Message from the Chair
“Membership Has Its Privileges”

Greetings SLD Members:

Fall is upon us and I hope that some of you were able to take some time off this summer to relax. As many of us are getting back into the swing of things, a new “school year” brings with it new educational opportunities. We highlight some of those opportunities in this quarterly newsletter with three webcasts, one monthly meeting with associated Quick Hit and one survey on the slate for September.

In reading through the eGroups postings, I have noticed that many of you are not aware of one of our most valuable resources:  Meritas, the sponsor for the Small Law Department (SLD) Committee. Meritas has sponsored our Committee since the inception of the committee-sponsorship program (over 10 years) and has been involved with ACC for about 15 years. This month, Meritas is offering SLD members who have used a Meritas firm an opportunity to win one of three $50 gift cards in a drawing for SLD members completing the Meritas Survey. For those of you unfamiliar with Meritas, it is a nonprofit, global network of regional firms specializing in various areas of law. I have personally visited Meritas’ headquarters and met with many of the firms and found both Meritas and its members firms to be a wonderful resource and complement to our SLD members’ needs for counsel worldwide. Meritas regularly vets its member firms for quality and customer service and the effort is made to insure consistent and responsive service by all member firms. As a reminder, Meritas offers 30 minutes of free consultation to any SLD member. You can take advantage of that by reaching out to Kim Heinrich, our Meritas liaison. Just let her know that you are an SLD member.

Finally, I encourage everyone to attend the Annual Meeting (AM) events planned by SLD. Keep your eye out for future announcements and invitations for our evening party and make sure you sign up for the SLD Annual Meeting Sessions and Committee Business Lunch (on Oct 20th) through your ACC Annual Meeting Registration. I look forward to seeing our members in Boston. We have included a list of AM sessions sponsored or co-sponsored by SLD in this newsletter. If you cannot make it to Boston this year, please join us on the monthly calls (second Thursday of each month) for a legal quickhit and prize drawing.

Sincerely,

Maryrose Delahunty

Small Law Department Committee Chair
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Meritas Survey and Prize Drawing

The SLD sponsor Meritas is interested in finding out how many of our SLD members have used Meritas in the past five (5) years and also in members’ feedback on the Meritas firms they have used. To be eligible for a drawing of three $50 gift cards offered by Meritas, you must have used a Meritas firm in the last five years. If you are unsure as to whether or not you have used a Meritas firm, a list of Meritas firms (globally and domestically) can be found here: http://docs.meritas.org/Resources/MeritasRoster.pdf

Please take the five-minute survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Meritas-ACCSLD by Sept 21st to be entered in the prize drawing.
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G’Day Mate (Welcome Webcast for new Australian Members and Current ACC Members)

As some of you may or may not recall, ACC has partnered with ACLA (the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association). As welcome to our newest member from “Down Under,” SLD along with its sponsor Meritas is offering a webcast comparing Australian and U.S.Law in a handful of areas. The webcast is open tothe public, so feel free to invite your peers.

Details are provided below:

Sept 22, 2015 (7:00 pm to 8:15 pm ET)/ Sept 23, 2015 (9:00 am to 10:15 am Sydney time)

Title: “Finding Common Ground: Comparing Corporate, Contract & Employment Practices in Australia and the US”

Description: The program will discuss the following topics:

· Overcoming the language barrier: Translating Australian "Plain English" into American legalese (and vice versa)

· Choosing the right corporate structure: Distinctions between US and Australian company structures

· Contract terms: Different approaches used in Australia and the US

· Comparing employee non-compete arrangements in Australian and US companies

· Secured Property: Registering your security interests against assets located in the US and Australia
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Upcoming Events

EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Asia) Quarterly Call

Sept 16, 2015 (10 am to 11 am ET)

Title: Challenges and new opportunities arising from the Recent Greek crisis – Exposure, protection and perspectives for foreign corporations and investors

Description: Greece has recently entered into a new chapter in the financial crisis it is facing for the last 6 years, which brought about, amongst other, capital controls, complicated new processes of dealing with the  banks, additional financial challenges for the local corporations  as well as changes in various fields of the economy and the regulatory framework. Foreign corporations that have Greek assets or deal with Greek partners and counterparties come up with ways to realize their plans within this new challenging environment and be protected from such risks and exposure. At the same time, the need for immediate new recapitalization of the Greek banks,  restructuring and refinancing of business entities, completion of already initiated privatization projects and the launching of new ones in all sectors, including real estate and infrastructure, present new investing opportunities for foreign companies and international players. The governing party, that was negative to privatizations, has accepted the need for realizing such projects, reducing thus seriously the existing, until recently, legal risk for foreign investors, given the fact that at this point all major parties in parliament are in favor of privatizations. The presentation will focus on the interesting possibilities for investment that emerge from bank recapitalization and privatization needs, but also on protection mechanisms against the aforementioned new challenges.

MERITAS CAPABILITY SEMINAR (ONLINE)

Thursday – Sept 17, 2015 (10:00 – 12:00 PM CT) 

The Small Law Department Committee Sponsor (MERITAS) is offering the opportunity for SLD Member to register and participate in a Webcast offered to Meritas Member firms.

Register here for the following topic: REGISTRATION

Topic: “How Businesses Can Benefit from the New CANADA / EU Free Trade Agreement”

The Government of Canada and the European Union signed a free trade agreement on September 26th, 2014. Because of its widespread implications and the scope of its implementation, the CANADA / EU Free Trade Agreement represents a unique opportunity for companies to increase their transatlantic bilateral trade.

Join us for an online webinar to discover how businesses can take advantage of the new agreement for trading goods, services and investments. We will further touch on the expected benefits from an immigration perspective.

SLD Members in ACC News

SLD would like to extend a note of congratulations to the following committee members who have been nominated to the ACC Board of Directors.

·      Jeremy Ladle

·      Nicolle Schippers

·      Jeffrey Wheeler

Members can view the formal announcement in the July/August 2015 Docket.

WELL DONE – Jeremy, Jeff and Nicolle!
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Annual Meeting Sessions:

Session 202 – “When Common Law Isn’t So Common: Drafting Enforceable Agreements in Civil Law and Other Jurisdictions” 

(Oct 19th - Mon 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM)  

Session 310 – “Dealing with Multiple Policies and Procedures”

(Oct 19th - Mon  2:30 PM - 4:00 PM)

Session 702 – “Real Estate Leasing Agreements Primer”

(Oct 20th -   Tue   2:30 PM - 4:00 PM)  

Session 708 – “Tools and Tips to Maximize Efficiency in the SLD”  
(Oct 20th - Tue 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM)  

Session 804 - A New World: Bankruptcy Law for the Non-bankruptcy Lawyer  
(Oct 20th - Tue  4:30 PM - 6:00 PM)  

Session 902 - Peace of Mind: Risk Management and Insurance for In-house Counsel

(Oct 21st - Wed 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM)     

Session 1004 - Successfully Integrating a Newly Acquired Company  

(Oct 21st - Wed  11:00 AM - 12:30 PM)
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Recent Quick Hits and Webcasts

July Legal Quickhit: “Your Secret's Safe in Europe. Or is it?”

Description: From Colonel Saunders’ recipe of 11 herbs and spices to Google’s complex search algorithms, trade secrets have long been the lifeblood of innovative companies. Unlike patents, trade secrets never expire and there’s never a risk of giving the game away by publishing. However, a leak can be disastrous. According to the International Chamber of Commerce, US federal cases of trade secret theft doubled between 1995 and 2004, and are expected to double again by 2017. Business is international and it is important to consider how your trade secrets can be protected abroad. How does the UK and Europe treat trade secrets? Are they recognized in law? Are they protected? Our speaker will endeavor to answer those questions in this program. He will examine both the current law and the forthcoming European Directive on the protection of know-how and business information, offering practical tips to improve your trade secret protection.  (VIEW ARCHIVE)

Presented by: Robert Lands, Partner and Head of IP & Commercial,

Firm: Howard Kennedy LLP (A Meritas Firm)

August Legal Quickhit: “Affirmative Action Compliance:  Recent Developments, Increased Burdens and Greater Risks.”

Thursday, August 13, 2015 at 3:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM GMT

Description: What do legal counsel in Small Law Departments need to know about Affirmative Action requirements applicable to government contractors and their subcontractors? This presentation will address this subject and provide an overview of hot topics in the area including Affirmative Action regulations regarding protected veterans and individuals with disabilities, the President’s Executive Order on Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, and the Executive Order Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

(VIEW ARCHIVE)

Presented by: William H. Pickering, Shareholder

Firm: Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. (A Meritas Firm)

September Monthly Call and Legal Quickhit: “Squeezing Blood From a Turnip: How to Respond to a Data Breach When You Have Limited Resources” (Click on Title to register)

September 10, 2015 at 3:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM GMT

Description: It’s easy for companies to be overwhelmed by the world of big data, and even more overwhelmed by the ins and outs of preventing and responding to a data breach. This program will provide you with the state of the law on data breaches, and practical advice for how legal departments can work with their business partners to mitigate and manage the risks associated with data, especially when the legal department and/or the business partners have limited resources.

Presented by: Tedrick Housh of Lathrop & Gage LLP

***Members interested in recommending future topics for Webcasts may contact our Webcast Chair, Kristen Chittenden***

 
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Subcommittee News and call for topic ideas, volunteers, authors:

Membership – SLD Chapter Liaisons

SLD is actively looking for members willing to serve as “chapter liaisons” to help convey committee information to the chapter level and to help in planning local joint events for SLD members. We are looking to coordinate more events with Chapters for SLD members. If you are interested in being an SLD Chapter Liaison, please email us at sld@acc.com for a description of the position.

Docket/Top 10

SLD members are a prolific group and we are always looking for more aspiring or current authors. If you are interested in authoring or co-authoring an ACC Docket Article or Top 10 List for the ACC Website, please contact our Docket/Top 10 Chair, Elyse Beidner.

Recent Articles in the ACC Docket by and about SLD Members

The 12th Teammate – The Role of the Sports GC by *Norman Wain (July/Aug 2015)

Work It Out: Developing Emotional Intelligence Without Breaking a Sweat by *Stephen E. Roth (Jul/Aug 2015)

Small Law: Traveling Light by *Maryrose Delahunty (July/Aug 2015)

Once More Unto the Breach: Why and How to be Ready for a Data Breach by *Robert Jett III and Peter Sloan (Sept 2015)

Creating an ROI for Information Governance with No Budget by *Linda G. Sharp (Sept 2015)

Engaging Your Network – Lisa Sotir (Sept 2015)

Yazaki North America Inc. – Building a Best in Class Legal Department (*Lois Elizabeth Bingham)

Lead the Way: Decide. Design. Determine. Do. Duplicate by *Whitnie Wiley (Sept 2015)

Small Law: Please, Not Another Compliance Column by *Jeffrey Wheeler (Sept 2015)

(*SLD Members)

Webpage

You can access SLD resources and news at our Committee Webpage. We plan to be doing some remodeling of our Webpage this year. Stay tuned for the changes. If you have any suggestions for information that you would like to see, please contact our Webpage Chair, Matthew Hitchcock.
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Sponsor's Corner

Meritas is honored to be the Small Law Committee Sponsor. We have appreciated the opportunity to work with committee members over the past 10+ years to create resources that help make your jobs easier. Please contact the Small Law Department Committee (sld@acc.com), if you have an idea for a collaborative SLD/Meritas project in 2015.


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