The Latest

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  Jury rejects DOJ claim, finds employers not guilty in criminal no-poach case

  The agency claimed four home healthcare providers colluded to restrict worker mobility in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  FTC ups company legal peril with expanded negative option rule

  The proposed rule to curb subscription abuses applies prohibitions to more types of opt-outs and also could pull in misrepresentations in the products or services themselves.  

  Emerging Issues

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  Longtime Portland Trail Blazers GC says relationship-building was key

  In-house legal leaders don’t always need to play hardball to produce positive results, according to Ben Lauritsen, who worked in the NBA for 13 years.

  Outside Counsel

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  NLRB GC says recent severance decision applies retroactively

  The general counsel’s March 22 memo addresses key questions in the aftermath of the NLRB’s McLaren Macomb decision. 

  Employment Law

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  Coinbase faces SEC enforcement action over staking services

  “Coinbase runs a rigorous asset review process and has rejected more than 90% of assets that have applied to be listed on the platform,” CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted Wednesday.

  Compliance

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  Legal ops chiefs in large departments receive higher pay

  Some in-house legal ops leaders report making $500,000 or more in total compensation, according to a Brightflag survey.

  Legal Operations

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  Privacy laws create tussles over contract liability limits

  Customers increasingly want companies to assume liability over data issues but how much is reasonable is negotiable, in-house counsel say.

  Contracts

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  Opinion

  Knowing how to push back is key to negotiating commercial agreements

  If you care about five points, try to push back on at least eight matters. That provides room to give in on the three or four extraneous items. 

  Contracts

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  Women eclipsed men in Fortune 500 GC appointments last year

  The ethnic diversity of legal chief selections at large companies also rose to a record level in 2022, according to a Russell Reynolds Associates report.

  Hiring/Talent

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  SVB Financial says FDIC has $2B of its cash

  It likely won't have access to the cash, which would be used to pay back creditors, for months.

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  EEOC raises fine for notice-posting violations to $659

  Employers must place notices where workers will see them — often at a physical location, online or both, according to the agency.

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  FTC strikes again on noncompetes

  The Federal Trade Commission continues to challenge companies’ use of the agreements as unfair practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

  Employment Law

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  How legal teams are tapping flexible talent amid tight budgets

  Litigation and claims management professionals are in high demand on Consilio’s TalentConnect platform, as are contracting pros. 

  Legal Operations

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  Software vendors race to bet on ChatGPT craze

  Microsoft recently said it was planning to bring ChatGPT-like features to Microsoft 365 and Salesforce has unveiled a ChatGPT app for its Slack business messaging platform.

  Emerging Issues

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  Cybersecurity market confronts potential consequences of banking crisis

  Bank seizures impose new challenges on vendors in every segment and may spur consolidation.

  Data Privacy

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  Why legal teams got involved with the SVB response

  In crisis situations, in-house counsel are often called upon to help review contracts and assist with communications.

  Legal Operations

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  Keeping emotion out of trade secret theft claims

  Having someone other than the CEO recommend a course of action can help the decision-making process.

  Emerging Issues

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  Opinion

  How AI can improve modern contract management

  DocuSign’s legal chief highlights that the more interconnected a contracting workflow is, the more opportunities AI has to learn from the system and accelerate individual steps.

  Legal Technology

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  Preparing for DOJ’s compensation pilot without going out on a limb

  Companies can show the agency they’re prepared to tie compensation to compliance while leaving the toughest details to when it’s involved in an enforcement action.

  Compliance

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  Jury can ‘watch the watchmen,’ hear claim EEOC underpaid Black woman

  The commission typically handles workplace bias claims but is uniquely not in a position to do so in this case, a judge said.

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  SEC proposes cybersecurity disclosure rules for financial industry specialists

  The changes would require broker-dealers and other entities to adopt written plans to minimize risk and promptly disclose major incidents.

  Data Privacy

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  Rules could limit creditors’ gains if SVB parent files for bankruptcy

  Regulators could use sale proceeds to help pay depositors, limiting proceeds from the sale of healthy SVB Financial Group assets, reports say.

  Emerging Issues

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  SVB’s parent company files for bankruptcy protection

  The move will allow SVB Financial Group “to preserve value as it evaluates strategic alternatives” for venture-capital business SVB Capital and broker-dealer SVB Securities, the company said.

  Emerging Issues

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  Legal departments are often slow to respond, internal teams say

  More enterprise employees are bypassing in-house legal teams as the quality of their interactions has declined, according to a report from Onit.

  Legal Operations

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  FLSA permits employers to dock PTO for productivity shortfalls, 3rd Cir. says

  Such deductions don’t run afoul of the law because they don’t reduce workers’ salaries, the appeals court said Wednesday.

  Employment Law

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