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| Question of the Month |
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Cross Border Commerce: U.S. Export Controls and Regulations I am the GC for a small global company involved in selling IT services. We recently decided to expand our market to France; however, I am getting pushback from our French Sales Manager regarding our standard form contracts. I understand that France follows a civil law system instead of a common law system, but if I have the contracts vetted by a French law firm to make sure we reference the correct laws, what is wrong with using our form contracts translated into French? I am being told that the contracts are too long and too detailed. Can ACC point me to resources to help me understand this issue?
Answer: Yes, we have a number of resources to help you better understand the difference between civil law contracts and common law contracts. In general, civil law contracts tend to be shorter and less “wordy” than those of common law contracts, due to the difference in the methodology of each system. These different methodologies result in different approaches to writing the contracts that will govern the commercial relationship. • InfoPAKSM: Doing Business Internationally • ACC’s New to In-house Institute: Contract Negotiations, Drafting & Administration • ACC Annual Meeting: Differences between Civil Law & Common Law Countries in Drafting & Negotiating International Contracts • ACC Docket: Overseas Ventures and Adventures • PLC Cross Border Article: Doing Business in France • ACC Europe Annual Conference: Differences in Civil & Common Law: Contracts Back to top |
| ACC Quick Poll |
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ACC Launches New Flash Poll for You to Share Your Perspective and See Reaction from Your Peers To get a pulse on what is on the minds of in-house counsel, ACC has a new interactive feature — a quick poll for members -- on ACC.com. Each week, you can take a moment to answer a new question and to share your feedback on a particular topic. You can instantly see how your results compare with your colleagues. ACC’s inaugural quick poll looks at the question -- What Do You Believe is the Most Significant Benefit That Your Law Department Provides To Your Company? Go to www.acc.com and vote on the new ACC Web Poll. There will be a new survey question, weekly. A monthly tally of all results will be posted in subsequent issues of MMU. Don’t forget to vote! Back to top |
| Resources |
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ACC’s 10th Annual Chief Legal Officer Survey Results Now Available From an uptick in hiring, to increasing workloads, to CLO job satisfaction, the 10th Annual Chief Legal Officer Survey has findings on all these issues and more. This insightful survey report is a “must have” for successful benchmarking, trend spotting and budgeting. The survey results, complimentary to ACC members, are available for $299 at www.acc.com/closurvey09. Back to top |
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Communication is Key – Join an ACC eGroup Today! ACC’s eGroups allow you to communicate with a network of in-house counsel about specific issues. You can comment on new regulations, post questions and access responses. This global e-community captures a wealth of knowledge and is just the resource to gather all that you need from one source. Here’s an example of a popular discussion question from your professional ACC eGroup community: Question: I am interested in your experience with a social media policy, which requires employees to "friend" the employer (or otherwise allow it access) as a condition to being allowed to make postings concerning the employer.Visit www.acc.com/community to join an ACC eGroup today. Back to top |
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ACC Newsstand: Access Searchable Legal News ACC Newsstand is a daily newsfeed of up-to-date legal analysis from the world’s leading law firms, as well as a searchable library of topical and in-depth resources. You can search ACC Newsstand archives by topic, area of practice, jurisdiction and particular legal matters to get quick access to the information that is most relevant to you and your legal department. For the latest legal news, visit ACC Newsstand now. If you have questions, please contact Ellen Zavian. Back to top |
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ACC QuickCounsel – European Resources Specifically For You Downsizing in Europe, Executive Mobility- Transferring Employees Between Countries, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Public Officials in International Business Transactions are just three of the many ACC QuickCounsel available to help you perform your work in Europe. |
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PLC Cross-Border Resources Available to ACC Members ACC brings you resources from Practical Law Company (PLC), including a fully indexed and searchable publications portal, classified by topic and jurisdiction. You can search for resources by country, or choose multiple jurisdictions. Available PLC publications are the PLC journal Cross-border Quarterly, and Cross-border Handbooks, which include detailed country analysis for various legal topics and industries. Back to top |
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Add “Author” to Your Résumé Have expertise in a particular subject area, or a presentation or article you could rework into an ACC resource? Keep your skills sharp and help out your fellow ACC members. If you don’t have time to write a full-blown article, share your insights through one of our popular “Quick Reference” resources (read: short, to the point), such as Top Ten or QuickCounsel. We are looking content that focuses on European topics. Contact Dawn Crowell if you are interested. |
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The ACC Alliance – Premier Service Providers with Exclusive Savings ACC Alliance partners are companies that you can trust for quality service at exclusive savings. There is no need to look any further; we’ve done the work for you. Here are this month’s two featured partners:
Mindcrest: Mindcrest reviews and organizes documents, as appropriate for relevance, materiality, confidentiality and privilege in litigation and government investigations. ACC members receive a 10% discount on all Mindcrest Litigation Services projects exceeding $50,000. Learn more. Robert Half Legal: Robert Half Legal provides attorneys, paralegals and legal support professionals on a temporary, project and full-time basis. ACC members can save up to $1,000 when you hire a project attorney or $500 when you hire a project paralegal. Learn more. For more on these and the other ACC Alliance partners, visit www.acc.com/alliance. Back to top |
| Membership |
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Help Us Expand ACC’s Community of In-house Counsel Members -– and Win a Prize You can help us grow our network of in-house counsel by letting your colleagues know how much your ACC membership means to you—and why it should matter to them. By recruiting a member during ACC’s “Everybody Wins” membership drive, you will help us to widen the network of in-house counsel around the world. You can win a prize for EVERY member you recruit. |
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In-house Jobline: Valuable Resources for Your Career ACC’s In-house Jobline is the premier source for in-house counsel career options and professional development resources. With hundreds of in-house positions posted by top companies, you can find the new position that best suits you. There are also valuable resources available including Career FAQs and Ask The Career Expert to help you grow in your current position. Whether you’re looking for upward or onward mobility, take the next step at ACC’s In-house Jobline. |
| Education |
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ACC Europe’s 17th Annual Conference 2010 30 May – 1 June | Intercontinental Hotel | Vienna, Austria The ACC Europe Annual Conference continues to represent an unparalleled opportunity to network and exchange ideas with your peers in a pan-European and global perspective. This year’s event, “Strategic Risk Management: Art or Science?” can help you determine how to mitigate risk and demonstrate leadership. Please join us at the Intercontinental Hotel in Vienna, Austria from Sunday, 30 May – Tuesday, 1 June 2010. Take advantage of early bird rates before they expire on 29 March. Register at www.acc.com/vienna. |
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In-house Training Programs • ACC Europe Zurich Dinner Series – Zurich 18 March 2010 – 18:00 UTC • How to Protect your Company's Name and Create New Names (brand, domain, trade) in our Saturated Digital World – Neuilly sur Seine 8 April 2010 – 07:30 UTC • EU Competition Law Update – Madrid 21 April 2010 – 08:00 UTC • Corporate and Tax Implications of the New Regime for Corporate Structure Changes – Madrid 11 May 2010 – 7:15 UTC • EU Competition Law Update 2010 – Frankfurt May 2010 – 11:00 UTC • ACC Europe Annual Conference – Vienna 30 May – 1 June 2010 • EU Competition Law Update 2010 – Paris 10 June 2010 – 07:15 UTC • EU Competition Law Update 2010 – Brussels 15 June 2010 – 07:15 UTC Back to top |
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Upcoming Webcasts Earn CLE credits from the comfort of your home or office with desktop learning from ACC. Here are ACC’s upcoming webcasts: • eDiscovery Trends: Outsourcing vs. In-Sourcing - March 23, 2010 – 12:00 UTC • International Privacy Update – March 30, 2010 – 14:00 UTC • Employee vs. Independent Contractor: Best Practices for Preventing Worker Misclassification - March 31, 2010 – 14:00 UTC• EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Phase 2 - April 7, 2010 – 14:00 UTC • “What Do You Mean We’re Not Covered?!” – Avoiding the Latest D&O Insurance Issues - April 22, 2010 – 14:00 UTC Back to top |
| Advocacy |
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Leverage the ACC Member Network With the ACC Value Index Did you know that when you are checking out the 2,000+ firm reviews in the ACC Value Index (AVI), you can contact any reviewer to initiate a direct conversation? You can talk to fellow in-house counsel about their evaluations of more than 650 firms, with office locations in nearly 35 countries around the world. To enhance this member tool, we encourage you to keep increasing the number of law firm reviews. Also, when browsing the AVI, you can read a host of helpful comments about the firms’ (and specific attorney’s) expertise, responsiveness, efficiency and cost management. Visit the AVI to leverage the ACC network. While you’re there, contribute your reviews of firms that you engage. Here’s added incentive: AVI reviews contributed by Wednesday, March 31 will be entered in a drawing and the contributing member will receive a complimentary ACC membership ($260 value) or a $260 Amazon gift certificate. |
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ACC Value Challenge® NEW Resources and Tools: Find over 30 new online resources featuring value practices that firms and law departments are implementing and practical ‘how-to’ ideas at ACC Value Challenge Resources. Recent additions include How to Prepare a Litigation Plan and Budget and Secondments, Meaningful Budgets & Fixed Fee Arrangements for Special Projects- Value Practices at Johnson Matthey Inc. To see all resources, visit www.acc.com/valuechallenge/resources. Back to top |
| ACC News & Announcements |
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International Law Office European Counsel Awards Nominees Announced The International Law Office (ILO), in association with ACC Europe, has announced the nominees for their 3rd Annual European Counsel awards. The ILO European Counsel Awards recognize lawyers around the world for demonstrable achievements across a full spectrum of in-house responsibility. Nearly 90 individuals and companies out of 3,000 nominations were selected for the awards’ shortlist. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner and awards ceremony to be held in London on Wednesday, 17 March. For a full list of the ILO European Counsel Awards 2010 nominees, visit the awards Web site at www.europeancounselawards.com. Back to top |
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IAM’s IP Business Congress 20–22 June -– Special Discount for ACC Members The IP Business Congress will take place in Munich, Germany at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on 20-22 June. This gathering focuses on managing your IP assets and understanding the regulatory and business challenges facing today’s CIPO’s. Speakers and attendees are from companies around the world, with a majority of attendees comprised of your in-house colleagues. Last year, 300+ IP thought leaders attended, so don’t miss this opportunity. For more information and to register, please click here www.ipbusinesscongress.com/2010/. Due to ACC support, we have been able to secure ACC members a 10% discount off of the registration price. Use discount code 10ANO to receive your discount. |
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ACC in the News Learn more about media coverage of ACC when you visit ACC in the News. Read the latest articles about:
• Look In-House, Young Law Bloggers: Jobs Are on the Way (Wall Street Journal) • Are Things Looking Up? ACC Survey Suggests In-House Lawyers Are Poised to Hire (Corporate Counsel) • In-House Attorneys Flex Might In 2010: Survey (Law360) • New ACC Research Hints at Upturn in In-House Recruitment Market in 2010 (Legal Week) For a complete listing of ACC’s media coverage, visit ACC in the News. If you have any questions, or wish to receive additional information about items included in this month's newsletter, please contact Marthea Davis at 202.293.4103, ext. 363 or via e-mail at davis@acc.com. Back to top |
