The pace of publication of Brexit statutory instruments (SIs) picked up this month. The government also continued to publish technical notices giving guidance to UK businesses and citizens on how to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.
REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
November 5, 2018
Brexit: October 2018 round-up
REUTERS | David Mdzinarishvili
November 5, 2018
Maturing the GDPR model: key takeaways from the Data, Privacy and Cyber-Resilience Forum
I attended Thomson Reuters’ annual Data, Privacy and Cyber-Resilience Forum last week. This year’s event marked a real contrast to the 2017 edition which was focused on getting ready for the 25 May implementation deadline for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
With us now approaching six months since the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 came into effect, the sense was the world had moved on quickly. Recurring themes throughout the day were “maturing the model” and “privacy as the new normal”. Inevitably, Brexit reared its head too. Continue reading
REUTERS | Global Creative Services (no copyright)
November 1, 2018
Legal Geek 2018: key takeaways for in-house lawyers
Legal Geek 2018 attracted more than 2,000 people from over 40 countries and this year the event included a second stage aimed at the in-house market. It hosted some thought-provoking speakers and lively panel discussions, and one of the overarching themes was how customer behaviour is driving change and making digital transformation necessary for every organisation, whatever their industry sector. Here are my other key takeaways.
REUTERS | Jon Nazca
October 31, 2018
Recent ICO enforcement action and our geopolitical times
In the past weeks and months, we have seen some high profile enforcement activity by the ICO central to geopolitical events of the past, present and future.
The regulator has brought some fruition to its investigation work into data breaches connected with the 2016 EU referendum, issuing a £500,000 fine to Facebook, following on from the ICO’s enforcement action back in July in the closely connected case of AggregateIQ.
REUTERS | Maxim Shemetov
October 26, 2018
What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in November 2018?
The key agenda items this month include changes to the UK Immigration Rules, and the launch of consultations on further measures to tackle late payment of smaller businesses and mandatory ethnic pay reporting.
REUTERS |
For many in-house counsel 2018 will be a story of preparing for two seismic events. After much fanfare and the odd headache for lawyers, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) came into effect on 25 May. Focus is likely to have since shifted towards getting ready for something rather more nebulous and potentially more migraine-inducing: Brexit.
The tectonic plates of data protection and Brexit will soon collide and it may be time to dust off some of the old notes to help preparing. Some of the work lawyers will need to do and direct will have echoes of the exercises many will have carried out in the relatively recent past. Continue reading
REUTERS | Carlos Barria
October 11, 2018
Who needs a playbook anyway?
The word “playbook” is a relatively recent addition to the contract drafting lawyers’ lexicon. It stands twitching nervously in the crowded room, wondering if it belongs, gazing reverently at established members like “representations” and “liability” or long-standing, if exotic, old-timers like “mutatis mutandis”. Relative newbies like “process” and “technology” are asserting themselves but “playbooks” are tolerated by some, despised by others, misunderstood by most, and embraced by only a few. The presumption seems to be that real lawyers don’t need playbooks. However, there are good reasons why these attitudes should change as, although playbooks aren’t necessary for every lawyer reviewing contracts, they certainly deserve their place in the rapidly changing legal world.
REUTERS | Dominic Ebenbichler
October 10, 2018
The wellbeing of future lawyers
Today is World Mental Health Day, which this year focuses on young people, giving us an opportunity to look at how young people fare in the legal profession.
At LawCare we believe you start “thinking like a lawyer” on the first day of your legal studies. Law is by nature competitive and adversarial, and the heavy workload begins when studying or training to be a lawyer. There are high levels of negative emotions within law: the work is often about winning or losing and requires legal professionals to be critical, judgmental, combative and aggressive. You are required to think pessimistically, looking for potential problems and worse-case scenarios. In addition, many law students and lawyers are perfectionists who fear failure and making mistakes. All of this can significantly affect mental health and wellbeing.
REUTERS | Ognen Teofilovski
October 9, 2018
Next prepares for Brexit
Next, the retailer, released their half year results on 25 September 2018. A full eleven pages of that statement was devoted to their Brexit planning and it makes for fascinating reading. Even if clothing retail is not your sector, Next go into useful detail on what their risks and operational challenges are expected to be, how they are classifying them and how they intend to deal with them. They pose specific policy questions to the government on their post-Brexit choices and are clear on what is needed from government to improve their business planning.
REUTERS | Mike Blake
October 8, 2018
Resilience techniques for lawyers
Why resilience training?
Resilience can mean the ability to bounce back from disruption, stress or change, or a dynamic process that involves a personal negotiation through life that fluctuates across time, life stage and context, as defined by psychologists Tusaie and Dyer. More than ever, resilience has become also a necessary part of being a lawyer.
When turning to managing your career as a lawyer, experts first advise lawyers to reflect on the challenges faced in working life. These might be the place of work, the environment of the workplace, balancing competing requirements in life with work, client or colleague expectations, or even perception of confidence or age, at any stage of professional life.