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    2021 Virtual Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar

    Wednesday, February 17

    General Counsel Forum

    1:15 PM – 2:15 PM ET

    General CLE

    In our flagship program, outstanding general counsel from diverse industries candidly share their perspectives on developing trends in business and law, and discuss managing the C-Suite, hot topics, and what keeps them up at night. Following the unprecedented events of 2020 and now in 2021, our panelists will address how corporate legal departments are responding to the pandemic and heightened social unrest including addressing data risks and privacy concerns from telework and diversity and inclusion initiatives in the legal field. Attendees will hear insight on the inner workings of in-house legal departments that will be relevant no matter their focus or industry.

    Written Materials:

    Best Practices for Corporate Counsel's Management and Oversight of Technical Expert Witnesses

    2:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET

    General CLE

    This program will focus on the role of corporate counsel in the selection, preparation, protection, management, use, and presentation of technical experts in legal proceedings. The panel will also discuss opportunities for counsel to further corporate missions, rights, and obligations as well as counsel's ethical obligations in the technical expert context.

    Written Materials

    How to Do Business with the Government Without Seeing Your Name in the Newspaper

    3:45 PM – 4:45 PM ET

    General CLE

    As if a pandemic and recession were not enough, companies that deal with the government as a regulator, customer, or (perish the thought) investigator confront a host of emerging legal and reputational risks including new requirements and regulations from a new Congress and administration, additional contracting opportunities and complexities wrought by unprecedented pandemic relief efforts, and reinvigorated investigations and enforcement by Attorneys General from Albany to Washington, D.C. Our panel of in-house counsel, enforcement officials, and bet-the-company litigators will help you sort out where your company may be at risk and help you succeed in dealing with the government without reading about yourself in the newspaper.

    Written Materials

    Thursday, February 18

    Are Virtual Courts Here to Stay? The Transformation of Litigation Practice as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic

    1:15 PM – 2:15 PM ET

    General CLE

    This panel will examine what virtual court proceedings, and other litigation-related virtual proceedings, have proven to be effective in helping to achieve efficient, accessible justice. From the judiciary's perspective, and from the clients' perspectives, we will examine the pros and cons of virtual depositions, virtual court conferences, virtual evidentiary hearings, virtual bench trials, and even virtual civil jury trials.

    Written Materials

    What a Long, Strange Trip We're On: ADR in the Post-COVID-19 World

    2:30 PM – 3:30 PM ET

    Ethics CLE

    The COVID-19 pandemic quickly caused large and visible changes to dispute resolution nationwide and will not involve a simple return to the past. Our panel will examine how to choose dispute resolution techniques and make ADR work for corporate counsel in the post-COVID world. We will discuss drafting tips and techniques, how to leverage mediation and arbitration options, how to design flexible processes that will accommodate remote work, and how to develop enforceable class action waivers—or find alternatives to them—as legislative and state court activity diverges from the U.S. Supreme Court's views. The Supreme Court heard an argument in December on a major ADR case (Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales Inc., in which the Court has been asked to decide whether a provision that exempts certain claims from arbitration negates an otherwise clear delegation of arbitrability to an arbitrator) and the number of legislative efforts seeking to limit arbitration is increasing. We will address these trends in light of COVID and the outcome of the recent elections.

    Written Materials

    Litigation Management

    3:45 PM – 4:45 PM ET

    General CLE

    The Litigation Management Roundtable will address continuing and emerging trends and issues of concern to corporate counsel, including ethical concerns created by business and litigation realities. Our panelists will provide thoughts on the challenges in-house and outside counsel must address and how outside counsel may provide value.

    Written Materials


    Friday, February 19

    Ethics and the Attorney-Client Privilege

    2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

    Ethics CLE

    Model Rule 1.6(c) requires lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of information relating to the representation of a client. When that information consists of the privileged communications with a client, the consequences of a failure to comply with M.R. 1.6(c) can be disastrous—a waiver of the privilege and disclosure of information in violation of M.R. 1.6(a), and maybe even a malpractice claim. Be prepared to be surprised by privilege traps for the unwary and to learn how you can satisfy your 1.6 obligations by avoiding them.

    Written Materials

    Diversity & Inclusion Roundtable: Sustaining and Pivoting D&I Efforts in a Time of Remote Work Environments, Budget Stress, and the Increased Awareness of Anti-Black Racism

    3:15 PM – 4:15 PM ET

    Elimination of Bias CLE

    The events of the past year—the incidents of police brutality against Black people and ensuing social unrest, the disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color, and the disruption to work life and collegial contact—have deepened the commitment of some law firm and in-house counsel office leaders to sustained programs to eliminate implicit and explicit bias, improve equal access to justice, serve diverse population, and improve diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes internally in the legal profession. This program will examine these efforts and strategies to move the ball forward and avoid setbacks.

    Written Materials