AttorneysEd Center

In-house and outside counsel struggle to adapt their Intellectual Property strategies in a world where new media emerge constantly and old rules are difficult to enforce. Join us as Anthony F. Lo Cicero of Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein LLP discusses the legal challenges presented by social media sites, search engines, electronic market sites, online commerce and the like and provides practical suggestions for adapting IP value to these new platforms.

A corporate crisis, be it a failed product or service, an allegation of criminal conduct, a major accounting error or restatement, or an employment-related scandal, can result in serious and even irreparable damage to a company's brand and bottom line through increased legal liability, business interruption and a loss of customer and investor confidence. This program, presented by Lanny Davis, Stephen Ryan and Eileen O’Connor, offers tips on what every General Counsel must consider to prevent and prepare for such a crisis, from ensuring regulatory compliance programs are vigorous and employees properly trained in complying with relevant legal requirements, to tips on 'handling' the company's media and internal communications in a way that satisfies legal requirements while saving a corporation's reputation and business plan.

For years, employers took for granted that it is legal to monitor an employee's every keystroke on work-issued computers, phones and PDAs. With the recent surge in employee privacy claims, some state and federal courts have sided with the employee, particularly where the electronic activity involves personal, rather than business-related, matters. Join Heather Egan Sussman and Stephen Erf, partners at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, who explain the recent developments in the legal framework for this privacy debate and what it means for the American workplace, particularly in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Quon, in which the Court unanimously ruled that the employer could lawfully review personal messages sent on work pagers, and the New Jersey Supreme Court in Stengart, in which the Court held that an employer improperly accessed an employee’s private email messages. The program includes practical advice about when and to what extent employers

Cloud computing, or the delivery of computing, storage and software functionality as a dynamically scalable service, is a new and rapidly expanding model of enterprise computing. While cloud computing bears similarities to traditional IT outsourcing and Internet hosting services, cloud computing represents a true paradigm shift presenting many new legal challenges which become ever more significant as enterprises of all sizes continue to utilize cloud computing for mission critical applications. Join Jason Haislmaier, a partner with the law firm of Holme, Roberts & Owen LLP and co-chair of the firm's IP, Technology & Media Practice, who discusses the cloud computing model, the major legal and practical issues presented by cloud computing, and suggests approaches to dealing with these issues. Topics include: • Developing contracting models for cloud services • Addressing privacy and data security issues in the cloud, including cross border data transfers • Establishing meaningful and measurable performance and service levels • Protecting trade secrets

In today’s world, in-house and outside counsel are often called upon to conduct investigations in the workplace. The topics run the gamut from sexual harassment to violations of the SEC rules to violations of conflict of interest or other policies. While the focus is often on getting to the “bottom of it”, finding the person to hold accountable and minimizing the risk of litigation, often overlooked are the various ethical issues that must be successfully navigated by attorneys who conduct these investigations. Join Louis DiLorenzo, the Chair of Bond, Schoeneck & King’s Labor and Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Group, as he discusses the ways to keep the investigation free of ethical issues. Topics include:  The lawyer’s duty to organizational constituents in the course of an investigation.  Restrictions on communications with represented and non-represented individuals.  Ethical and other pitfalls associated with certain investigative techniques (e.g., pretexting, tape

Today organizations are faced with an unprecedented surge in social media and networking activity by employees. Sites are being visited with increasing frequency by employees at home and at the workplace. There is now a developing body of labor and employment law which is winding its way through state and federal courts. Join Louis DiLorenzo, the Chair of Bond, Schoeneck & King’s Labor and Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Group, as he discusses the evolving rules of the road as social media invades the workplace. Topics include:  The legal impact of social media on recruitment.  Issues of discrimination, including textual harassment, resulting from social media.  Addressing lost productivity.  Disclosure of confidential information.  Issues and concerns to be addressed in an effective and lawful policy.

Most workers are well aware that every keystroke they make on work-issued computers, phones and PDAs can be monitored legally by their employers. But many do not know of the legal debate raging in courtrooms across the country about the degree to which an employer can also monitor electronic activity on personal devices, even where those devices may never have been connected to the employer's network. Heather Egan Sussman, Stephen D. Erf and Lisa Richards Rahilly, all from the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, explain the legal framework for this privacy debate and what it means for the workplace, and include practical advice about when and to what extent employers can use employees' electronic activities to make employment-related decisions like hiring and firing. NOTE to TX Attorneys: This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in

Massachusetts has enacted some of the most comprehensive state data security laws in the United States. The latest regulations take effect March 1, 2010, and all entities subject to these regulations must be in compliance by that date or risk substantial fines and penalties. As the March deadline looms, companies and their counsel throughout the United States are wrestling with the question of whether and to what extent these laws apply to their workplace—particularly if they do not do business in Massachusetts—because the Massachusetts Attorney General has consistently maintained that enforcement will not have geographic boundaries. This essentially means that if (1) an out-of-state business (2) has personal information of a Massachusetts resident, and (3) there is a breach of security of that information, the business can expect to be held accountable in Massachusetts for failures to comply with applicable Massachusetts laws. Join Heather Egan Sussman, a partner in McDermott Will & Emery LLP,

On May 19, 2009, the American Law Institute ("ALI") approved the Principles of the Law of Software Contracts (the "Principles"), which seek to "clarify and unify the law of software transactions.” However, the Principles would introduce a number of new concepts which are of concern to the software industry, and has led to strange alliances in opposition: Microsoft Corporation and the Linux Foundation, who are fierce competitors with radically different views of licensing, sent a joint letter to the ALI to express their concern about the provisions in the Principles and request a delay in their approval. The IT, Privacy & eCommerce Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel, which includes small and large corporate licensees as well as commercial licensors and open source distributors, also wrote to express its concern that the Principles may introduce cost and uncertainty, limit flexibility for businesses and consumers, and have a negative impact on the software

The pace of everyday events can leave attorneys with little time to reflect upon the ethical issues surrounding the information they send and receive. While many of the communications— meetings, video conferences, phone calls, e-mails, text messages, faxes, more e-mails, etc.— are routine, others can have significant legal consequences, for example, in a high-stakes contract negotiation, a sensitive internal investigation, or a bet-the-company litigation. Drawing on the experiences of both in-house and outside counsel, this program is a must for all attorneys. Join popular presenter Matt Rita, a partner at Ford & Harrison LLP, as he helps spot recurring ethical issues in communications and frames them in the context of the rules of professional responsibility. The topics covered include identifying (and remembering) the client in a contentious corporate setting, responding to requests for "off-the-record" advice, hitting "Reply All" when dealing with both represented and unrepresented parties, social networking with actual or