Category: Company News and Events

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Annual Meeting officially kicks off today in San Antonio and runs through Wednesday, October 27. If you are not familiar with ACC’s Annual Meeting, it is the largest gathering of in-house counsel from around the world. Attendees can earn CLE/CPD credit, learn from other thought leaders in the industry, network with colleagues and browse the exhibit hall that houses more than 100 law firms and legal service providers.

Okay. This is all great but its Monday morning and it’s just not feasible to get to San Antonio. You’re in luck. For the first time, ACC will be streaming two major events live from the show and you can attend for free.

• Today at 2:30 p.m. EDT you can join in fun for a fast-paced Ethics Follies musical performance resented by ACC’s award-winning South/Central Texas Chapter. The unique and well-received musical comedy will bring current ethics issues to life in a memorable and entertaining act.
• Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. EDT watch as the GCs of Microsoft and Google talk about technology at the Chair’s Choice Lunch Session. They’ll discuss the latest advances in technology, new ways to work and more.

On the off chance you are attending the ACC Annual meeting this week, we’ve highlighted a few sessions we think you’ll find valuable:

Monday, October 25

2:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Track: ACC

310 – Outside Counsel Fee Valuation Toolbox, Part 1

Ready to move from the billable hour to value-based fee structures for at least some of your outside counsel spend? Not sure how to decide which fee structures are most appropriate for which matter types or stages of matters? Come to this session to learn how to put together your own decision tree. We’ll walk through the considerations you need to weigh when deciding fee structures – with a focus on two increasingly popular approaches: risk collars and fixed fees. We recommend that you combine this with session 401, to expand your toolkit of options.

Speakers:

Elisa Garcia
EVP and General Counsel
Office Depot, Inc.

Fred Paulmann
Principal
The Counsel Management Group, LLC

Monday, October 25

2:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Track: Technology

310 – Reducing Risk for Your Company Through Cloud Computing

Companies with server networks to bring “infrastructure on demand” to their customers provide cloud computing. In busy times, customers can dramatically ramp up their computer usage without investing in equipment and software, and then quickly ramp down when the extra capacity is no longer needed. This session will address challenges faced by companies that use or provide cloud computing services. Discussion topics will include: service standards and reliability measurements, confidential information and trade secrets, data privacy, security and encryption, liability limitations, indemnification, and risk allocation and international regulatory issues.

Speakers:

Ieuan Mahony
Partner
Holland & Knight LLP

Constance Mitchell
Counsel
CSC

Thomas Molchan
Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel
ARAMARK Corporation

Richard Raysman
Partner
Holland & Knight

Monday, October 25

4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

Track: ACC

401 – Outside Counsel Fee Valuation Toolbox, Part 2

Continue your exploration of value-based fee structure options – looking beyond what was covered in Session 301. We’ll walk through the considerations to weigh when deciding fee structures, focusing on three more popular approaches: portfolio retainers, success/incentive fees, and contingencies. We recommend that you combine this with session 301, to expand your toolkit of options.

Tuesday, October 26

9:00 – 10:30 p.m.

Track: ACC

501 – Outside Counsel Management: Staffing the Work for Value-Based Fee Structures

If you’re ready to move to value-based fee structures, you know that you need to collaborate with your outside counsel to drive efficiency. This session will focus on process management – specifically disaggregating processes to determine which pieces can be improved, making sure that legal knowledge is being leveraged (not re-invented), and making better decisions about who should be doing which piece of the work. We’ll examine internal and external staffing options, include out-sourcing and off-shoring, and connect the options to value-based fee structures that you may be considering.

Speakers:

Lisa Damon
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Kenneth Grady
General Counsel and Secretary
Wolverine World Wide, Inc

Joseph Spratt
Director of Communications
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Tuesday, October 26

11:00 – 12:30 p.m.

Track: ACC
601 – Outside Counsel Management: Project Management for Successful Value-Based Relationships

Make sure your new value-based fee structures with law firms are successful by focusing on forging long-term relationships, goal alignment, and solid project management. In this session, we’ll discuss how to assess firm project management capabilities, and ways to manage the outside counsel interface over the life of a matter to ensure you are satisfied with outcome. We’ll cover tools and techniques of successful project management, such as defining scope, requirements and milestones up front, conducting progress assessments along the way, ensuring the budget is on track (and how to anticipate and deal with variances), and concluding matters with assessments that foster continuous improvement.

Speakers:

Janine Dascenzo
Associate General Counsel
General Electric Company

Fredrick Dempsey
VP & Chief Legal Officer
National Investment Managers, Inc.

Vincent Gonzales
Senior Environmental Counsel
Southern California Gas Company

Randall Hafer
Attorney
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP

Byron Kalogerou
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery LLP

Aileen Leventon
President & GC
QLex Consulting Inc.

Paul Williams
Partner
Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P

If you’re a general counsel, in-house corporate counsel or know someone that falls into that category — listen up. Virtual Corporate Counsel Forum is tomorrow and you don’t want to miss this event. Okay, you’ll probably wondering what is a “virtual” event and why do I need to attend?

Virtual Corporate Counsel Forum is an online event that includes presentations, virtual booths, online networking, chatting, blogs and more. It’s everything a traditional tradeshow offers but you don’t have to leave your office. Registration is complimentary and is only open to general counsel and in-house corporate counsel. You can even see a demonstration of the virtual conference environment before tomorrow’s live event.

Still not convinced? Here are three more reasons we think it’s worth attending:

1. Get connected with colleagues. Socializing in the networking lounge or in the exhibit hall is different than any tradeshow you’ve attended. Simply start a chat or join the group discussion and hear what colleagues are saying about the presentations, recent trends or innovative products they’ve seen in the exhibit hall.
2. Learn about innovative technology. Stop by the exhibit hall to see the latest products, chat with vendors and register for booth give-a-ways. Just because it’s a virtual event, doesn’t mean you can’t win prizes! Be sure to visit the Onit booth for a chance to win a $200 Apple gift card — holiday shopping just got easier!
3. Earn CLE credits without leaving your office. Log-on between 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST and attend the sessions relevant to your business. Here are a few we think will be extremely valuable.

10:15- 11:15 a.m.

Selecting the Right Fee Arrangement (CLE Eligible)

Presenter – Charles R. Macedo, Partner, Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein;
Author, The Corporate Insider’s Guide to US Patent Practice, published by Oxford University Press

In view of the high cost of litigation in the face of shrinking corporate budgets, the need to select the right fee arrangement for an organization’s disputes is becoming more and more important. Our speaker, an experienced patent litigator, will review the options available to in-house counsel and outside counsel in setting up the right kind of fee arrangement, including identifying:

– Factors involved in determining what kinds fee arrangement makes sense in the context of the particular dispute;

– Different kinds of fee arrangements which are potentially available and discussing the best circumstances for considering each kind of arrangement;

– Cost saving techniques to reduce unnecessary expenditures; and

– Best practices for matching litigation activities to client goals and resources

12:30- 1:30 p.m.
The Real Rate Report: Understanding the True Drivers of Legal Costs (CLE Eligible)

Presenters: Craig Raeburn, Vice President of Product Management
CT TyMetrix and Keith Brown, Esquire, Lead Business Consultant, CT TyMetrix

CT TyMetrix, in collaboration with The Corporate Executive Board’s Legal and Compliance practice/General Counsel Roundtable, brings you the industry’s first (and only) quantitative analysis of over $4 billion in legal spend from more than 4,000 law firms and 50,000+ individual billers. The 2010 Real Rate Report will provide corporate legal departments, claims organizations and law firms with the first reliable benchmark data on law firm pricing, staffing practices, and realized rates across geographies, practice areas, matter types and timekeeper types.

The session will discuss how putting data to work can provide perspectives on trends and practices. The session will highlight reliable benchmarks that can be used to evaluate and negotiate rates across geographies, practice areas, professional levels, and other segments, as well as other insights.

1:45- 2:45 p.m.
Management, Measurement and More- Best Practices for Maximizing Your Legal Spend

Presenters: Mary Clark, Vice President of Law, LexisNexis; Patrick Ryan, Director of Administration, City of Chicago Department of Law; Robin Sangston, Vice President, Legal Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer, Cox Communications, Inc.

As many law departments continue to face budget cuts, in-house counsel are challenged to find new ways to maximize their legal spend and control costs. Join LexisNexis CounselLink representatives and in-house counsel from leading law departments as they share their perspectives on:

– The impact of the dynamic economic climate on their law departments and the reporting tools used to optimize and justify spending decisions- comparing the decline in 2009 to the predicted upward trend in 2010

– Alternative fee arrangements and how the right data and reporting can help identify outside counsel that are underperforming

– In-sourcing versus outsourcing legal work, and the considerations and methods to make smarter decisions

– Managing relationships with outside counsel and how using metrics and reporting can help ease difficult dialogues and garner greater productivity

For a detailed schedule of all the sessions, click here.

For more information and registration details, visit the Corporate Counsel Forum website. We hope to see you online tomorrow.

Virtual LegalTech is an experience like no other legal event. Not only can you learn about innovative technologies, earn CLE credit and socialize with colleagues but you can also do some early holiday shopping – all from the comfort of your office! Did you catch the part about holiday shopping? Terrific! I will get to that point in a minute.

1. Innovative technology at your fingertips. This will be Onit’s third time exhibiting and I continue to be impressed with the informative sessions and breadth of legal technology vendors present. Two sessions I think will be exceptionally valuable are:

9:15 – 10:15 AM ET – Legal Project Management

By borrowing project management ideas popular with the software and manufacturing industries, attorneys can learn practical, simple techniques to employ right away to help their firms run more efficiently, have less potential errors and risk of malpractice all while leading to more billable time. Be prepared to have conventional wisdom and preconceived ideas challenged in this cutting-edge and thought provoking journey through advanced business processes.

1:45 – 2:45 PM ET – Improving Firm Efficiency through Innovative Technologies Trials (Steven Levy, legal project management guru and frequent contributor to Law Technology News is one of the speakers)

This session will:

– Review macro conditions and current industry overview to assess where the market stands today
– Produce greater efficiencies despite economic challenges
– Leveraging technology platforms
– Discuss recent technological advancements
– Discuss the benefits of integrating platforms and access to content and tools

For a full schedule of all the sessions, click here.

2. Earn CLE credit virtually. Attendance at Virtual LegalTech is free and almost all of the one-hour sessions offer continuing legal education credit for California, New York, and Illinois attorneys (Florida credit is pending). Where else can you earn CLE credit without leaving your office?

3. Get ‘social’ with colleagues, vendors and presenters. This is the fun part! Socializing in the networking lounge or in the exhibit hall is uniquely different than any tradeshow you’ve attended. If you’re interested in talking to someone in the exhibit hall, simply start a chat or join the group discussion. I particularly like visiting the networking lounge to see what people are saying after the presentations. Spice it up a little and add your own avatar or upload a picture – have some fun!

4. Holiday shopping in September? I promised I would come back to this point. Just by stopping by the Onit booth and clicking on the prize tab, you will be automatically entered to win a $200 Apple gift card – just think of the holiday gifts you can buy. Better yet – be selfish and buy the new iPod nano with multi-touch. I won’t tell anyone!

Visit the Virtual LegalTech website for more information and registration details.

We hope to see you ‘virtually’ this Thursday.

With the impending Labor Day weekend upon us so ends another summer. In Texas, this is somewhat of a blessing as temperatures finally start to drop below triple digits. September brings a return to school, football season and hopefully cooler weather. At Onit, the fall will bring a number exciting new updates, announcements and feature upgrades to further enhance your user experience.

Virtually Onit – Visit us Online Sept. 23 & Sept. 30

Join us this month at Virtual Legal Tech on Sept. 23 and Virtual Corporate Counsel on September 30 for an opportunity to learn more about Onit, our team and the upcoming launch of our premium subscriptions. You’ll even have a chance to do some early holiday shopping – register to win a $200 Apple gift card at our booth.

Click Onit – New UI Coming in October

This fall we will be launching our new user interface that is unlike any in the industry. The new UI was designed with each user in mind. Now, you’ll be in control. You will have the power to decide how you view and manage your projects, legal and otherwise. Stay tuned for more details.

Launch Onit – Premium Subscriptions Coming in November

We’re pleased to announce our premium modules are coming this November. Sign-up now for a free trial and join the thousands of legal and business professionals already using Onit to manage their projects. Registration only takes a few minutes.

As always, please continue to send us your comments, questions and concerns.

In the last few months, we’ve been busy adding new features and making product enhancements in Onit. We also spent a good deal of time revamping our website and we wanted to share the exciting news.

The new site includes dramatic improvements to our appearance, navigation and accessibility and includes product-centric information about our project management tool so you can understand how to better use Onit to manage your legal and business projects.

The new website provides in-depth information about Onit’s features, showcases the Onit Apps and highlights key Security measures to ensure your data is protected in the application. Additionally, the new site provides background information about Onit and its team members, a sneak peak at Plans and Pricing for the premium modules (scheduled to be released this fall) and answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.

Watch the product tour Product Tour and browse the screencasts to find out how a tool like Onit can help you manage your projects with more predictability while enhancing collaboration and communication with your team members.

As always, we value your opinion on the design, content and usability of the new website so send us an email at [email protected] or drop us a note on our community site to tell us what you think of our makeover.

We wanted to let you know about some recent improvements we’ve made in Onit. Our goal in making these improvements is to help you better manage your legal and business projects while improving communication and collaboration with colleagues. The list below highlights some of these enhancements:

• We support comprehensive document versioning that includes labels and description for documents
• Users can now use a news/RSS reader to subscribe to a personal news feed for news items
• We updated the status field so it is no longer limited to 255 characters
• You can select an option (in the My Account tab) to receive instant notifications on project items and status

Document Versioning

Our most significant new feature is a new document versioning function that supports versioning, document labels and descriptions. Now, you can “Edit” an existing document instead of uploading a new version and create a different display name than the document’s original file name. This is important because you can quickly access and store previous versions and see a full audit trail of the revisions.

Similarly, you can add a description which will appear in the project’s document tab. If the “Edit” button says “Edit/Prior Versions” it indicates that there are prior versions of the document, which can be viewed by clicking the button and navigating to the bottom of the screen.

In a post last month, I talked about the formation of the Onit Advisory Group (OAG) to help with the strategic development of our premium legal spend management module. Since then, we have received a great deal of feedback that many of you would like to participate but do not have enough time to commit to the group.

If you fall into this category, we have a solution that we think is mutually beneficial. Give us one hour of your time to discuss your opinions about billing policies and guidelines, electronic bill submission, invoice workflow, alternative free arrangements, etc. and we’ll donate $250 to the charity of your choice.

There is a small disclaimer though. We are seeking corporate legal attorneys or professionals from companies with revenue of at least $1.5 billion dollars. We are targeting this segment of the market because we feel there is great opportunity for a comprehensive legal spend management and project management tool. Your feedback will help us shape the product development, which is scheduled for launch in early fall.

Please email me at [email protected] if you can donate an hour of your time to help a charity of your choice. Your opinion matters. Thank you in advance for your participation.

As we near the end of the Onit beta, I have been thinking about the success of the last three months. Since launching at LegalTech New York on February 1, 2010, we have had almost 1,000 business and legal professionals register for our beta. In addition to wildly exceeding our expectations, we are encouraged to learn that there is a need for a legal project management tool like Onit.

We also got a fair amount of action on our community site and encourage users to continue to submit questions, share ideas and report bugs. Our main goal with the beta program was to gain an active group of users and we were pleased to find just that. Thank you to everyone who made this beta a success. We will continue to engage with our active users and solicit feedback for new legal project management features.

Our users broke down in ways that we didn’t completely anticipate: 35% were law firms, 20% corporate/government/education, 10% competitors/vendors, and 35% were other types of users that had nothing to do with legal. While we were hopeful that law firms and people not associated with the legal industry would adopt our platform, we didn’t realize either group would be so large.

Looking forward, we have some major functionality that we plan to roll out in the next week or so, but the big news is that we are working on our electronic billing and legal spend management module. This will be targeted at the legal industry and will add the ability to budget and track the financial side of projects. We will be in beta with this module over the summer.