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Don’t Miss the VSD Train . . . In this piece from TheCorporateCounsel.net, Dave Lynn, a partner at MoFo, discusses the DOJ’s new voluntary self-disclosure (VSD) policy, designed to encourage companies to self-disclose misconduct to the feds, cooperate in investigations, and remediate misconduct. Lynn frets that VSDs stir up difficulties because the decision requires careful weighing of potential benefits and unpredictable outcomes when you hand an investigation to the DOJ. “At least this new VSD policy provides some clarity and uniformity as to how U.S. Attorney’s Offices will approach self-disclosure situations,” Lynn says.
In-house Career Killers . . . The 10 Things mastermind takes a different approach with his 10 not-to-dos because “being an in-house lawyer is much harder today than it was 10 years ago, and the wrong move can be your first-class ticket to Unemploymentville.” For example, dress the part. “It is highly unlikely that the board of directors or theC-suite want to see their lawyers dressed like they are getting ready to install a new fence . . .” Don’t be a jerk. “Sometimes this strategy works if you are bringing in millions of dollars in billings. But, it rarely works in the in-house legal world.” And take admin chores seriously. “If you’re asked for your input on evaluating staff or paralegals or other attorneys, don’t half-ass it.”
Privacy Risk Primer . . . Jerry McIver, data privacy officer for Trustpoint.One, discusses managing data privacy risk. “Understanding the location of your information is critical,” says McIver, who advocates for data mapping, which can help a company understand the extent of its risks by identifying its use of information, whether it is duplicative, the required security, and the people who have access. What are common mistakes? McIver names three: overcollection of data; storing duplicative data, which is increasingly common with collaboration apps; and not understanding why a team is processing certain records.
Merger Shakes Up Duopoly . . . It’s a deal that “will reshape the legal research and legal technology landscape on a global basis and threaten the longstanding “Wexis” legal research duopoly,” according to legal tech guru Bob Ambrogi. vLex and Fastcase have joined to form a mammoth entity with the world’s largest lawyer subscriber base and a legal research library of more than 1 billion documents. Oakley Capital, a European private equity investor, and Bain Capital Credit, a global credit specialist with $42 billion in assets under management, have big plans for the combined business, including hastening development and deployment of AI tools for the legal market. The combined entity, vLex Group, and will be led by Lluís Faus.
The Win-Win of Secondments . . . Michelle M. Graham, senior legal editor for Thomson Reuters Practical Law, discusses two intertwined problems, more work/less staff and lack of a clear career path for many associates, and sees a common solution: secondments. “Particularly within law firms with adequate leverage, secondments can prove to be an effective way to utilize associates,” writes Graham, adding that secondments, often discounted as costly and cumbersome, may be approaching their moment. “[T]he time may be right for secondments to see a surge in popularity, and those law firms that take the best advantage of this strategy may be best positioned to reap the long-term rewards,” she writes.
Chatting Up E-Discovery . . . In this piece on e-discoveryteam.com, discovery guru Ralph Losey the very chatty bot from Open AI, ChatGPT, to rewrite the 14 Sedona Principles at an 11th Grade and a 2nd Grade level. The results are fun and enlightening. Indeed, Losey says thee 2nd grade rewrites knocked his socks off. He’s also dazzled by the 11th Grade version. “[T] he first thing you may notice is the 11th grade rewrite is a lot shorter,” Losey writes. “ChatGPT is noted for being wordy, verbose even, yet it is still far more concise then the Sedona original. Hmm. Perhaps the shortened, easier to read version changes the meaning somehow, but I don’t think so. Seems to me like the AI did a pretty good job.”
Visit In-House Ops to subscribe to the weekly newsletter and receive information that is key to career development, law department administration, procurement of legal services and in-house legal technology.
Published May 10, 2023.
