Learn how Judges think you should prepare

78% of US Federal Judges think that the enactment of new data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA) will increase discovery costs. Learn more about this and other insights from the bench by downloading the recently published, 6th Annual Federal Judges Survey.

Download this Federal Judges Survey and learn why:

• New data privacy laws will make litigation more expensive
• Judges want to see greater participation in discovery activities from in-house legal teams
• Early Case Assessment software is the preferred technology judges want to see parties use more of

Each year, as we prepare for this annual publication, we discuss how the complex social, political and environmental landscape has evolved – and its impact on business. In 2020, we’re entering an election year in the US, responding to a firehose of regulatory activity across the globe, and continuing to see the effects of a speak-out culture with demands for transparency and action. Things are as complex as ever before.

However, something just feels different this year. It’s not the level of complexity, but a shift in our perspective and approach to that complexity that is changing. And our network of experts and practicing R&C professionals contributing to the 2020 list agree.

We are now moving past deconstructing each and every risk and moving toward thinking holistically about integrating our strategies to simplify risk management. Amongst others, this is a common theme you will see unfold in this year’s trends.

Download to learn more about these trends.

Munck Wilson attorneys have distinguished themselves in numerous areas of practice, earning recognition in leading publications such as Chambers USA, the National Law Journal, Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers and Texas Rising Stars, D Magazine in Dallas and the Dallas Business Journal. We are tremendously proud of these past accomplishments and even more excited about our future.

The Dallas 500 – D CEO Magazine
Texas Lawyer Hall of Fame Verdicts
2019 IP Stars – Managing Intellectual Property

The list continues!

Alicia Sienne Voltmer, of counsel in the Dallas office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, served as lead counsel for Paul Quinn College, a nationally recognized Historically Black College, in the Rebecca Musser v. Paul Quinn College (PQC) case, wherein Musser, a former PQC employee, alleged retaliatory discharge under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). In a matter with facts that spanned an eight-year period, Voltmer secured summary judgment for PQC and Musser appealed.

In an opinion issued this week and designated for publication, the Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for PQC and found that Musser could not establish that PQC’s legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for her discharge, including poor performance and a reorganization, were pretextual. According to the Court, no reasonable juror could conclude Musser’s firing was due to retaliation for engaging in protected activity.

Learn how this eight-year matter was ultimately resolved.

60%-80% of B2B deals are governed by contracts, but 85% of companies are still using manual processes to manage those contracts. Your organization might be one of them. If it is, you know about how slow the contract cycle can be and the headaches that come with contract negotiations.

You may have experienced in the past the frustration of hunting for the latest version of the contract, or worse, sending redlines that you added to an out-of-date version. If you’re in sales, you’ve spent time tapping your foot waiting on feedback and approval from the legal team, fingers crossed that you can close this deal before end of quarter.

Download this eBook

Breaking News: Reichman Jorgensen Scores $236 Million patent verdict for Densify against VMware.

“When you assemble a diverse group of the most talented lawyers in the country you can achieve great things.” – Courtland Reichman, Managing Partner

Read AMLaw’s coverage of the verdict.

The 2020 Year of Compliance is a unique monthly toolkit that focuses on how real companies make decisions around their risk and compliance programs in today’s complex environment.

We are speaking directly to the industry professionals responsible for key elements in their compliance program to better understand their concerns and hear the changes they’ve implemented to deliver a more impactful program.

Each month, we will feature a new company and challenge, as well as provide additional resources to help drive your own success.

Subscribe here.

So, you’ve decided you need a legal ops resource or department, what’s next?

A relatively new addition to the enterprise organizational chart, legal ops departments are growing in number and taking on more operational responsibility. It has become the driver of innovation and efficiency, taking the lead in reducing spend and being the operational right hand of the General Counsel.

Introducing the legal ops function is a major disruptor in the legal department and calls for changes in process, technology, and culture. But in order to drive value from the legal department, this change is a necessary one.

This guide will walk key stakeholders through the necessary steps for building a legal ops department:

• Defining the function of the department using CLOC’s core competency model
• Determining key performance indicators to measure your efforts
• Deciding on the first hire and key functions of the role
• Managing change effectively throughout the organization.

Download the ebook.

Robert Tobey’s presidency is just one in a long list of leadership roles held by this firm’s attorneys.

• Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
• American Board of Trial Advocates
• Texas Bar College
• State Bar of Texas
• DBA Board of Directors
• DBA Bench Bar Committee
• State Bar of Texas Executive Committee
• State Bar of Texas Council of Chairs

See why lawyers who are leaders make better advocates for clients.

Curious how Conga Contracts could impact your business?

The complimentary event will be January 28th at 9 a.m. PST / 12 p.m. EST

Join Conga to hear from their guests from Forrester to learn about current contract lifecycle management (CLM) priorities and findings from “The Total Economic Impact of Conga Contracts” a study commissioned by Conga, to find out how.

Sean Owens, Principal TEI Consultant with Forrester Consulting, and Andrew Bartels, VP and Principal Analyst with Forrester Research will summarize current contract lifecycle management priorities and best practices, unpack the study findings, and discuss the potential ROI of Conga’s CLM Suite.

Register for the webinar.

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics will host Academies in 18 locations worldwide to help Deepen Your Compliance Expertise in 2020.

Learn to effectively manage a compliance and ethics program and mitigate risk at your organization at one of SCCE’s Basic Compliance & Ethics Academies. They are ideal for professionals who want to raise their knowledge level and help improve the effectiveness of their organization’s program.

While at the Academy, you can also take an optional Compliance Certification Board (CCB)®  exam. They offer the Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP)® exam at US Academies and the Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional — International (CCEP-I)® exam outside of the US. Learn more about certification and the exam at SCCE to see if you meet the criteria and have the practical work experience it takes to become certified.

Register for the event or get details.

Houston civil trial law boutique Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C., or AZA, has added five attorneys.

The new hires include:

• Samantha Brantley focused on corporate litigation
• H. Jared Doster focused on intellectual property law
• Louis Liao is an intellectual property attorney focused on patent litigation
• Luke Ott focused on commercial litigation
• Crystal V. Venning focused on complex commercial litigation including disputes arising from business contracts, government contracts and large construction projects

AZA is a trial firm working with high-stakes litigation for multinational companies, also representing individuals and mid-sized businesses with serious legal issues. The firm also manages company investigations, helping company boards, in-house counsel, and audit committees identify problems and ensure compliance before litigation ensues.

Read more about the new hires.

Exterro has published a comprehensive guide to the California Consumer Privacy Act and made it available for downloading from the company’s website.

“Recent reports suggest that somewhere between 45% and 86% of companies will are not ready for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA),” the company says. “Organizations preparing for the CCPA must ready themselves for Data Subject Access Requests from consumers, have an organized data management system that allows them to find and remediate that data within 45 days.”

The Exterro guide covers:

• Why the changing regulatory landscape means that getting your data house in order is of the utmost importance
• Tips from subject matter experts for complying with the law based on the regulations that were published
• Answers to major questions that GCs and corporate legal departments that could mean the difference between confident compliance and fines

Download the free guide.

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics will present its Internal Investigations Workshop, January 22-24, 2020, in San Francisco.

The workshop provides two days of focused training on conducting compliance-related internal investigations. The domestic workshops also offer an optional third day post conference. Experienced compliance professionals who have in-depth experience in the challenges and opportunities in conducting internal investigations will lead the training.

Topics include:

• Understanding and assessing the initial allegation of wrongdoing
• Creating an investigation plan
• Gathering evidence
• Conducting interviews, including the subject of the investigation
• Conclusions and root-cause analysis
• Writing your report
• Avoiding pitfalls and legal risks

Register for the event or get details.

A NAVEX Global webinar will address the top 10 risk and compliance trends for 2020.

The complimentary event will be Wednesday, Jan. 15. 2020, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.

In 2020, several critical issues are sure to impact the business landscape, including: election year turmoil, updates to regulatory requirements, digital environment impact, new agency guidance, data privacy, workplace behavioral shifts, and more, NAVEX says in its invitation.

Participants in the webinar will hear how experts are predicting these upcoming trends will provoke, shape and inspire organizational shifts and program improvements.

Register for the webinar.

As the launch date approaches for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) on Jan. 1, 2020, Exterro has published a white paper designed to help legal departments keep their organizations’ privacy processes defensible, and minimize the risk of violating new privacy laws.

The white paper can be downloaded from Exterro’s website at no charge.

The launch of the CCPA means that consumers have more information and control over a business’s data practices, which creates challenges for businesses, mostly: Do they have their arms around their data? Do they understand where it lives within in their organization, and where it’s shared?

The paper breaks down the key questions that arise in keeping an organization’s privacy processes defensible, such as:

• The final “checklist” questions that you should be asking about your organization’s data preparedness
• Tips for breaking down the elements of the CCPA into actionable processes
• Tips for maintaining a trim data inventory

Download the white paper.

Members of the National Association of Corporate Directors members can access an exclusive tour, custom designed for directors, of the latest technology trends at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 2020.

“This experience will expand your point of view on cutting-edge technologies and how they relate to strategy discussions in the boardroom.” writes the NACD’s Matt Barone. “You’ll be able to see firsthand the innovations and breakthrough ideas that will disrupt your current organizations, and improve your understanding of their implications for your companies’ future business models.”

This year’s tour will offer in-depth insights designed to help directors ensure that their companies are fueled by, and not blindsided by, future tech. For example, this year’s participants will gain insights into the Smart City Sector, which includes IoT, 5G connectivity, transportation and smart automotive, data analytics, and more, according to Barone.

For information about joining NACD to gain access to this unique opportunity and much more, including exclusive content, top-tier educational programming, and unparalleled networking opportunities, email Barone or call 571-367-3708.

ContractWorks has published “Legal Department Operations: A Guide for General Counsel.”

The publication is available for downloading from ContractWorks at no charge.

Legal departments are taking a multi-pronged approach to become more efficient and contribute to overall organizational profitability: they are onboarding specific people as well as technology solutions, the company says on its website.

This paper explores how certain solutions help streamline legal ops to solve common problems and the role of general counsel in the expanding legal department.

Download the guide.

The American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution have published the results of of survey of more than 400 arbitrators who issued awards for large, complex commercial cases about the various elements of those cases, from motion practice and discovery to cooperation among participants.

A report on the survey is available for downloading at no charge.

The survey revealed exactly how attorneys and their clients negatively affect the efficiency and cost effectiveness of their cases—and the best practices they can adopt to improve.

Download the report.

Exterro has published “26 Data Privacy Questions for Corporate Legal Departments,” a new guide designed to determine if the necessary people, processes and technology are in place to ensure compliance and avoid costly future litigation over data privacy issues.

The guide can be downloaded from Exterro’s website at no charge.

“With the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in effect and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) arriving in 2020 along with numerous other states following suit, businesses must meet new obligations around finding, reviewing and producing/deleting personal consumer data when requested,” the company says.

Download the guide.