Question: I am new to in-house practice and my boss, the company’s general counsel, has asked me to develop a plan for a risk assessment of our company, which is a medium-sized multinational organization. The GC said the company has never conducted a risk assessment and that this will be part of a larger risk management plan that we will need to devise for the company. Does ACC have any resources to help me get started on this?

Answer: Yes, ACC has many resources addressing risk management and more specifically, risk assessments and best practices for corporate counsel in evaluating their company’s risk levels and approaches to mitigating risk. To get you started, try the following resources:

• Framework for Conducting Effective Compliance and Ethics Risk Assessments
• Tips and Insights: Abel Martinez Approaches Risk Management by Teaching and Showing Respect
• Risk Management and HIPAA Compliance for Corporate Counsel
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Obligations and the Lawyer’s Role in ERM
• Performing a Privacy Risk Assessment
• Sample Risk Assessment Template - Prudential Financial
• ACC Quick Poll (results): Which method does your organization use most often to conduct risk assessments?

For more legal resources, go to www.acc.com/legalresources.
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If you’ve made great strides in improving the value of legal spending, you could be recognized as an ACC Value Champion. This program identifies, acknowledges and celebrates the accomplishments of law department and law firm leaders who have implemented pricing and other management practices advocated as part of the ACC Value Challenge. Nominations are due by March 15, 2012. To submit your story, or for more information visit www.acc.com/valuechampions.
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It's the beginning of the year, so if you haven't renewed your ACC membership, do so online at www.acc.com/renew to stay connected.
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Featured QuickCounsels:

• Renewable Energy Regimes in Canada
• Litigation Issues in Assets Purchase Agreements
• Contract Training of the Non-Attorney

With over 1,100 CLOs responding, ACC’s 2011 Chief Legal Officer Survey offers useful benchmarking information on demographics, staffing, managing expenses, outside counsel spending, the changing role of the CLO, expectations for the coming year and more. Survey results are available for members to download for free. Download the report here.
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The ACC Alliance brings you exclusive discounts on legal services from a select set of providers. Here are three featured partners for this month:

• Copyright Clearance Center offers a simple, easy-to-use copyright solution, CCC’s Annual Copyright License, which makes it easy for employees to share content internally throughout the organization while respecting the rights of content creators. ACC Members can take advantage of a first-time customer discount on CCC annual licenses, RightSphere® Premium and ReadyImages services.
• Jordan Lawrence offers Assessment for Records Risks services that provide any sized company with the benchmarks, best practices and analysis needed for making cutting all related costs and risks. ACC members can get guaranteed a 45-day project completion, a 10% discount and expanded privacy datamaps and risk reporting.
• Intralinks offers corporate legal departments a better way to manage the exchange and storage of their company’s confidential and sensitive information. ACC members receive a 20 percent discount on all new subscription contracts.

Find out more about these featured ACC Alliance Partners and others at www.acc.com/alliance.
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• **NEW: ACC's Corporate Counsel Institute Canada (CCIC):  a new opportunity for new to in-house counsel to learn directly from some of Canada's most accomplished general counsel and CLOs how to build a successful in-house career.  Visit www.acc.com/ccic for more information.
• Knowledge Management and Collaboration – January 18
• ACC Webcasts: Earn CLE/CPD from the comfort of your home or office with desktop learning from ACC. For a complete list of our upcoming webcasts, click here.  For more information and a complete list of educational programs, please visit www.acc.com/education.

Looking for ways to drive value in client/firm relationships? Don’t miss out on ACC’s Legal Service Management Workshop (February 28–29, 2012, Dallas, TX; or May 2–3, 2012, Minneapolis, MN). This two-day, intensive executive workshop brings together law department and law firm leaders who have begun to implement value-based fee structures, and equips them with the management skills and tools needed to support these fee structures. Past participants have reported making real progress in improving value in client/firm relationships.  Learn more and register at www.acc.com/legalservicemanagement.
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Mini MBA for In-house Counsel

• March 5–7
• April 25–27 (Los Angeles, CA)
• June 4–6
• June 6–8

Advanced Mini MBA for In-house Counsel

• March 6–8

Seats are filling up quickly. Secure your spot now before they are sold out. All programs take place in Boston, MA unless otherwise specified. For more information, visit www.acc.com/businessedu.
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ACC is now accepting program ideas for its 2012 Annual Meeting to be held on September 30 – October 3, 2012 at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, FL. New this year: All program ideas must be submitted through ACC’s committees. The deadline for all submissions is Wednesday, January 11, 2012 by 11:59 PM PST. To learn more, go to www.acc.com/am12.
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Learn more about media coverage of ACC when you visit ACC in the News, including:

• ACC Ontario Chapter Hosts 'Madly Curiouser' for In-house Counsel (Canadian Lawyer Blog: Legal Feeds)
• ACC's CEO Shares Her Journey (Washington Business Journal)
• Combating the Whistleblower Bounty (Canadian Lawyer InHouse)
• Too Much Office Chatter? What A Business Owner Can Do (The Huffington Post)
• A Spotlight on Successful Collaborations To Drive Value: ACC Value Champions  (Metropolitan Corporate Counsel)
• When the Penalty for GCs and Other Execs is Career Death (The National Law Journal)

If you have any questions, or wish to receive additional information about items included in this month's newsletter, please contact the Legal Resources Department at legalresources@acc.com or the Membership Department at membership@acc.com.
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