ACC Update - July 12, 2005 (Plain Text Version)

Question of the Month

I’ve been in my current in-house job for a few years now and am interested in moving to a more senior level position. What can I do to make the most of my in-house career?

I’ve been in my current in-house job for a few years now and am interested in moving to a more senior level position. What can I do to make the most of my in-house career?

ACC has the most comprehensive career resources for in-house counsel. Here are just a few:

•    Career Options of In-house Counsel (InfoPAK)
•   Practical Career Progression Tips for the In-house Attorney (Webcast Replay)
•    From Lawyer to Business Partner: Career Advancement in Corporate Law Departments (Docket Article)
•    Inhouse Jobline (Job listings)

Upcoming Webcasts

Hidden Cancer in Unmonitored Computer Code—Defensive and Offensive Tactics Regarding Software Copyright and Trade Secret Protection
Thursday, July 14, 12:00-1:00 PM (EDT); 5:00-6:00 PM (GMT)
Find out how to protect your company’s intellectual property.

The Corporate Take-Back: Analysis of Current Practice in Litigation Readiness and a Proposed Path Forward
Thursday, July 21, 1:00-2:00 PM (EDT); 6:00-7:00 PM (GMT)
This session addresses the trend of in-house counsel taking back control of key litigation responsibilities.

In-house Malpractice Insurance—Should You Consider It?
Thursday, July 28, 1:00-2:00 PM (EDT); 6:00-7:00 PM (GMT)

What other topics should we be addressing in our webcasts? Are there ways we can improve? Please let us know what you would like to see by completing our webcast survey.
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ACC Europe Conference Report

The Association of Corporate Counsel Europe (ACC Europe) hosted its annual conference 19-21 June in Brussels. The theme of the conference, “Lawyers Across Borders: Succeeding in Transnational Business,” attracted in-house lawyers from major corporations, including The Body Shop, Alcatel Space, McDonald's, AOL Europe, Nokia Corporation, BP, Altria, Apple, GE, Starwood Hotels, Pfizer, and British Telecom. Attendees selected from a range of programs and roundtable discussions on such topics as managing a legal vs. business role, managing a multinational legal department, corporate governance across borders, opening and operating foreign offices and subsidiaries and outside counsel management on a global scale. The opening plenary, “Will Class Actions Come to Europe?,” provoked much discussion, as did luncheon speakers Wubbo de Boer, president, Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, and Nathalie Berger, administrator, European Commission Unit on Law, Corporate Governance and Financial Crime. Get more information about the conference and take advantage of program materials.
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Check Out This Month’s ACC Docket

Looking for answers to technology procurement, ediscovery, and IP issues for new products? The July/August Docket can help you address these and other pressing issues:

“20 Practical Ways to Make Large Procurements a Success” guides you through the legal and business aspects of a large technology procurement project.

“Streamlining Ediscovery Costs” gives you the tools to proactively make edsicovery more predictable, less complex, and altogether less likely to cost your company more than it should.

“Basic IP Issues for Taking Your Product to Market” addresses IP issues for each layer of a product's packaging.

Check out these and many more timely and practical articles in the ACC Docket.

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ACC’s Annual Meeting: Repeat Sessions Announced

Due to overwhelming demand, four sessions at the upcoming ACC Annual Meeting will be running more than once. The sessions are: “Best Practices for Building an Effective Corporate Compliance Program,” “250 Things You Should Know as In-house Counsel,” “Practical Tools for Managing & Negotiating Today’s Contracts,” and “Employment Law Year in Review.” Repeat sessions are just another reason for you to attend this year’s Annual Meeting. See the complete schedule of programs. Or you can register now and save.
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Take ACC’s Benchmarking Survey on Compliance and Risk Assessment

Currently, corporate counsel are lacking information about the best ways to identify, prioritize, and measure the potential impact of risk areas for possible criminal misconduct in their companies. Help us fill this gap by completing the benchmarking survey. The results will help you to improve your own risk assessment activities and will provide a benchmark of the effectiveness of your compliance and ethics programs against other departments by size, industry, and operation. Participants will also receive a free executive summary of the results. Take the survery now at http://acca.corpedia.com.

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National Community Service Day—Get Involved

On Saturday, September 24, ACC is supporting National Public Lands Day as part of our community service program. Public Lands Day is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy. Nineteen ACC Chapters are participating in activities that focus on giving back to their community by helping to preserve local parks and other public lands. Please check out the list of participating chapters and plan to get involved.

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Save on Records Management Costs

Jordan Lawrence, an ACC Alliance Partner, announces its new records management service called CORE:HQ. This system is designed to manage your existing records management program while reducing legal risks and operating costs dramatically. ACC member companies can save up to 30 percent off the standard pricing by starting a CORE:HQ project before July 30, 2005. Contact Jordan Lawrence today at 866.527.3310 or visit their website for more information. [return to top]