Is 'Culture' Part of Counsel's Job?
December 26, 2006
Corporate counsels' ethical obligations are primarily seen as directing the corporation to comply with the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Typically, the more amorphous concept of corporate 'culture' has been left to the auspices of human resources. New empirical evidence suggests that corporate culture plays a defining role in whether an organization conducts business in an ethical manner and that corporate counsel need to be part of assessing and changing that…
Enforcing Jurisdiction Clauss in the EU
December 26, 2006
In a recent development that will likely be of interest to companies conducting business in Europe, the American Bar Association has recently urged the U.S. government to sign, ratify and implement the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (the 'Choice of Court Convention'). The Choice of Court Convention accomplishes many goals that have long been sought by the United States. Most importantly, it provides a mechanism for the recognition of certain judgments rendered by U.S. courts, namely judgments resolving a dispute arising out of a commercial agreement that was submitted pursuant to an exclusive choice of court agreement. (See American Bar Association, Recommendation adopted by the House of Delegates (Aug. 7-8, 2006), at www.abanet.org/intlaw/policy/investment/hcca0806.pdf.)
Last Call for Non-Proportionate Bar Orders
December 26, 2006
The means by which courts implement bar orders in securities class actions continue to evolve. Currently, courts use three widely recognized methods to calculate the judgment reduction credit given to a non-settling defendant who is barred from pursuing contribution claims from a settling defendant. One method, pro rata, has already lost favor in the courts and in the near future, the second method, pro tanto, will most likely fall from grace as well. In contrast to the first two, the last method, proportionate fault, is rising in popularity due to its greater likelihood of leading to equitable results. It is, therefore, last call to those seeking to have their bar order filled by anything other than the proportionate fault method.
The Growth of Litigation: A Global Trend
December 26, 2006
For the past three years, our law firm, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, has conducted its Litigation Trends Survey, based on responses from senior-level in-house lawyers at companies in a variety of industries and at various revenue levels. In the first year, we surveyed only United States companies. Last year, we expanded our survey to encompass companies in the United Kingdom as well. This year's edition of the Litigation Trends Survey ' in recognition of the increasing globalization of the world economy and our own firm's rapid international expansion ' drew on responses from companies around the world. The survey results generally confirmed what prompted us to expand the scope of the Survey to begin with ' that companies are increasingly operating more globally and therefore face greater and more frequent challenges in protecting their interests in areas far from home.
BearingPoint and the Risk of Late SEC Filings
December 26, 2006
Companies that are late in filing their financial statements with the SEC may simultaneously trigger default provisions under their credit agreements and indentures. Accounting problems from practices such as the backdating of stock options make it difficult for companies to get auditors to sign off on their financial statements, resulting not only in a failure to meet SEC reporting deadlines but also a default under their loan agreements and cross-defaults under other agreements. This problem is widespread, with over 150 companies affected by the options backdating scandals and over 1300 companies in 2005 alone filing restatements of their financial statements with the SEC.
Averting Data Security Threats From Portable Electronics
December 22, 2006
The proliferation of flash drives, iPods, camera cell phones, Black-berries, and similar electronic devices has put all companies at added risk for insider theft. With the use of these devices, downloading significant amounts of data is easy, virtually instantaneous, and often very difficult to detect. These risks apply to essentially all companies that allow employees access to electronically stored, confidential, and proprietary information.<br>So what is today's company supposed to do to protect its valuable, sensitive information in the face of the risks posed by new portable devices?
Data Security Breaches Offshore
December 22, 2006
Outsourcing decisions should be based in part on a comparison of data security in-house and at each vendor location; generally this is evaluated in terms of staff vetting, physical access security, database security, communications security, etc. But another vital consideration should be the effectiveness of each candidate location's legal preventive measures and remedies for data theft or misuse ' and the complexity and cost of securing those protections. This article, which surveys the state of data security legal protections in India, shows that making such a comparison is no simple matter.
Just-in-Time Benchmarking
December 22, 2006
Benchmarking has long been a difficult undertaking for private service providers and for law firms in particular. While firm partners historically have tracked firm-wide metrics such as billings, profits per partner and individual productivity, firms have until recently not had the means or opportunity to benchmark performance at the practice group, office location and timekeeper level with any accuracy or currentness.<br>This article, as the title implies, discusses how refined performance measures are made possible by a new benchmarking tool, West Peer Monitor' from Thomson West
Client Attrition Analytics
December 22, 2006
While the managers of professional services firms often view market pressures as the driving force that determines whether clients remain loyal or choose to shop elsewhere for added services, a new study by the Redwood Think Tank indicates that firms have tremendous sway over which clients become long-term business partners.
Verdicts
December 22, 2006
Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.
