REUTERS | Amr Abdallah Dalsh
March 24, 2021

How technology is accelerating the evolution of contract management

Companies are constantly being challenged to review their existing operating models and improve the processes and technology that support them. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the related explosion in remote working, has fuelled the need for innovative solutions that can radically improve the efficiency and security of those models.

Contract management is one such case. The emergence of distributed ledger technology (blockchain), as well as significantly improved e-signature platforms and multi-party digital web-browsers, has made the document execution elements of contract management more efficient and flexible than ever before. When different technologies are adopted collaboratively, important legal contract requirements, such as authorised signing and witness signatures, can be met quickly and securely.

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REUTERS | Henry Romero
March 18, 2021

The importance of inclusive leadership

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way that we work and accelerated changes that might previously have taken ten years. Leaders are being challenged to adapt at the same pace, and the consequences of failure are significant. For example:

  • Top performers leave.
  • Staff burn out.
  • Claims of harassment and bullying increase.

These outcomes will contribute to lower employee engagement, be obvious to clients and show up in financial performance. It is not possible to revert to business as usual. To succeed, leaders must remove limits on their thinking and look to the future. We believe the way forward should focus on inclusive leadership.

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REUTERS | Global Creative Services (no copyright)
March 4, 2021

A step closer to free flow of data from the EU to the UK

Why is UK adequacy relevant for the UK post-Brexit?

As the Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) did 20 years earlier, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) (EU GDPR) sets a severe restriction in the context of today’s increasingly interconnected and digitally borderless world. Transfers of personal data to a so-called “third country”, that is any country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), are only allowed subject to certain conditions, namely:

  • The third country ensures an adequate level of protection for the personal data as determined by the European Commission (EC);
  • In the absence of that adequate level of protection, the provision of appropriate safeguards (like Standard Contractual Clauses or Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs)); or
  • In the absence of the foregoing, the international transfer of personal data fits within one of the derogations for specific situations covered by the EU GDPR.

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REUTERS | A man carrying an umbrella walks across the Old Town Square during a rainstorm in Prague, May 30, 2013. REUTERS/David W Cerny
March 4, 2021

Does culture eat “value” for breakfast? Why culture might be a more meaningful metric for forward thinking legal teams

“Culture” is defined as the ideas, customs and social behaviours of a particular people or society. In organisations, culture encompasses the ideas, customs and beliefs that shape how people work together. Culture is made by people and is a defining factor in determining if they stay and, ultimately, what kind of talent you can attract.

The best cultures have a high degree of safety but safe here does not mean boring! It means an environment where individuals can be themselves and bring their whole range of thinking and creativity to work. Organisations with strong cultures are more innovative and better able to cope with adversity because they have the best talent.

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REUTERS | An aerial view of tulip fields near the city of Creil, Netherlands April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman
March 2, 2021

The Centre for Legal Leadership webinar series

In conjunction with Practical Law, The Centre for Legal Leadership is hosting a series of webinars throughout 2021 aimed at in-house lawyers.

Making ethical calls when advising your organisation

Date: 3 March 2021 (2:00pm-3:30pm)

In-house lawyers are subject to the ethical requirements of their professional bodies and their roles will often take them into areas that cover legal compliance and, increasingly, business ethics. This can highlight important issues relating to the purpose and independence of the in-house lawyer.

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REUTERS | People run past Tower Bridge in the early morning autumnal sunshine, in London, Britain, October 24, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson - RC129ACEEA00
February 24, 2021

Lessons from 2020 for contract drafting and management

As usual around this time of year, the Practical Law Commercial team have been looking back and asking ourselves what has changed in contract law and drafting? Specifically, what developments in 2020 affect commercial lawyers as they manage existing contracts or draft new ones? We agreed that 2020 was full of changes in practice, even where the letter of the law hasn’t (yet) changed (much).

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REUTERS | Mark Blinch
February 22, 2021

What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in March 2021?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will deliver the Spring 2021 Budget on 3 March 2021 where, among other things, he is expected to announce the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Many businesses will be eagerly anticipating today’s announcement of the government’s plan for exiting the lockdown restrictions in England and how it will affect their operations.

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REUTERS | Amit Dave
February 18, 2021

Managing legal teams during the COVID-19 pandemic

Earlier this month I chaired a meeting of the Practical Law In-house Consultation Board where the topic of conversation was how COVID-19 has affected the management of legal teams. Here are some of the key points from that discussion.

Dealing with the move to remote working

The sudden move to remote working in spring 2020 was a huge adjustment for some teams (struggles with printers and toner were highlighted) but relatively seamless for others who were able to rely on their existing cloud infrastructure.

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REUTERS |
February 17, 2021

ePrivacy Regulation: path cleared for talks with the European Parliament

Progress of the draft ePrivacy Regulation (ePR) through the EU’s corridors of power has been slow, to say the least. But on 10 February, the Portuguese EU presidency finally received a mandate from the European Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament on the final version of the draft ePR , the younger sibling of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (EU GDPR), focusing on electronic communications.

The ePR, like the EU GDPR, will have extraterritorial effect and the post-Brexit UK is also expected to closely mirror the final ePR in its domestic legislation. UK businesses therefore need to keep a close eye on developments.

Although the draft ePR’s key regulations have remained unchanged since the first drafts, there have been many modifications to the merits of the detailed provisions (see Article, Latest e-Privacy Regulation proposals: breaking the deadlock?). The final version agreed by the Council contains the following main rules: Continue reading →

REUTERS |
February 12, 2021

What homeworkers need to know about cybersecurity

The most recent data from the UK Office of National Statistics shows that 35% of working adults are working exclusively from home, while in the US a study by Upwork found that 42% of the American workforce remains fully remote. After many months of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations and their employees are adapting to, and valuing the benefits of, remote working. These include:

  • A better work-life balance and improved wellbeing for employees.
  • Increased job satisfaction.
  • Improved productivity.
  • A positive environmental impact.

A July 2020 Gartner survey found that 82% of company leaders plan to continue to allow employees to work remotely, at least part of the time, after the pandemic subsides.

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