Inefficient contract management can take its toll on overburdened legal departments. But it’s not only a matter of wasted time. Poor contract management can also cost your business dearly. According to the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM), inefficient contract management can cost businesses as much as 9% of annual revenue. In fact, inefficient processes can result in financial losses due to delays in contract negotiations, disagreements over contract scope, inappropriate contract structures, performance failures, and/or missed renewal deadlines ..read more

Could you benefit from a better understanding of Legal Project Management? Legal project management is no easy task. Not only does it require meticulous budget and cost controlling, but project managers also need to be able to mitigate risks that could cause the project to fail – be it a contract, merger or acquisition, or a case. Project management is the application of generally recognized knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet project requirements and achieve project objectives. Whether projects are managed in-house or shared with outside counsel, a basic understanding of leg ..read more

According to a recent ACC survey, 70% of CLOs rate protection of corporate data and managing data breaches as an extremely or very important issue to address over the next 12 months. What’s more, 27% had experienced a data breach at their organisations within the past two years, up from 23% in the previous year’s survey. Of course, with an increased likelihood of data breaches comes an increased workload and need for budgets and resources, which is not always easy to obtain. It’s no wonder nearly 50% of general counsel say planning for cybersecurity incidents and responding to breaches is now ..read more

Along with company growth comes the growth of obligations, and of course risk. That’s why a company starting out as a small local operation and growing into a large multinational soon finds themselves lacking the legal support they need. And then comes the question of how to set up the first legal department and exactly what is required. A perfect example of a company that faced this dilemma is GNT Group. Starting out as a small family run operation in 1978, they have gone to become a global market leader supplying food ingredients for coloring purposes to food and beverage companies worldwide ..read more

As Legal Counsel, you are a key player in your company’s data protection processes. Whether you work alone or in collaboration with Compliance and Data Protection Officers, it is imperative you manage your company’s legal information to minimise legal risk created by cyber attacks and data breaches. Data breaches not only affect your company’s bottom line, but if regulators and shareholders find that you breached various fiduciary duties by not mitigating known data security risks, you may also be at risk of personal liability. Therefore, GCs need a clear understanding of what makes them vulne ..read more

Data security is a growing focus for companies and it is no longer just an IT issue. According to a Legal Week Intelligence report, nearly 50% of General Counsel say planning for cyber-security incidents and responding to breaches is now part of their job – a figure that is likely to go up as the role of the GC expands as risk manager and advisory to the board. In a previous post we covered how GCs are increasingly viewed as leaders in the C-suite – and with that comes added pressure to take on a more proactive leadership role. Reacting quickly when a breach occurs simply doesn’t cut it f ..read more

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16 – the new accounting standard concerning commercial leases which comes into effect on the 1st of January 2019. Superseding the International Accounting Standard (IAS) 17, the IFRS 16 rules are set to change the way long-term leases are treated on company balance sheets. Virtually all companies use leasing agreements as a low-risk means to gain access to property and equipment without incurring large cash outflows upfront. It also provides flexibility and is sometimes the only ..read more

Pulling together a risk management plan for your company is no easy feat. Firstly, you need to properly identify the full gamete of risks that could impact your business. Then gathering and compiling all the necessary information requires time and resources. But arguably the most important step of all is calculating the level of risk by creating a Risk Assessment Matrix. This is what the business takes out from the assessment and puts into action. It requires a high level of expertise and advanced analytical skills if you want the findings to be accurate and credible. Risk assessment is a syst ..read more

Are you searching for a tool to track and manage personal data processes within your organization? As the deadline for GDPR compliance approaches, the pressure is on to have systems and processes in place that keep data safe and help you mitigate the risks of a data breach. Obligations for both data controllers and processors have increased in comparison to the 1995 Data Protection Directive, resulting in an increased risk for companies where they will have to deal with a growing amount of claims from data subjects but also have to revise their liability policies. Luckily, technology ..read more

As the deadline for complying to GDPR looms, many in-house lawyers are asking “Do I need to conduct a DPIA?”. Art. 35 GDPR introduces the data-protection impact assessment (DPIA) as a new instrument in your data protection toolkit. A DPIA serves to identify and evaluate risks within an organizations processes and systems, in order to keep the privacy of data subjects safe, and determine the level to which the GDPR articles have been implemented. In this post we’ll explore the grounds for conducting a DPIA, what the requirements are and finally, what the legal department needs to do to ensure t ..read more