-size-fits-all approach to designing internal processes and procedures within multinational organizations

(3) Implementing best practices when preparing for and coordinating effective internal investigations across international lines

Register for the webinar.

Consilio is conducting an online survey is designed to provide law department leaders insight into comprehensive benchmarking data, legal operations and discovery best practices, and trend reporting.

Survey results provide a foundational resource for assessing law department performance, and justifying spend and staffing levels or initiative investments through peer comparison.

“Corporate law department performance is widely discussed yet infrequently measured with accuracy across industries. Legal spending, department organization, staff workload, outside counsel and vendor management, leadership priorities, client service delivery and technology are several of the areas of performance that we aim to measure, benchmark and use to identify best practices in our 2017 Law Department Benchmarking Survey,” Consilio says on its website.

Participants who complete the survey by July 15, 2017, will receive a $25 coffee gift card.

Participants will receive the survey results report including benchmarking data at the industry and revenue segment level, Consilio reports.

Complete the survey.

Paper Software will demonstrate its Contract Tools product, a powerful Word add-in for working with contracts, in a complimentary live webinar. The event will be Monday, July 24, at 12 p.m. EDT.

Contract Tools, a TechnoLawyer Top 5 product of 2016, is designed to make creating and reviewing contracts easier.

The live demonstration will provide a tour of Contract Tools’ new features, including real-time updating.

Paper Software also offers a free seven-day trial of Contract Tools.

Register for the live demonstration.

Zapproved’s  2017 Summer volume offers insights from the latest e-discovery cases — and how courts are applying the FRCP to reach big decisions. The new volume is available for downloading at no charge.

The company says the publication includes summaries detailing e-discovery no-nos — from data compliance missteps to misconduct to total e-discovery breakdown. It also discusses trends in how courts are applying the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to validate best practices.

The collection covers cases with many high-profile brands, such as Wal-Mart Stores, UPS, Goodyear Tire, Angie’s List and the return of Targate. Other cases put lesser known names in the spotlight, like Fischer v. Forrest, Vir2us, Inc. v. Invincea, Inc. and OOO Brunswick Rail Mgmt. v. Sultanov.

This free volume includes abstracts of e-discovery case law from the last 10 years, plus 11 full summaries of recent 2017 cases. It reveals how the courts are bringing issues of proportionality, cooperation and preservation to the forefront:

– Gordon v. T.G.R. Logistics, Inc.
– United States v. HV1 Cat Canyon, Inc.
– Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Haeger
– Williams v. Angie’s List, Inc.
– Bird v. Wells Fargo Bank
– Fischer v. Forrest
– HCC Ins. Holdings, Inc. v. Flowers
– Vir2us, Inc. v. Invincea, Inc.
– Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Cuker Interactive, LLC
– Solo v. United Parcel Serv. Co.
– OOO Brunswick Rail Mgmt. v. Sultanov

Download the 2017 volume.

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Zapproved has published a guide that discusses five ways to save costs and build efficiencies by bringing e-discovery processing and review in-house. The guide can be downloaded at no charge.

On its website, the company says keeping in-house e-discovery costs in check is a constant balancing act. Complex litigation and regulatory matters — along with pressure to streamline operational spending — create an often expensive e-discovery reality.

According to a study from FTI Consulting, the majority of Fortune 1000 corporations now spend $5-10 million annually on e-discovery with 70% of the costs tied directly to document review.

The guide shows how to take charge of e-discovery by leveraging easy-to-use and secure in-house tools that minimize business risk — and maximize budgets.

• Unlock detailed tips in this guide from Zapproved to get started. It outlines six ways to slash spending and boost efficiencies. Find out how to:
• Use modern, cloud-based e-discovery software tools to bring routine e-discovery processes in-house.
• Modernize legacy systems to limit dependence on IT.
• Empower legal teams to slash expenses, improve data security and speed time to resolution.

The guide also offers step-by-step recommendations and best practices to help:

• Get insights faster by plugging in data processing tools
• Save money by reviewing routine, high-velocity matters in-house
• Improve response to internal investigations and FOIA information requests

Download the guide.

The National Association of Corporate Directors’ new article, “Seeing Opportunity in Reputation Risk,” explores how effective board oversight of corporate responsibility (CR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies, practices, risk management, and crisis preparedness can not only help manage strategic risk, but also result in enhanced reputation.

The article can be downloaded from the NACD site at no charge.

The following is an excerpt from this article by Jeff Hoffman and Andrea Bonime-Blanc, which appears in the March/April issue of NACD Directorship magazine:

“ESG and CR are frequently not on boards’ radar. When they are, there is rarely sufficient time allocated to their discussion. There are reputation risks and value creation opportunities that can be found beyond what is normally discussed at board meetings. Unfortunately, many ESG and CR risks are unknown to the board until an incident happens and it goes public—and possibly viral. The risks around ESG and CR are generally easy to identify, mitigate, and plan around. While being prepared for the worst-case scenario may take time and effort, it will be far less painful than the alternative: negative headlines and conversations on social media.”

Download the article.

Optimus BT will present a free webinar featuring a comprehensive demonstration of eContracts, an Enterprise Legal Contract Management product for SharePoint, featured in Gartner Market Guide 2017 for legal teams.

Automating Contract Management with SharePoint will be Wednesday, June 21, 2017, at 2 p.m. EDT.

The presentation also will cover why it is important to go beyond your legal contract repositories and invest in a Legal Contract Lifecycle Management solution.

Key topics covered will include:

• Building blocks for automating contract management and legal function within your organization.
• Possibilities presented by Microsoft Azure and SharePoint for Contracts management in the Cloud for processing large volume of documents, Advanced Search & Workflow.
• Demonstrate how Optimus BT’s eContracts can help kick start this journey and address the major pain points due to lack of automation of contract lifecycle.
• Capabilities to look for while automating contract management processes.
• An example of how an IT and legal teams have benefited from automating their contract lifecycle.

Register for the webinar.

Managing a defensible legal hold process is a demanding job, reports Zapproved. A lawyer must know his or her duty to preserve evidence — and issue legal holds quickly, clearly and securely as soon as litigation is reasonably anticipated.

Success requires clear strategy and the right technology to make it possible. For helpful insights,Zapproved has published an updated legal hold how-to guide. It walks through the six steps to a smooth and defensible process.

Implementing these best practices can ensure the legal hold process meets its duty:
– Use legal hold templates to reduce risk
– Uncover critical insights through custodian interviews
– Improve custodian response rates to litigation holds
– Handle terminated employees on legal hold
– Release a litigation hold
– Create a defensible preservation audit trail

Download the free guide.

Zapproved has published a free guide called “Get In-House Processing and Review Howtos” that can be downloaded from the company’s website.

The guide’s subtitle is “5 Ways to Slash Spending with Cloud E-Discovery,”

“Keeping in-house e-discovery costs in check is a constant balancing act,” the company says on its website. “Complex litigation and regulatory matters — along with pressure to streamline operational spending — create an often expensive e-discovery reality.”

The guide discusses:

• Use modern, cloud-based e-discovery software tools to bring routine e-discovery processes in-house.
• Modernize legacy systems to limit dependence on IT.
• Empower legal teams to slash expenses, improve data security and speed time to resolution.

• Get insights faster by plugging in data processing tools
• Save money by reviewing routine, high-velocity matters in-house
• Improve response to internal investigations and FOIA information requests

Download the guide.

eSignLive by Vasco is offering a complimentary on-demand webinar featuring Locke Lord LLP partner Pat Hatfield discussing how e-signatures can reduce risk and strengthen enforceability of signed records.

Organizations undergoing digital transformation often have legal questions related to moving paper-based business processes online without introducing new risks, eSignLive says on its website. “Beyond the minimum requirements for electronic and digital signatures set forth in the laws, you will want to ensure you address the risk of fraud, repudiation and compliance as well. In the event of a regulatory audit or legal dispute, avoiding fines and ensuring admissibility is dependent on your ability to produce convincing, reliable evidence.”

This webinar covers:

• An overview of e-sign legislation
• Insights gained from relevant case law
• The challenges of defending electronic transactions
• A live demonstration of “best practice” & e-signature audit trails & process evidence

Watch the on-demand webinar.

LawGeex, a provider of an AI contract review platform for businesses, has launched The In-House Counsel’s LegalTech Buyer’s Guide – a free, downloadable guide that showcases more than 100 must-know technology solutions which solve the daily challenges faced by in-house lawyers.

The book includes practical advice based on dozens of interviews, real life experiences and personal recommendations from in-house lawyers and legal experts who have used technology to cut costs and reduce legal inefficiency. Lawyers came from companies including Pearson, AIG, TabTale, Travelocity, Vodafone, NetApp, Del Monte, Axalta Coating Systems, Tongal and Novartis.

The book includes:

• 60+ page practical and jargon-free reference guide
• 100+ top technology solutions for legal departments
• Personal recommendations and stories from dozens of in-house lawyers and legal experts
• Explanations of an in-house legaltech buying journey, including barriers to adoption, establishing and monitoring KPIs, and more

Download the guide.

Big Law Business and Catalyst will present a complimentary event in San Francisco, Successful Legal Department Management: Innovation to Control Litigation Costs and Ensure Compliance to discover how today’s top law firms are pairing innovation with technology to move litigation control in-house and on-budget.

The event will be Wednesday, June 28, 2017, 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Bloomberg LP office at 3 Pier #101 in San Francisco 94111.

Leading in-house and outside counsel will discuss where they believe legal departments face the most pressure and how to successfully transform the management of litigation.

In addition, this event will explore:

• The necessity of developing new and innovative approaches for managing departments to keep litigation costs low
• How to prepare teams, departments and businesses to identify the benefits of technology
• How to effectively prepare for litigation, from initial investigations to trial

Register for the event.

Bloomberg BNA and World Services Group are partnering to deliver business intelligence, drawn from market-leading news and data analysis, tailored for the advisers of international business.

The forum will be at Bloomberg LP’s office at 120 Park Ave., New York 10017, on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. A pre-forum briefing will be 1-3 p.m., and the forum will be 3-5 p.m.

The Cross-Border Deals Forum will explore strategies for handling business and regulatory challenges impacting the industry, including:

• Tax reform, trade agreements, and policy shifts;

• Cross-border risk assessment;

• Expanding privacy and data security requirements; and

• Market and industry opportunities to watch.

Connecting deal-makers with a global group of peers and actionable insights, the Cross-Border Deals Forum covers the market shifts, opportunities and long-term trends executives are watching, and the political and regulatory changes affecting cross-border success.

Request an invitation.

Knowledge Nomads’ Summer Legal Conference in Berlin July 23-29, 2017, will feature sessions on law in the age of hyperconnectivity, legal issues in the sharing economy, and the legal fallout from Volkswagen’s emissions scandal.

The event will be at Berlin’s Radisson Blu Hotel.

The CLE-qualified sessions will feature a diverse group of speakers, including a broad range of nationalities, backgrounds and ages.

Interspersed with the the presentations will be an arts and culture day with a choice of seven tailor-made tours, a trip to the home of Volkswagen, and a closing dinner on top of the German Federal Parliament Bundestag building.

Other side events will include guided tours, dinners, receptions, concerts, a gallery tour and more.

Register or get more information.

In its new Study of Effective Legal Spend Management, Exterro reveals how more than 50 in-house legal decision makers are leveraging new strategies for reducing legal spend at their organizations.

More than 20 legal spend management techniques are analyzed and compared against one another, giving readers the needed insight for effectively minimizing legal costs within their own legal departments, the company says on its website.

The study provides:

• Insight on how leading legal departments are managing spend and controlling costs
• Survey results on frequently asked legal spend questions
• New strategies for controlling your legal spend at your organization

Download the complimentary report.

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