REUTERS | Jon Nazca
September 3, 2018

Brexit: August 2018 round-up

In August, the government outlined its preparations for a no-deal scenario and published the first 25 in a series of “no deal” technical notices.

No-deal Brexit speech

“No deal” describes the scenario in which the UK and the EU fail to conclude a draft withdrawal agreement by the time of the UK’s exit from the EU. Instead of a co-ordinated or negotiated departure that would minimise disruption for businesses and individuals, this would result in a lack of transition period and a sudden “cliff-edge” break in the application of EU rules to the UK at 11pm on 29 March 2019. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Mike Blake
August 24, 2018

What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in September 2018?

Key items on the agenda for businesses this month include a consultation on a new Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, the launch of an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, a report on gender pay gap reporting and publication of revised guidance on the strategic report.

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REUTERS | Global Creative Services (no copyright)
August 10, 2018

Technology and the in-house lawyer: how life is changing in-house

Practical Law has recently launched a survey to help in-house legal departments benchmark their approach to technology. The survey looks at how technology is impacting the working lives of in-house lawyers across the board covering everything from the impact on their day-to-day work, the changing needs from the business in terms of advice on technology-related procurement and development, to the use of legal tech within in-house legal departments themselves.

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REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
August 7, 2018

Brexit: Finding certainty

Brexit readiness for businesses has slowed considerably.  A combination of uncertainty and GDPR preparation has pushed it to the back of the agenda for in-house lawyers. But with only seven and a half months to go before the leave date (and a potential no deal scenario) we must find some certainty before we run out of time to make decisions and enact contingency plans.

In our recent survey with Acritas, Attitudes to Brexit – In House Lawyer Perspectives Across Europe, we found that three quarters of European in-house lawyers are spending less than 10% of their time preparing for Brexit, with some spending none at all. A huge 63% of respondents are expecting Brexit will be business as usual for them with no increase in legal work. But in the UK we cannot assume it will be business as usual and we do not have the luxury of waiting for certainty on the legal framework of Brexit.

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REUTERS | Gloabl Creative Services (no copyright)
August 2, 2018

Towards robot governance? A short tour of current conversations on artificial intelligence

The development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues its inexorable momentum. Investment in AI is skyrocketing. However, with a few exceptions, how AI relates to the work of in-house lawyers on a day to day basis remains somewhat distant and confusing. This post aims simply to provide some food for thought on future governance in this area which can seem at once extremely exciting and utterly overwhelming. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Corbis
July 31, 2018

Taxation of termination payments: has the dust settled on the treatment of PILONs?

The new rules for the tax and class 1 NICs treatment of termination payments took effect from 6 April 2018. Nearly four months on and, even with the benefit of HMRC guidance, it is fair to say the application of the new rules remains uncertain in many, relatively common, termination scenarios. This blog post is intended to highlight some of the issues causing problems in practice. Continue reading →

REUTERS | Mike Blake
July 26, 2018

What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in August 2018?

This month, in-house lawyers will be continuing to digest the new version of the UK Corporate Governance Code, which was published in July, together with the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) revised version of its Guidance on Board Effectiveness.

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REUTERS | Phil Noble
July 24, 2018

Practical tips for wellbeing at work

Life in the law can be tough. At LawCare, the mental health charity for lawyers, we receive hundreds of calls every year from lawyers who are feeling stressed and struggling with the pressures of work.

In our experience, many lawyers are not great at self-care. Although they know they should look after themselves (for example, by going for a run or taking regular lunch breaks) they are just too busy, working long hours and don’t want to be the person who gets up from their desk when everyone else has their head down.

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REUTERS |
July 11, 2018

Working with external counsel: Building innovative and strategic partnerships

At Practical Law’s GC Leadership Summit last week, one demand was repeatedly made of external counsel by in-house lawyers: know our business. This doesn’t just mean knowing what a company sells, its share price, or where its offices are, which some firms still fail to familiarise themselves with. These are important, but in-house counsel want and expect more than that; they want their retained lawyers (or those pitching to them) to really understand their business and their sector.

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