REUTERS | Vasily Fedosenko
June 12, 2019

Thinking beyond M&A litigation risks: quasi-judicial mechanisms and human rights

M&A lawyers are well aware of the importance of assessing the possibility of litigation when their companies (or clients in the case of external lawyers) are acquiring new companies. No company likes to get sued, and even less so when this relates to actions taken by a predecessor.

We have discussed elsewhere that anticipating and quantifying litigation risks is increasingly challenging to do when it comes to a target company’s human rights-related actions: we now have a surge in human rights-related litigation and law suits against companies for allegations of past human rights violations, resulting in acquisitions that can end up costing significantly more than anticipated.

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REUTERS | Ricardo Moraes
June 3, 2019

Privacy and cybersecurity: Summer agenda 2019

In our Spring agenda piece, Brexit dominated the horizon in the privacy and cyber world. And while many of us will still be transfixed by political events, the extension of the Article 50 process, in all likelihood up to 31 October, has given us momentary relief.

With the Brexit hiatus, attention has turned back to day-to-day compliance concerns. The summer is traditionally a quiet time of year of course but this agenda piece will highlight a number of events coming up you may need to be aware of. It will also highlight some of the key recent developments you may have missed. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Global Creative Services (no copyright)
May 31, 2019

Artificial Intelligence and data ethics: understanding human values to design values-led systems

“I’ve done some questionable things” says Roy – a replicant, a robot – to its maker in a famous scene of the sci-fi cult movie Blade Runner. The movie came out in 1982 and it was set in an imaginary future – the year 2019 – where humanity was struggling with the question of what to think of machines that think and with the ethical and moral implications of artificial intelligence (AI). Continue reading →

REUTERS | Corbis
May 29, 2019

GDPR and joint controllership: why you may need to follow the trend

The recent landmark of the GDPR’s first birthday has given us reason to reflect on current trends in data protection since the Regulation’s implementation last year (see GDPR one year on: some highlights in words and numbers). One of the key trends over the last few months has been the explosion in the number of data controllers identifying as “joint controllers”, likely due in large part to the outcome of three cases decided by the CJEU in 2018. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Jon Nazca
May 23, 2019

GDPR one year on: some highlights in words and numbers

Saturday marks the first birthday of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While this time a year ago, up to our necks in updating privacy policies, getting subject access procedures up to standard, delivering training and so on, perhaps few of us would have been wishing this complex behemoth of privacy law well!

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REUTERS |
May 21, 2019

What can compliance teams learn from Expolink’s new Whistleblowing Report?

Expolink’s new Whistleblowing Benchmarking Report has revealed the latest trends in workplace whistleblowing.

The report analyses 18,335 whistleblowing disclosures made by the employees of more than 650 organisations worldwide. All disclosures were submitted through Expolink’s independent Speak Up service during 2018.

I have picked out five key highlights for compliance teams to consider.

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REUTERS |
May 15, 2019

Us Too? IBA research reveals higher than average levels of bullying and sexual harassment in in-house legal teams

Since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in October 2017, workplace sexual harassment has gained unprecedented public attention across the globe. Allegations of harassment and abuse have been levelled against hundreds of high-profile business people, including prominent figures in the legal industry.

Today, the International Bar Association (IBA) published its landmark report on bullying and sexual harassment in the legal profession. The report details the results of a global survey of almost 7,000 legal professionals from 135 countries, the largest ever survey of this kind. It provides empirical confirmation of what many have long suspected: that the legal profession has a problem with bullying and sexual harassment, resulting in highly-qualified professionals leaving the industry. In-house legal teams are far from being an exception.

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REUTERS | Russell Boyce
May 14, 2019

The Bribery Act 2010: House of Lords recommends more guidance and greater clarity

In the 9 years since the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) came into force there has been a notable lack of case law. At the time the Act was made law this was the strictest anti-bribery legislation in the world and it is therefore interesting that so few prosecutions or deferred prosecution agreements have resulted from it. Key concepts such as the defence of adequate procedures are still ill-defined, leaving compliance programmes with a distinct lack of certainty. On 14th March 2019 the House of Lords published their post-legislative review of the Act. The report makes for welcome reading highlighting several key areas of concern. For the full report, see here.

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