With people and pricing in place, process offers the most levers to drive continuous improvement. An excellent way for law departments to drive continuous process improvement at law firms is for law departments to actually speak to law firms about continuous process improvement in concrete terms. How? Data-driven conversations. My approach to structured dialogue is …
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How Copyright Laws are Turning the Internet of Things into a National Security Risk: Part I
For years now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and its spokespersons have fought for the ability of device owners to legally jailbreak owned devices in order to properly secure them from potential threat or outside manipulation. Never has this discussion been more germane than today as the devices most people carry now connect to the …
- December 8, 2015
- Alex Cook
Holiday Shoppers Tie a Big Ribbon on Cyber Monday, but Beware…
While there may be 20 shopping days left this holiday season, initial reports show that this past Cyber Monday already netted $3 billion in sales, up 12 percent from last year. But where are these enthusiastic consumers when they are scouring the Web for items on their holiday buying list? According to a 2014 FindLaw …
- December 4, 2015
- Alex Cook
Circuits split interpreting Supreme Court’s Johnson decision
It seems like a simple issue. The United States Supreme Court ruled last June that the residual clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) is unconstitutionally vague, in violation of due process. The Sentencing Guidelines use the same language. Doesn’t that mean the similar provision in the Sentencing Guidelines is unconstitutionally vague? The Tenth …
- December 2, 2015
- Alex Cook
Warning Signs in the Inside/Outside Counsel Relationship, Part II
Read part one of this post here. When I moved from a large law firm to the law department of a large company, I was in unfamiliar territory. I was charged with managing outside counsel who were domain experts outside my personal niche. They were my subordinates in the narrow hierarchy of the corporation’s legal value …
- December 1, 2015
- Alex Cook
The common platform: Redefining the delivery of criminal justice in England and Wales
In the latest issue of Forum, the criminal justice system (CJS) in England and Wales is typical of many court systems in the UK and around the world with increasing caseloads and decreasing budgets. The CJS has embraced elements of new technology, but because of a lack of sufficient investment the system has “remained rooted in …
- November 30, 2015
- Alex Cook
Warning Signs in the Inside/Outside Counsel Relationship, Part I
Few relationships end with a bang. Most end with a whimper as the two sides slowly drift apart. While there are no immediate existential threats to the relationship between law departments and law firms, the drift has been apparent for over a decade. Realizations have crept ever downward. And the trend continues with law departments …
- November 30, 2015
- Alex Cook
United Airlines, Gawker Media & Rio 2016 – Ill Repute for November 2015
A monthly look at reputation management in the era of social media & the 24 hour news cycle – United Airlines: Should you disclose when your CEO suffers a heart attack? – Blame it on Paris. Will the tragedy in Paris affect the Rio Olympics? – Gawker Media & “#SlackLayoffBingo” To listen, click on the …
- November 24, 2015
- Leonard Lee
Mind Your Business – November 2015
Patsy Doerr interviews Deirdre Stanley, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Board Secretary, Thomson Reuters on diversity inclusion, its role in corporate strategy and managing your career. To listen, click on the built-in player below, or to download right-click here
- November 23, 2015
- Leonard Lee
Exclusive, Invitation-Only: Big Data Collides With Big Compliance
Compliance and Legal functions wrestle with an unprecedented level of issues ranging from data breaches to government investigations, to uncovering potential smoking guns within company e-mails. Yet these risk mitigation efforts are often under-funded, under-appreciated, and under-equipped to handle modern day challenges. And while compliance executives are trying to get their arms around the data …
- November 23, 2015
- Jeff McCoy