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

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,

One thing is clear in the current economy: Open source software adoption will happen within your organization or your client’s company (if it hasn’t already). Whether by mandate or necessity, companies of all types continue to deploy open source in increasingly vital roles, many of which traditionally have been handled by proprietary-licensed software. In this environment, companies can ill-afford to allow legal issues to hinder their ability to access and use open source software. Join Jason Haislmaier, a partner at Holme Roberts & Owen LLP, as he discusses the fast-evolving open source legal landscape and provides you with what you need to know to stay on top of the legal issues posed by these changes. Topics include: - The "BusyBox" lawsuits – While the first lawsuits filed in the U.S. seeking to enforce the GNU General Public License (GPL) have been settled, what lessons should you learn from these

In the current economy, companies are again looking to outsourcing as a means to cut costs and reduce overhead. For companies with existing outsourcing engagements, this means identifying opportunities to renegotiate agreements and gain increased efficiencies. Even companies that have in the past resisted outsourcing are now reconsidering in hopes of equipping their businesses to better deal with fluctuating markets. Success in outsourcing is not, however, guaranteed. Now more than ever, successful outsourcing requires that companies identify key issues and develop strategies to address and manage those issues in their outsourcing agreements and throughout their outsourcing engagements. Join Jason Haislmaier, a partner at Holme Roberts & Owen LLP, as he highlights and provides proven legal strategies for dealing with many key issues facing companies in outsourcing transactions today, including: - Structuring and negotiating statements of work and service levels - Identifying key contract issues for companies (and outsourcers) - Addressing privacy

You won’t want to miss this very important Ethics program, in which popular presenter Steve Bennett of Jones Day analyzes the ABA’s August 5, 2008 Formal Opinion 08-451 concerning a lawyer’s ethical obligations when outsourcing legal and nonlegal support services. Topics include: 1. Background on outsourcing trend 2. Ethics issues in outsourcing 3. The ABA opinion 4. Practical implications