Professional Development Programs As Formidable Recruiting and Retention Tools
January 31, 2007
At top-rated firms, lawyer development and training has become the cornerstone of successful recruiting programs for both law school and lateral recruiting efforts. This trend assures that firms with active development programs will continue making significant investments in their attorney and potential attorney's futures via their professional development programming.
Where Privacy and Corporate Governance Laws Meet
January 31, 2007
As business information, particularly in electronic format, continues to proliferate, the need to maintain the security of this information is increasing. There are privacy and corporate governance laws that govern the obligation of a company to keep information secure. According to the Global State of Information Security 2006, a worldwide study by CIO magazine, CSO magazine and PricewaterhouseCoopers representing the responses of almost 7800 senior executives, 'Noncompliance runs broad and deep in all industries, and ignorance of applicable law is a big factor.' This article provides an overview of two important information security obligations ' security procedures and practices and document destruction ' under privacy and corporate governance laws.
Voluntary Disclosures of Export Violations
January 31, 2007
The recent settlement agreement entered in the EP MedSystems matter (described below) does little to refute the common wisdom that the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security ('BIS') treats voluntary disclosures of export violations more harshly than other agencies that regulate exports from the United States. It also illustrates a potential, but avoidable, peril in the two-step voluntary disclosure process urged by BIS and other federal agencies. Finally, it serves as yet another example of the regulatory minefield that U.S. export laws present for U.S. companies with foreign subsidiaries.
Compliance with Non-U.S. Environmental Health and Safety Regulations
January 31, 2007
Most U.S.-based companies have fairly sophisticated environmental, health and safety ('EHS') programs that are designed to ensure compliance with applicable EHS rules and regulations. The reasons for such programs are obvious: EHS compliance represents the floor for most, if not all companies, and non-compliant companies are likely to experience adverse financial, environmental, health and safety impacts as a result of non-compliance.
Title VII Disparate Pay Claims
January 31, 2007
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a case of great importance to employers, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. It will decide when the statute of limitations begins to run under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended) ('Title VII') for certain types of disparate pay claims.
Litigation Readiness
January 31, 2007
With the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), precedent-setting adverse sanctions against some of the largest corporations and growing regulatory requirements, the need to become 'litigation ready' has been like a large snowball, gaining mass and momentum. The indisputable need to become litigation ready has arrived, and the snowball continues to get bigger and faster as it heads down the mountain. With the FRCP amendments, Dec. 1 has come and gone and guess what? Nothing has exploded.
The McNulty Memo
January 31, 2007
On Dec. 12, 2006 the U.S. Justice Department issued new guidance that will require federal prosecutors to seek approval from senior DOJ officials before requesting a waiver of attorney-client privilege and work product protection in corporate criminal investigations. The new guidance supersedes the existing language on waiver in the 'Thompson memo,' issued by then-Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson in January 2003.
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.
