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The general counsel function is the critical crossroads of corporate America. Even the most skeptical of senior managers and board members evince a growing awareness that the role of the general counsel is crucial and strategic, and not merely technical and subordinate. The question, however, is whether this crossroads can bear the increasing volume and weight of the traffic coming its way.

A key element to in a successful law department is management of in-house legal talent. By the term 'talent management,' we mean all the methods available to general counsel for training, mentoring, coaching, motivating and directing in-house lawyers. This article, the first in a series of three, is based on consulting projects and research Hildebrandt International has conducted with a number of leading law departments. This article will describe the top three issues law departments have with talent management, and more importantly, will show some of the techniques now employed by general counsel for coping with them. The second part of the series will describe three progressive practices in the arena of talent management, and the series will close with a foray into three controversial practices. Taken together, the series will survey law department talent management ' its major issues, newer practices and difficult decisions.

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This is the first in a two-part series on how to conduct corporate investigations for corporate counsel. Corporate counsel face a myriad of challenges when conducting or overseeing an internal workplace investigation. From ethical issues to potential third-party liability, the pitfalls are everywhere. New responsibilities and risks under Sarbanes-Oxley make the job even more daunting for counsel in publicly held firms. However, with advanced planning, there are ways to conduct a workplace investigation that may prevent it from coming back to haunt you.

Recent developments in e-commerce law and in the e-commerce industry.

Recent court rulings in e-commerce.

This article sheds some light on how investigators in one large U.S. city are using technology to fight e-commerce crime.

Features

On July 1, new legislation concerning the application of value-added tax (VAT) to sales of digital goods within the European Union became effective. While the legislation is European, it will have important implications for companies based outside of the EU to the extent that such companies sell digital goods to consumers based in one of the EU countries.

The impact of California's new security breach disclosure law ' which requires state agencies and businesses that conduct commerce in California to notify California residents that certain circumstances ' is being carefully monitored by boards of directors, legislators, regulators and other concerned parties nationwide.