A new NAVEX Global webinar will discuss how to find the right approach to third-party risk management by applying appropriate risk factors.

The complimentary webinar will be on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern). Anyone unable to attend the live presentation may register to receive a webinar recording on-demand.

Michael Volkov, an expert on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, will provide practical use cases and actionable steps, NAVEX says on its website.

Volkov, a former federal prosecutor, will discuss how to:

• Assess and define your third-party risk
• Build a best practice approach for your organization
• Handle potentially “high-risk” third parties
• Structure your program for maximum effectiveness

Register for the webinar.

Exterro has published its 3rd Annual In-House Legal Benchmarking Report for use in benchmarking legal processes against 110 legal departments.

The publication is available for downloading at no charge.

Exterro says its report provides information on:

• How in-house legal teams are leveraging project management principles
• What role technology is playing in achieving efficiency gains
• Which e-discovery practices are evolving and which are not

Download the Exterro report.

Zapproved has published its Winter 2019 Volume of Ediscovery Case Law Summaries, featuring — as the company says in a release — “some heart-pounding tales of egregious misconduct by corporate and individual litigants.”

The quarterly publication can be downloaded from Zapproved website at no charge.

This volume covers a wide range of topics, from spoliation and sanctions to proportionality, scope, and technology. It includes cases where deleted evidence isn’t, in fact, spoliation; disparate outcomes regarding the form of production; and a brief discourse about how clowns are scary, but ESI is not.

Download the publication.

The Association of Corporate Counsel is accepting registrations for Xchange 2019, The Mid-Year Meeting for Advancing Legal Executives.

General Counsel News readers who register by Jan. 30 will receive a $100 discount when using the code GCNEWS19.

The event is scheduled for April 28-30, 2019, at the Hotel Minneapolis in Minneapolis, MN.

ACC has arranged for four curricula addresses in the areas of contracts, leadership, legal operations, and litigation.

More information may be found here:

• Program agenda
• Rates and registration
• Hotel and travel

Register for the event.

A team of lawyers with Boyd Powers & Williamson alleging deceptive business practices against BBVA Compass Bank won a $98 million verdict for their client, a real estate developer who was working to build three luxury subdivisions in Tarrant County, Texas.

On its website, the firm explains the case:

“David Bagwell is a real estate developer who was working to build three luxury subdivisions in Tarrant County, Texas. Following the financial crisis of 2008, Mr. Bagwell entered into modification negotiations with his bank, BBVA Compass, to refinance the loans which were funding the new developments. In the course of the negotiations, Compass repeatedly told Mr. Bagwell that his loans would be renewed. However, after secretly negotiating with one of his competitors, those same loans were sold off at a discounted rate. A short time later, the competitor foreclosed and Mr. Bagwell was forced into bankruptcy.”

Read details about the case.

The National Association of Corporate Directors has published an article discussing current perspectives on what boards can expect in the new year.

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

“The business landscape is in constant flux, multifaceted, and difficult to track,” the NACD says on its website. “That’s why we’ve partnered with a brain trust of governance experts to produce the 2019 Governance Outlook: Projections on Emerging Board Matters.”

The report offers comprehensive guidance that will inform governance decisions and strategic planning in 2019. NACD governance partners provide an overview of key governance trends, accompanying outlook, implications of the shifting landscape, and questions for boards to consider, as well as in-depth coverage of the following topics:

• NACD discusses how directors can understand, anticipate, and overcome detrimental disruptive risk and keep pace with opportunities that create long-term value.
• Baker Tilly provides a regulatory update on international trade and tariffs, tax reform, cybersecurity, and other key risks boards need to be prepared for.
• Ceres emphasizes the importance of recognizing climate change as a critical risk for companies.
• Deloitte provides recommendations on how directors can leverage insights when establishing practices for M&A proposal review, and stresses the importance of keeping directors up-to-date on regulatory changes.
• Spencer Stuart identifies trends in board composition and how retirement, diversity, and age are driving factors in the space.

Download the article.

NAVEX Global will present a complimentary webinar titled “Top 10 Compliance Trends for 2019” on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern).

The event will cover topics like GDPR, regulatory vs. public pressure, expanding third party risks, and more.

Recommendations will include:

• Aligning whistleblower stats to increased revenue
• Understanding the full landscape of third-party risk
• The current and future state of GDPR
• Managing culture and compliance around artificial intelligence
• Incentivizing employees for ethical behavior
• And more…

Register for the webinar.

Munck Wilson Mandala, with three offices in Texas, and The Hecker Law Group of California have joined forces to create a larger law firm with a Los Angeles office, the firm announced.

Gary Hecker and his team add more than 36 years of West Coast legal experioence to the newly opened MWM LA office.

The combined firm will provide legal services in technology, intellectual property, corporate and securities, M&A, entertainment, labor and employment, and commercial and complex litigation, the announcement said.

Read more about the firm.

Trial lawyers with Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne PLLC scored big defense wins recently for two separate clients, securing a quick summary judgment for The Dow Chemical Company in Texas and prevailing in a jury trial for Union Carbide Corporation in New Orleans.

In the Texas case, MMR Constructors Inc. tried to claim an additional $17 million from Dow after it had already paid MMR for work on its plant in Freeport, Texas. That case ended with a summary judgment for the defense.

And in the New Orleans case, jurors heard three weeks of testimony related to the death of an oil field worker who died of mesothelioma. The jury found Union Carbide and Montello were not responsible.

Read details of the cases.

Exterro has published “Top 10 E-Discovery Case Law Rulings of 2018” and made the report available on its website for downloading at no charge.

The white paper provides a quick recap of the most important and influential e-discovery case law rulings from 2018. After analyzing metrics from Exterro’s online case law library, the company compiled the 10 most popular case law rulings from this past year.

The report provides:

• The 10 most popular case law rulings from 2018 in Exterro’s Simplified E-Discovery Case Law Library with overviews, rulings, and key takeaways
• Expert opinions from leading e-discovery attorneys and resources to help prevent e-discovery missteps and sanctions
• Analysis from Hon. Andrew Peck, US Magistrate Judge, S.D.N.Y. (Ret.) and Senior Counsel, DLA Piper

Download the report.

Chrysta Castañeda has been awarded The National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers Award for 2018.

The Castañeda Firm, based in Dallas, represents litigation clients in the energy industry.

“One of Ms. Castañeda’s most notable recent victories was a $145 million verdict on behalf of T. Boone Pickens and Mesa Petroleum, which was recognized as one of the largest in the nation in 2016 by NLJ and one of the largest in Texas by Texas Lawyer,” the firm said in a release.

Castañeda served as lead trial counsel for Pickens’ company in the long-running dispute, which resulted in a five-week trial in Pecos, Texas.

Read details of the award.

A new publication by the National Association of Corporate Directors examines the areas of technology that are “fundamentally changing the economic world.”

The article can be downloaded from the NACD’s website at no charge.

The areas discussed in the article include artificial intelligence, blockchain, cybersecurity, hyperconnectivity, and symbiotic systems.

J.T. Kostman, the author of the article and managing director of Applied Artificial Intelligence at Grant Thornton, provides real-world examples that illustrate the capabilities these technologies have enabled, the risks they pose, and why they are considered to be the driving forces of “the fourth industrial revolution.”

Download the article.

Christie Newkirk and Mark A. Shank have joined Diamond McCarthy LLP in Dallas and created the firm’s Labor & Employment Law Section.

The firm said Newkirk has more than 20 years’ experience representing employers and executives. Her work involves litigation, counseling, investigations, training, and representing executives.

Shank’s practice focuses on complex disputes, which he arbitrates, investigates, prosecutes, or defends as a neutral across the nation, according to the firm.

Read about the two lawyers.

Paper Software will present a complimentary webinar on Contract Tools, an add-in for Microsoft Word, that analyzes, proofreads, formats, reviews, and navigates contracts for legal departments and firms.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, Paper Software says Contract Tools analyzes a document for such elements as provisions, defined terms, cross-references, and more. Analysis takes about two seconds or less for most contracts, and the software updates its analysis instantly.

The process takes place on the user’s personal computer, rather than on a remote server, the company says.

Register or get more details.

Zapproved has published a new guide that outlines the five best practices for conducting fast, defensible internal investigations.

The guide can be downloaded from Zapproved website at no charge.

An internal investigation is exactly what it sounds like: an inquiry into an organization’s internal operations, Zapproved says on its website. Internal investigations frequently involve allegations of wrongdoing, such as embezzlement, sexual harassment, discrimination, or wrongful termination. However, an internal investigation may also be conducted in response to a regulatory compliance concern initiated by agencies like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or as part of a due diligence process before a merger or acquisition.

The goal of an internal investigation is to either detect and respond to wrongdoing or dispel suspicions. Organizations should respond to investigations in a way that curtails any specific incident of wrongdoing and discourages similar future violations. The overarching goal is to create an open, productive work environment that is neither distracting nor discriminatory.

Download the guide.

LawGeex, in association with the Association of Corporate Counsel, has published an in-depth audit of the general counsel position — looking at more than 34,000 GCs, providing insights into the position and those that occupy it.

The publication, “The 2019 General Counsel Landscape,” can be downloaded from the LawGeex website at no charge.

The guide reveals insights from GCs at hundreds of companies across the United States, including Uber, PayPal, NetApp Amazon, Macy’s and Caterpillar.

Information includes:

• Compensation based on age, gender, state, sector, and more
• Industry standards for bonuses and perks
• The road to becoming the modern GC
• The Fortune 500 GC – what sets them apart

Download the guide.

ContractWorks has published a new guide:  Contract Management Software for the Small Legal Team: Why It’s Not Just for the Big Fish Anymore, to navigate contract management options so the right solution can be found.

The guide discusses:

• How small legal teams are benefiting from contract management software
• How new solutions are designed to be easy and affordable
• How customization and cloud storage means there’s software for every legal department
• How automation, AI and machine learning can elevate contract management

Download the free ebook.

Thousands of legal professionals are expected to participate in E-Discovery Day, scheduled for Dec. 4, 2018, to learn more about e-discovery and the vital role it plays within the legal process.

Exterro, one of the E-Discovery Day supporters, says this one-day industry-wide, vendor-neutral celebration, will feature an all-star lineup of complimentary in-person events and online webcasts. 34 leading legal organizations are proud to support E-Discovery Day and partnered together to host all events free of charge.

The event will include:

• 13 educational webcasts with e-discovery experts (e.g. federal judges, e-discovery managers, in-house attorneys and more)
• 7 in-person networking events located across the country

Get details or sign-up for an event.

Texas-based litigation boutique Hicks Thomas LLP announced that Houston appellate specialist and trial lawyer J. Stephen Barrick has been named a partner in the firm.

Barrick concentrates his practice on civil appeals in state and federal courts. The substantive area of his appellate practice includes contracts, oil and gas, intellectual property, insurance coverage, and catastrophic personal injuries. He has been listed as in the Texas Super Lawyers rating guide every year since 2012, is board certified in civil appellate law, and serves as the firm’s lead appellate lawyer.

He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Read more about the announcement.

Heim Payne & Chorush has secured three of the legal industry’s most significant patent litigation honors, with recognition by Chambers USA, International Asset Management’s IAM Patent 1000, and U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.”

Chambers USA singled out the firm and co-founder Mike Heim among the state’s top IP practitioners.

And the firm, along with Heim and partners Douglas Wilson and Eric Enger were recognized in the IAM Patent 1000, a global guide to patent firms and lawyers.

Most recently, the firm was included on the 2019 U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America Best Law Firms list. Based on input from clients and peer lawyers,

Read more about the honors.