2. Managing an Indispensable Law Department

Building on earlier instruction, this session offers practical tips for communicating effectively with the executive suite and board of directors. There will be an in-depth discussion of the strategic planning process, including how to align the law department’s goals with the greater organization. The discussion will cover related budgetary considerations, performance management, and the use of technology-driven solutions. Finally, faculty will introduce recurring issues around international attorney-client privilege.

Students will learn how to:

• Develop a blueprint for running a law department based on global best practices
• Implement short-term and long-term strategic plans
• Approach attorney-client privilege, whether in a common law or civil code jurisdiction

Case Study: Adding Value to the Business Objectives

3. Team Project: Creating Effective Reporting Lines and Training the Board of Directors

During this interactive project, students will break into teams to work on a hypothetical situation involving a new general counsel. Students will address how the general counsel should educate the board of directors on their duties and responsibilities when a major violation of law occurs. This project requires students to examine reporting lines and determine when to update the board on developments.

4. Team Presentation: Telling the Board of Directors What to Do

Teams will deliver a mock presentation to the board of directors. Each presentation will be 10 minutes long. Following the presentation, faculty will provide evaluation and feedback. Each presentation will be graded.

Day 2

5. Managing Stakeholder Expectations

This session addresses what it means for in-house counsel to have the corporation as the client. Faculty will return to attorney-client privilege, discussing how to manage expectations when a stakeholder—whether board member, officer, or field-based employee—views in-house counsel as their personal representative. Through this discussion, effective communication skills will be emphasized again as characteristic that distinguishes excellent in-house counsel. The second half of the session will revisit the topic of measuring and demonstrating law department value.

Students will learn how to:

• Approach difficult conversations about who the client is
• Identify the proper performance metrics while avoiding the pitfalls of “overmeasuring”
• Leverage technology and other value-drivers to continuously improve performance

6. International Negotiations and Contract Management

This session highlights the unique challenges of international negotiations, particularly where the negotiating parties might bring different cultural experiences and expectations. There will be practical strategies for interpreting signals during the negotiation, coping with cultural differences, and successfully managing the process to seal the deal. From there, the session will outline effective contract management strategies for global law departments.

Students will learn how to:

• Acknowledge and respond effectively to the cultural norms of their counterparts at the negotiating table
• Approach the challenges of localizing contracts to country-specific requirements
• Implement strategies for processing high-volume transactions (sales agreements, procurement agreements, and non-disclosure agreements) more efficiently

Case Study: Contract Management and Services

7. Team Project: Closing the Deal

During this interactive project, students will break into teams to negotiate opposite sides of a deal. The project involves implementing negotiation strategies, using emotional intelligence, and taking into account cultural considerations.

8. Team Presentations: Explaining the Deal

Teams will deliver a mock presentation to their executive team about the outcome of their negotiations and the impact on the company. Each presentation will be 10 minutes long. Following the presentation, faculty will provide evaluation and feedback. Each presentation will be graded.

Day 3

9. Compliance, Ethics, and Legal Risk Management

This session explores what an effective compliance and risk management program comprises, and how to build and maintain one. At the center of the discussion is drafting solid policies, procedures, and internal controls. The session also addresses backgrounds checks, employee training programs, auditing and reporting, and protecting intellectual property assets. There will be special attention to evaluating third-party issues on a global stage.

Students will learn how to:

• Collaborate with other departments (e.g. sales, human resources) to proactively address risk and compliance
• Respond to regulators’ requests and calibrate information disclosure
• Develop synergy between the ethics and compliance components of a program
• Implement an IP portfolio strategy to help protect some of your organization’s most valuable assets

10. Crisis Management and Crisis Audits

This session presents the information that every in-house counsel needs to know about crisis management, from crisis audits and other pre-incident planning tools, to crisis response, to managing the effects of a crisis on the corporate brand. There will be an emphasis on developing flexible policies and procedures, since each crisis presents a unique set of challenges. The session will conclude with an overview of related insurance issues, including when and how to notify your insurance company of a triggering event.

Students will learn how to:

• Conduct a crisis audit assessing the types of risk the organization might face and their likelihood of occurring
• Develop tools for explaining crisis strategy to the executive suite and board of directors
• Use mock incidents and other exercises to train staff on crisis response

Case Study: Project Management

11. Team Project: In-house Counsel’s Role in Compliance and Crisis Management

During this interactive project, students will break into teams to work on a hypothetical situation involving a new general counsel. students will create a compliance program and a crisis management program for a company, and then apply those programs to a crisis.

12. Team Presentations: Presenting the Compliance and Crisis Management Plan to Leadership

Teams will present their compliance and crisis management programs. Each presentation will be 10 minutes long. Following the presentation, faculty will provide evaluation and feedback. Each presentation will be graded.

Day 4

13. Creating Internal Investigation Protocols and Reporting to Stakeholders

This session outlines best practices for internal investigations. It will begin with a discussion of who might lead a given investigation, between outside counsel, in-house counsel, and other corporate departments (e.g. compliance, human resources). Next, faculty will address the steps to conducting an internal investigation, including obligations to notify and update the appropriate stakeholders. As an underlying consideration, this session will address the possibility of investigation-related materials being subject to discovery in future litigation.

Students will learn how to:

• Guard against the most common mistakes organizations make when investigating allegations of wrongdoing
• Formulate investigation protocols that account for the risk of subsequent discovery
• Approach issues related to cross-border investigations, including issues around data protection, witness interviews, and cultural and language differences

14. Managing Outside Counsel and Other Legal Service Providers

This session offers a customizable blueprint for selecting the legal service providers that best suit your organizational needs. Specific topics that will be covered include recognizing when it is time to outsource work, determining the scope of the project, and setting a budget that sticks. There will also be a discussion of using team-building skills to improve your relationships with legal service providers.

Students will learn how to:

• Evaluate the legal and ethical implications of outsourcing work
• Draft a request for proposals, including defining the project to avoid scope creep/li>
• Develop outside counsel management guidelines/li>
• Monitor progress and conduct after-action reviews to drive strong performance/li>

Case Study: Improving the Law Department Through Process and Technology

15. Review of Program Topics; Question and Answer Session

The ACC Credentialing Institute reserves the right to modify program content at its discretion.