The Enivronmental Law Institute recently sponsored sponsored a seminar taking a look a the critical energy and eivironmental issues that will shape 2015. That event is now available online as an on-demand webinar.

With the GOP now in control of Congress, President Obama forging ahead with his climate policies, environmental and energy issues will be grabbing lots of news headlines in 2015, the orginization says on its website.

ELI, the Society of Environmental Journalists and the Environmental Change and Security Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars staged the third annual “Year Ahead on Environment and Energy” event, where leading reporters and editors discussed the critical issues that will shape 2015.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

AwareManager has posted a free on-demand webinar on how to achieve better service levels and gain greater transparency into vendors’ performance.

On its website, the company says the webinar can participants discover important takeaways:

— Improve your vendors’ performance.
— Save you money.
— Enhance tenant, employee and guest satisfaction.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Ardent Partners has teamed up with Iasta, a Selectica Company, to offer a free webinar, Collaborative Contract Management: Procurement’s Role in Enhancing Compliance and Mitigating Risk, on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

This webinar looks at collaborative approaches chief procurement officers and their departments should consider for advancing contract management.

The webinar will cover:

• The shift in the criticality of contract management for procurement
• Best practices for improving collaboration in contract management
• Technology approaches for improving contract management collaboration
• Integrating contract management as part of supplier management

Register for the webinar.

The International Association for Contracts and Commercial Management (IACCM) is updating its largest benchmarking study to help participants learn where their organization stands, relative to others. Participants who complete the survey will get access to results 60 days prior to publication and are invited to a series of webinars to delve into the findings.

The benchmark study is divided into three surveys that examine companies’ Contract & Commercial Management Performance Measures, Primary Activities and Value Proposition.

Access part one: Performance Measurement directly here: www.iaccm.com/services/research/survey/?id=84

For part two, Primary Areas of Activity, and part three, Value Proposition, go to www.iaccm.com/research. This survey looks at headcount, contract complexity, measurements used to gauge both individual and functional performance and a range of efficiency indicators (e.g. cycle times, number of contracts per professional etc.).

“Benchmarking enables you to assess current performance and to make a business case for investment or improvement,” said an IACCM spokesman. “Increasingly, executives expect every function to have ready access to reliable external benchmarks and in the field of contract and commercial management, IACCM is the only reliable source.”

Participate in the survey through the links above.

Susan K. Hatmaker, Esq. of Hatmaker Law Group will present a free webinar discussing Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation and Other Workplace Cases, Trends and Administrative Enforcement Strategies.

The event will be Wednesday, March 18, beginning at noon Pacific time.

Participants can join this webinar in their office or conference room with colleagues.

Hatmaker Law Group’s webinars provide up-to-date information on important California employment law issues for employers, owners, managers, accountants, attorneys and human resource professionals.

Register for the webinar.

The TASA Group Inc., in conjunction with transportation and traffic engineer Dr. Carl Berkowitz, PE, present a complimentary on-demand webinar examining the problem of railroad grade crossing accident, which occur in this country every two hours.

“There are approximately 220,000 railroad crossings in the United States, of which approximately 137,000 cross public roads. A collision between a train and a motorist at a grade crossing occurs approximately every two hours,” TASA says. “Half of the crossing accidents happen where there are active warning devices, and more than 60 percent of accidents occur where train speed is less than 40 mph. Approximately 20 percent of accidents involve cars running into trains.”

During the program, Dr. Berkowitz discussed:

* Components of a Grade Crossing
* Factors Influencing Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing Safety
* Reducing Highway-Railroad Crossing Incidents
* Future Directions in Railroad Crossing Safety

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Winston & Strawn presented “Recent Trends and Legal Developments You Should Consider in 2015: Part I – Mergers & Acquisitions,” as part of the Real Deal Webinar series. The webinar now is available for free viewing on-demand.

The event covers current trends, challenges, and legal topics pertinent to M&A and securities professionals.

On its website, the firm says the 2014 market for M&A deals in the U.S. was robust, with the year having the most active deal flow since the 2008 financial collapse. And 2015 seems to be off to an equally strong start. Winston & Strawn corporate partners Oscar David, Rob Rawn, and Mitch Moetell led this webinar series and provided a look back at important developments in 2014 and an overview of possible M&A trends in 2015.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The Network for Public Health Law has posted a complimentary webinar that looks at the structure and essential functions of the state and federal court systems, including administrative courts; explores the Tribal court system; and examines the role of court watch programs in addressing public health issues.

This webinar is first in a three-part series focused on the judiciary and public health. Upcoming webinars in the series include Public Health in the Courts, and the Court and Public Health Emergencies.

“The judicial system plays an important role in advancing public health goals, and it is critical that public health practitioners, legal counsel, and other partners understand how the court system works and how courts are involved in public health matters,” the Network says on its website.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Compliancy Group will present a free webinar about the terms and conditions of business associate agreements that require your attention, and which ones you shouldn’t lose any sleep over.

The 90-minute webinar will be Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Eastern time

At some point, nearly all HIPAA covered entities and business associates must enter into business associate agreements (BAAs). Far too often though, entities commit one of two errors when doing so – they either sign a BAA “as is” without careful consideration of its terms or they negotiate each and every item in the agreement, Compliancy Group says on its website.

The first error may result in significant costs and liability, and the second wastes time and money. This webinar will address the terms and conditions of BAAs that require your attention, and which ones you shouldn’t lose worry about. The webinar will give both covered entities and business associates the tools they need to identify and address BAA risks, while protecting their business and saving time and money.

Register for the webinar.

ICF International experts discuss the polar vortex and its effects on the natural gas industry in a free on-demand webinar.

On its website, ICF says last winter’s polar vortex illuminated ongoing concerns regarding dependence on gas-fired power generation and natural gas infrastructure limitations, particularly in New England. The region experienced high gas and power prices during last winter’s cold snaps; and, because the conditions were not record-breaking, the price impacts further underscored issues associated with the region’s growing infrastructure issues.

The identification of solutions to address these limitations requires a thorough understanding of the full scope of these issues and a detailed understanding of gas deliverability issues. This requires a comprehensive view of the natural gas industry and a nuanced understanding of the portfolio of infrastructure expansion opportunities. The gas market dynamics in New England also raises critical questions for utilities, pipelines, natural gas shippers, and policymakers, the company says.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Data Science Central has posted a complimentary on-demand webinar about using the large amounts of data from sensors, logistics and business operations in oil and gas exploration and production activities.

Given the data volume, variety and velocity, gaining actionable and relevant insights from the data is challenging, Data Science Central says on its website.

The webinar explores approaches for predicting drilling equipment function and failure, a key step towards zero unplanned downtime. In the process of drilling wells, non-productive time due to drilling equipment failure can be expensive. It also highlights how the Pivotal Data Labs team uses big data technologies to build models for predicting drilling equipment function and failure.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

World Oil has scheduled a free webinar presenting its projections of spending and activity relating to the global petroleum exploration and production industry.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. Central time.

During the 50-minute event (including a Q-and-A period), the editors will discuss:

• U.S. drilling forecast for 2015 versus 2014 well totals, including an analysis of activity
• A global drilling forecast for 2015, featuring a breakout of global offshore activity
• U.S. and worldwide oil production figures for 2014 versus 2013
• Estimates for U.S., Canadian and worldwide upstream capital expenditures during 2014, and projections of planned capital expenditures for 2015
• Various geopolitical factors affecting upstream activity

Register for the webinar.

Marsh USA offers a free on-demand webinar discussing the changes in workers’ compensation in 2014 and what to expect in 2015.

Experts from Marsh’s Workers’ Compensation Center of Excellence and Noreen Olson, workers’ compensation claims manager, Starbucks, held a one-hour webcast and provided insights on key developments from the past year and what’s in store for 2015.

The panel of risk experts discussed:

• Key 2014 developments in workers’ compensation.
• Key trends and issues to watch in 2015.
• Updates on pricing and capacity as you plan for the year ahead.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Patrick Stakenas of Selectica and Lloyd Alexander of Seal presented a live webinar to hundreds of General Counsel, Procurement, HR, IT and Sales professionals, and that webinar is available now on-demand.

The webinar is aimed at contract management professionals involved in management strategy and processes.

Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a proven and systematic approach for managing your contracts, Selectica says on its website. The company believes there are nine stages of contracts from contract request to renewal. The net-net of all this is to manage risks and revenue opportunities associated with many contracts in your enterprise.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Business Insurance offers a free on-demand webinar explaining how and why companies should prepare to comply with fresh health benefits requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the political, legal and regulatory changes that could alter the continued implementation of the five-year-old landmark law.

This webinar will explain how and why companies should prepare to comply with fresh health benefits requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the political, legal and regulatory changes that could alter the continued implementation of the five-year-old landmark law, Business Insurance says on its website.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide on the legality of IRS rules that authorize health insurance premium subsidies to the millions of uninsured people obtaining coverage in the 36 states where the federal government runs health insurance exchanges. If the high court strikes down those rules, will health care costs soar again for employers as hospitals and other medical providers move to curtail uncompensated care expenses by increasing medical charges for insured patients?

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Aruvio presents a free on-demand webinar about enterprises and other organizations preparing for increasingly challenging anti-bribery and corruption laws and intensified enforcement (e.g., FCPA, UK Bribery Act) in 2015.

Employees, suppliers and partners can expose the organization to related risk and liability that results in significant business sanctions and costs as well as damaged brand and reputation, the company says on its website. No organization can afford to let this risk go unmonitored. An organization must clearly understand evolving regulatory requirements plus changes and shifts in enforcement actions. Part 1 of this webinar series looks at how you can ensure your enterprise is ready for this year’s anti-bribery & corruption regulations.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Equifax Workforce Solutions will present a free webinar about the challenges that come up in managing the Form I-9 process for remote new hires as well as 2015 trends in worksite enforcement.

The webinar will be Thursday, Feb. 12, at 12 p.m. Central time.

Montserrat Miller, a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP will discuss I-9 challenges for remote hires and also provide her forecast for 2015 trends in immigration issues that affect employers and their compliance with the Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements.

Miller will be joined by Chad Whittenberg, Senior Director of Product Management for I-9 & E-Verify, for a discussion about best practices in managing the remote I-9 process.

Topics:
–Remote hires – completion of the Form I-9, physical inspection of the documents presented by new hires and employees and tips for improving compliance during the hiring process
–High risk areas of the I-9 process for authorized representatives with little experience
–States’ issuance of driver’s licenses to undocumented residents and implications for the Form I-9
–Issues that can come up during the E-Verify process due to employees’ use of MyE-Verify
–Developments related to the President’s executive action on immigration and what it means for the workforce and I-9 compliance
–Status of immigration reform on Capitol Hill; and 2015 trends in Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance.

Register for the webinar.

Lux Research will present a complimentary webinaron poor recovery factors plague tight oil production.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

On its website, Lux Research says the advent of tight oil has rescued North America’s oil industry from a slow, painful decline and has transformed it into one of the world’s premier oil producing regions. However, dismal recovery factors still plague tight oil production, with many producers recovering just 5% of the oil in place. As plays mature, producers’ long-term health depends on its ability to squeeze far more oil from each well.

This webinar will cover:

• How will incremental improvements in recovery effect overall production?
• What are the challenges limiting recovery today?
• Who are the technology developers attempting to meet these challenges?

Register for the webinar.

A free on-demand webinar sponsored by NEC Energy Solutions discusses various applications for energy storage on the grid and how they can be used to help grid operators, generators, or utility companies meet the challenges of ensuring reliability and increasing the efficiency of existing resources or infrastructure.

Actual real world case studies describe how these grid storage solutions were configured from standard modular building blocks and deployed to solve challenges for their owners. The webinar covers the application modelling and configuration process, the installation and commissioning, as well as actual results from select cases.

NEC presenters are Roger Lin, Director, Product Marketing, and Rhys Foster, Senior Sales Engineer.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

National Council on Compensation Insurance offers a free on-demand webinar exploring the workers compensation implications of the fracking industry, as well as federal and state legislative and regulatory issues.

On its website, NCCI says oil and gas issues, especially hydraulic fracturing (fracking), have been receiving increased attention in the legislatures and media. Fracking is the process of enabling the extraction of natural gas from shale deep below ground.

Watch the on-demand webinar.