Cyber insurance programs are necessary for small, mid-size, and large businesses to help them manage the risks from data breaches.  Simply put, cyber insurance can provide a business with protection in the event of a cyber attack, writes Jonathan Reich, a Womble Carlyle attorney in the firm’s Winston-Salem office.

“Business leaders and corporate boards can no longer ignore the very real possibility of unauthorized access and dissemination of confidential customer information,” he writes. “This could be financial data, it could be sensitive health information, or it could be confidential trade or industry secrets.  Through no fault of a company, it can become a victim of malicious software or a coordinated attack by international hackers who seek to sell the information gained or hold the information for ransom.”

He explains that, although many cyber insurance companies in the market provide a variety of coverages, not every cyber policy provides all these types of coverages.

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An article published by Zuckerman Spaeder describes a case that illustrates how easy it is to blur the line between an employee’s intellectual property and that of an employer.

“Content creation is continual for many new economy businesses,” writes Virginia Whitehill Guldi. “Many online businesses have intellectual property as their principal assets. Moreover, the founders of these ventures frequently have many “ideas” floating around.  If a founder contributes intellectual property to the venture, the documents governing the contribution should plainly specify whether it is by royalty-free license or by outright transfer of the interest.”

The case involves more than 35 years of books, sermons and other writings, had been produced by Dr. Robert Schuller while he was employed by  tCrystal Cathedral as its senior pastor.

Read the article.

A recent enforcement action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissionagainst KBR serves as a warning to companies that efforts to silence potential whistleblowers through restrictive confidentiality agreements will not be tolerated, report two Dechert LLP lawyers.

The action aims to protect employees from signing confidentiality agreements that would prevent them from acting as whistleblowers. On April 1, 2015, the SEC announced a settlement with KBR, Inc. in which KBR will pay a $130,000 civil penalty and agreed to cease and desist from any future violations of SEC Rules, while not admitting or denying the SEC’s charges.

“As the first enforcement action of its kind, the SEC has taken an aggressive stance against KBR, one of the country’s largest government contractors.” write Nicolle Jacoby and Jamie Hacker.

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Contracts are formed when there is an offer by one party, acceptance of that offer by another, and valid consideration given by both. You likely understand what an offer and acceptance are (even if you don’t know all the legal caveats), but what is consideration? How do you know if you have it? How does this affect your ability to form a contract? Can a valid contract ever be formed without it?

Whitney O’Sullivan, of law technology platform provider Shake, outlines the role of consideration in a contract.

“Consideration is the word used to describe the requirement that both parties must agree to give up something of value in order to form a contract; you have to give to get,” O’Sullivan writes.

Read the article.

Not only does government contracting seem difficult with its myriad of rules and regulations, some people even hold the erroneous notion that the government gleefully pounces upon the innocent potential contractor in the event the tiniest regulation misstep is made, reports Federal Vesting Government Consultants in a white paper.

“This simply isn’t true,” the paper says. “The government not only actively seeks out small business participation when it buys products and services, but it also goes to great lengths and spends lots of money in outreach programs to find good, qualified small businesses to be its suppliers. For example, it will provide information that will help you bid with minimal risk. Just by asking, you can find out how much the government bought the last five to 10 times, who they bought from, and how much they paid. That information certainly wouldn’t be available from your commercial customers.”

The paper examines these procedures and rules:

• Government procedures
• Government laws and regulations
• How FASA effects you
• Chart of laws affecting government contracting
• FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation

Read the white paper.

Foley & Lardner partners Chanley T. Howell, Michael R. Overly, and James R. Kalyvas have published a comprehensive white paper titled: Taking Control of Cybersecurity — A Practical Guide for Officers and Directors.

The white paper describes practical steps that officers and directors should ensure are in place or will be in place in their organizations to prevent or respond to data security attacks, and to mitigate the resulting legal and reputational risks from a cyber-attack, the firm says on its website. The authors provide a blueprint for managing information security and complying with the evolving standard of care. Checklists for each key element of cybersecurity compliance and a successful risk management program are included.

Download the white paper.

Two Cozen O’Connor lawyers discuss in a white paper the waiver policies of U.S. federal enforcement agencies overseeing the financial services industry, including the U.S .Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as well as certain others.

Linda Riefberg, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Commercial Litigation Department, and Christopher Passavia, an associate in the Commercial Litigation Department, are the authors of the paper, which was published in Journal of Securities Operations & Custody.

The article provides some guidance to parties and counsel regarding when waiver may be necessary or advisable and concludes with support for a uniform standard that is protective of the attorney-client and work product privileges, permitting the privilege holder to make a true choice as to whether to waive, free from any obligation or pressure to waive from U.S. agencies, the firm says on its website.

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In an online interview, Latham & Watkins partner Mitchell Seider outlines some of the many significant legal issues associated with restructuring of distressed exploration and production (E&P) companies and their lenders.

Seider is a partner in Latham’s New York office and global Co-chair of the Restructuring, Insolvency & Workouts Practice. He focuses his practice on business reorganizations and financial restructurings and regularly represents secured lenders, bond holders, creditors’ committees and debtors in chapter 11 cases and workouts, according to the firm’s website.

He discusses such topics as termination of oil and gas leases for non-production, liability for the costs of well plugging and abandonment, oil and gas contractor liens, and treatment of interests in oil and gas production.

Read the interview.

In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 575 U.S. — (Mar. 25, 2015), employers have a little more clarity on whether they must make accommodations for a pregnant worker.

Burr & Forman lawyers Kathryn Willis and Matthew Scully, writing in a paper published on the firm’s website, said the plaintiff alleged that if UPS made accommodations for other workers it should have made accommodations for her.

“Both the district court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found in favor of UPS, concluding that UPS’s policy was “pregnancy-blind” and that Young was different from the employees UPS was accommodating (those injured on-the-job, lacking certifications, or “disabled” under the ADA), but the Supreme Court disagreed, vacating the Fourth Circuit’s decision and remanding for further consideration,” they wrote.

Read the white paper.

Strategy& experts examine in a white paper the impact $50 oil is currently having on spending within the oil and gas products and services space.

The rapid deflation in the price of crude oil from the 2014 highs of US$100+ to current levels near $50 represents a +50% drop in less than a year, the company says on its website.” This has had a dramatic impact on the industry’s confidence and its 2015 spend programs. Reductions of 20% to 30% in capital spend are expected across the industry value chain. Though many companies and fields remain profitable at $50 prices, the free cash flow and access to capital the industry enjoyed just eight months ago have dried up.”

Strategy& is a part of the PwC network.

A free white paper from Silanis Inc. discusses how a well-designed process, supported by new-generation electronic signature technology, can actually reduce the legal risks and increase the enforceability of e-transactions compared to paper processes.

The ESIGN law has been in effect for over 10 years now, and it governs the minimum requirements for electronic and digital signatures. However, adopting legal electronic signatures to move business processes online without introducing new risks is not a simple task.

The fraud, repudiation, admissibility and compliance risks are challenging enough to address when executing transactions on paper. If not done properly in the electronic world, these risks can be far greater, even if e-signatures are legal.

It goes in-depth and touches on all six legal risks tied to electronic signatures and digital transactions online and what you need to do to mitigate them.

Download the white paper.

A small business owner hiring an employee — maybe the first employee — might be confused about what should be included in an employment contract, writes Alex Lipton, a legal researcher at law technology platform provider Shake.

“Being on the hiring end of an employment relationship means it’s your responsibility to make sure that the company has a clear employment contract,” he writes. “As always, it’s a good idea to talk with an attorney, but being familiar with the basics will help you focus that conversation.”

He offers a discussion of nine of the basic components of the process.

Read the article.

Harris & Moure’s China Law Blog has a new article on what it takes to have a China contract that works — extolling the virtues of foreign companies having appropriate contracts with their Chinese manufacturers.

The article explains that “protection from China product problems rests on three legs: One, choosing the right partner. Two, having a China-specific contract. And, three, quality control monitoring. All three are important. Once you have a problem, the contract is the only thing that can save you, but to prevent the problem, all three are crucial.”

Some real-world examples illustrate the proper way to deal with Chinese manufacturing deals.

Read the article.

Susan G. Schellinger

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently issued a decision that drives home the importance for businesses and individuals, as policyholders, to immediately report claims to their insurance company, writes Susan G. Schellinger, a shareholder in the Milwaukee office of Davis & Kuelthau.

“Even a small delay may result in a loss of coverage thereby increasing the risk that, if a claim against you is successful, you will be left to pay for the legal fees to defend the claim, along with the damages that you may be ultimately responsible for – even if your insurance policy would have paid those costs in full if you had notified the insurance company promptly,” she writes.

In the recent case of Anderson v. Aul, issued Feb. 25, 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that under a claims-made-and-reported liability policy, the policyholder’s failure to report the claim during the term of the policy resulted in a loss of coverage.

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You want to protect the identity of your business’ owners, but your opponent issued discovery requesting a copy of your organizational chart and/or information on the identities of your LLC members or LP partners. You are probably left wondering: How does my company get through this lawsuit without disclosing information on our ownership structure?

Christina Berish, a partner in Thompson Coburn’s Business Litigation Practice Group, says that while the rules of discovery in most jurisdictions are broad – most require not only the production of admissible evidence, but also the production of documents and information which could lead to the discovery of admissible evidence – there are a few strategies for safeguarding the identities of your owners.

Read the story.

Watson & Associates LLC has posted a complimentary white paper analyzing considerations involved in the bid protest process.

The government does make mistakes in the bidding process, the firm says on its website. However, understanding protest procedure and legal standards could help you.

The firm advises keeping in mind that the bid protest regulations can be tricky, there is never too much information for you to make a decision, and always consider getting the help of counsel.

Download the white paper.

Apttus is offering a free guide to help companies choose the right contract lifecycle management solution.

Choosing the right Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)  solution is no easy task, Apttus says on its website. While a broad array of functionality is available in the marketplace, each system has different capabilities and strengths across a range of categories.

The Apttus Contract Lifecycle Management Buyer’s Guide has information to help convince key internal decision makers and make the right decision for their company.​

Download the guide.

Bracewell & Giuliani has posted a white paper taking a look at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Office of Enforcement and what market participants should expect in 2015.

The current pending cases and these developments shed more light on what to expect in 2015 than the statistics FERC released concerning 2014, the authors say.

“In 2014, market participants, for the first time, showed a willingness to challenge Enforcement actions instead of settling. Five companies have refused to pay assessed civil penalties and settle thereby causing Enforcement to go to Federal court or to an administrative law judge to enforce the penalty and manipulation claims,” according to the report. “We should expect more challenges in 2015 because another company has publicly vowed to challenge FERC should FERC proceed with a charge of manipulation. However, unless and until the courts narrow Enforcement’s reach, we should expect that Enforcement will continue to be aggressive in its prosecutions.”

Read the white paper.

Courtesy of BP Public Affairs Staff, via BOEM.gov

Oil & Gas IQ has posted a white paper on how enterprise asset management software can play a role in software project ROI for drilling contractors as well as specific, discrete steps to take during implementation.

The offshore industry is struggling right now to deal with growth and an increased focus on asset integrity management (AIM) and risk management, the white paper says. That is why more rig owners and operators are reassessing their investments in enterprise asset management (EAM) software to ensure they have applications in place that are properly implemented and functional, help them ensure compliance with regulations and adopt AIM best practices.

Download the white paper.

Bridgeway Software offers for download a free e-book titled “8 Roadblocks to New ELM Implementation.”

This e-book discusses the obstacles that can hinder your department’s ability to successfully integrate new enterprise legal management software, Bridgeway says.

It covers common roadblocks, such as letting go-live dates drive your project, expecting perfection right off the bat, and not understanding what reporting you really need.

Download the free e-book.