As the pressures on in-house counsel are mounting and budgets are being slashed, it is essential to ensure that you and your team are providing value to the rest of the business. Our eminent speakers will offer you top tips on how best to adapt to the increasing demands of the commercial world. The regulatory landscape is changing, with greater emphasis being placed on good corporate governance. Our March webinar will give you practical guidance on how to deal with the different regulators, while our May webinar will cover best practice in corporate governance.
Each of our webinars is presented by expert industry speakers providing you not only with an update on the latest legal developments but offering you practical tips and take-home advice.
Forthcoming Webinars
Here is the schedule of forthcoming webinars for this practice area.
On Demand Webinars
Here is a list of previously broadcast webinars that are now available on demand.
18th May 2012 12:30
Employment law for non-specialist in-house counsel - the update
In-house counsel are often called upon to advise the HR function within the company, making it essential to stay abreast of all the recent developments within employment law.
With the default retirement age being abolished, in many cases employees can now decide when to retire. However, employers can still impose retirement in cases where it is 'objectively justified' as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. If employers cannot do so, their actions will amount to unlawful discrimination on the basis of age. If challenged, they may need to defend their actions at a tribunal.
Now is the time to ensure that you have the requisite knowledge to avoid falling foul of these rules.
This webinar will cover:
• Update on recent legislative and case law developments
• The new retirement age
• Agency workers – six months on
• Trends in in-house counsel support for HR
8th Jun 2012 12:30
How to manage outsourcing effectively
Outsourcing can save your business money, offer greater efficiency and flexibility and provide you with access to outside expertise and technology. However, according to Business Link, as many as 50% of outsourcing deals end badly. It is therefore vital to manage outsourcing effectively, analysing the risks it can pose and its potential impact on the wider business.
Our speakers will offer you their practical insight into what to consider when deciding to outsource any function. They will provide top tips on how to manage implementation of the project from procurement to benchmarking.
This webinar will cover:
• What to consider when deciding to outsource any function
• Impact and risk assessment on:
- Policy
- Process
• Staff/workforce
• Other third party suppliers
• Data protection and security
• Regulatory compliance
- Reputation
• Implementation:
- Procurement process
- Financial management/flexibility
- Project management
- Governance controls
• How to measure quality, delivery, costs and user experience against benchmarks and targets
• Pitfalls to avoid / key risk areas
2nd Jul 2012 12:30
The Bribery Act - one year on, lessons learnt
How best can you ensure compliance with the Bribery Act 2010?
The Bribery Act 2010 created a new corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery by those working on behalf of a business. This includes both domestic and foreign employees, agents and subsidiaries. The penalty is an unlimited fine. In its defence a business has to prove that it has placed ‘adequate policies and procedures’ to prevent bribery from taking place.
Our eminent speakers will examine how global companies are responding to the risks introduced by the Bribery Act, while putting them in context, providing you with practical tips on how to stay fully compliant with the new law.
This webinar will cover:
• The UK Bribery Act and global anti-corruption enforcement – recent developments and cases
• Putting the risks in context - how global companies are responding to the risks posed by:
- engagement of agents and intermediaries, and joint ventures partnerships
- demands for facilitation payments
- offering or accepting corporate hospitality, and gifts
• Compliance and setting controls in companies – best practice
• Proceeds of crime considerations for global companies
21st Sep 2012 12:30
Strategies to maximise the effectiveness of your team
The role of in-house counsel entails its own challenges which differ from lawyers in private practice. It involves understanding and aligning yourself and your team with the wider commercial aims of the business. A survey conducted by Nabarro found that 99% of in-house counsel questioned saw this function as either important or very important for their role. It is also widely seen as the single most important factor in senior management’s recognition of the value of the legal team.
Our experienced speakers will guide you through the best ways to align your legal team to the wider aims of the organisation and give you tips on how to ensure that your team shows value to the rest of business.
This webinar will cover:
• Aligning with corporate and commercial objectives
• How to attract and retain talent
• Team building and development, including establishing training programmes
• Showing value of your team to the rest of the organisation
• How to position yourself within your organisation to influence decisions and build relationships
• Financial management – doing more with less and managing external spend
25th Oct 2012 12:30
Managing your online presence - legal considerations
In the modern world, it is impossible for a business to survive without an online presence. However this presents a plethora of legal risks.
The European Commission has amended the e-Privacy Directive to require implied consent from website users before recording any personal information about them in cookies. Whilst the Information Commissioner's Office has promised to help non-compliant websites rather than take legal action against them, it is estimated that thousands of UK websites are not complying with the new rules.
Our eminent speakers will update you on the practical impact of the new regulation and offer you top tips to address these challenges.
This webinar will cover:
• Data protection – new EC Directive
• EU cookies legislation and its practical impact
• Online security
• Social media and reputation protection
• Handling personal data
• Data retention
28th Nov 2012 12:30
Protecting your intellectual property
Innovation is at the heart of many successful businesses whether they sell products or services. Protecting this is essential for maintaining your market position and ensuring that competitors do not take advantage of your investment in research and development. It will also enable your brand to be differentiated from the rest.
This webinar will offer you practical tips on how best to protect your intellectual property and what to do if you discover an infringement.
This webinar will cover:
• Introduction to the law relating to copyright, patents, trademarks, trading styles and logos
• How to carry out an IP audit
• Protecting your intellectual property
o What needs to be registered
o What you need to do if you discover an infringement
• How to exploit your intellectual property
6th Feb 2013 12:30
Adapting to the demands of the commercial world
Private practice lawyers moving in-house need to adapt to the demands of a commercial world. This transition requires skills which are rarely taught in law schools or law firms, yet getting them right is essential for your success.
In-house counsel need to understand the aims and challenges of the business as they are essentially business advisers. They need to provide useful and accessible advice couched in a language which the stakeholders will understand. They need to ensure that the legal team is at the heart of the business, influencing its culture in order to pre-empt any future problems.
Our eminent speakers will offer you practical tips based on their experience to ensure that you overcome the challenges of moving in-house.
This webinar will cover:
• How to understand the aims of the business
• Transition from legal counsel to business counsel
• Team interaction with the rest of the organisation
• How to provide accessible and useful advice
• Stakeholder management
• Pitfalls and tips
13th Mar 2013 12:30
Dealing with regulatory bodies – tips and pitfalls
This webinar will cover:
• Different approaches to dealing with regulators
• Tips and pitfalls
• How to successfully manage relationships with regulators
• Understanding different regulators perspectives
• Update on regulatory enforcement
• Self reporting to regulators – what are the trends?
• Impending institutional changes
18th Apr 2013 12:30
How to draft effective commercial contracts
Drafting contracts is at the heart of what many in-house lawyers do day-to-day. Ensuring that they are watertight will minimise future risk and protect your business.
Many commercial contracts refer to ‘reasonable endeavours’ or ‘best endeavours’. However there is a great degree of uncertainty about what these terms mean in practice. Analysis of recent case law suggests that most cases will depend on their particular facts. Our speakers will offer you top tips from their own experience to help you come to grips with these opaque terms and offer you best practice in how to draft commercial contracts.
This webinar will cover:
• Best practice in drafting commercial contracts
• Reminder of key principles
• Best and reasonable endeavours
• Indemnities and exclusions of liability
• Direct and indirect damage
• Importance of operational schedules
• Impact of the recession
15th May 2013 12:30
Best practice in corporate governance
BIS has issued a number of consultations following intense criticism in the press over exaggerated executive pay. They have recommended that shareholders should have a binding vote on the remuneration report. Currently their vote is only advisory. In the Consultation on the Future of Narrative Reporting, it was suggested that listed companies should publish a single table showing the total remuneration awarded to each director. It is believed that this will result in shareholders becoming more willing to engage with companies on the issues of executive pay.
This interactive webinar will examine what these consultations, and their outcomes, mean for corporate governance best practice.
This webinar will cover:
• Corporate governance
o Best practice
o Financial institutions
• Current topics
o The Board – its duties and remuneration
o Annual reporting
o AGMs
o BIS consultations and outcomes
• What if...?
o What should in-house lawyers do if corporate governance breaks down?
o Ethical concerns – what obligations do lawyers have?
o Reputation management
