In the first of a monthly series, Bruce Macmillan, Founder Director of The Centre for Legal Leadership, answers questions on the personal development of in-house lawyers.
What guidance would you give a junior in-house lawyer who is currently working within a large legal team at a multinational company but is now looking to move to another role in a different industry?
Practical Law has published a report on the results of a survey of some 248 professionals, drawn from in-house legal, risk and compliance, HR and company secretarial functions. The survey sought to find out how informed businesses are about the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), how they expect it to impact them, how confident they are about achieving compliance by GDPR implementation day, 25 May 2018, and how they plan to achieve compliance. Continue reading
Key items on the agenda for businesses this month include responding to the FRC’s review of the UK Corporate Governance Code, maintaining a focus on improving gender diversity at leadership level and continuing to prepare for the GDPR.
The European brand owners association, MARQUES, has issued a position paper setting out its proposals for the future of IP rights after withdrawal of the UK from the EU, slamming the UK government’s lack of engagement with this “very technical area of law”, which it says is causing grave damage to European business interests.
On 14 November 2017, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its 2016 data on the enforcement of the Anti-Bribery Convention. Those involved with or responsible for their business’ anti-bribery programme may find this information useful in both updating 2018 anti-bribery training and re-engaging the focus in this area at executive and board level.
Imagine you are working late. Suddenly, your phone rings. You are told there is an ‘incident’ at one of your overseas operations. The facts are hazy. You find it hard to focus. What do you do? Continue reading
Some may argue that organisations should be fully aware of their obligations and already well on their way to having compliant processes in place. The truth is that many are struggling with what they believe their role will be in this new world of regulation.
Perhaps the most disturbing conversation I heard this year went as follows:
Me: “So what interaction do you have with your Ethics and Compliance (E&C) team.”
Head of sales at large multinational business: “Once a year I get an email from them listing who has not done their annual Code training.”
Me: “Ok”
Ok maybe not the ‘most disturbing’ – I have two teenage children, but right up there.
The European Council’s conclusion that sufficient progress had not yet been achieved in Brexit negotiations on withdrawal matters to move on to discussing the framework for the future relationship and transitional arrangements was the most significant development in October.
Reflecting on Richard Thaler’s Nobel prize for Economics in recognition of his work on ‘nudge’ theory, in November’s vlog I highlight a number of recent initiatives where smaller organisations are being gently encouraged to follow guidance or regulation aimed at larger ones.