What sets MCC apart is the strength and endurance of our relationships with elite law firms and legal service providers who share our passion for helping corporate law departments succeed. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to welcome our newest contributors: AlixPartners LLP, BakerHostetler, ELM Solutions (a Wolters Kluwer business), Epiq Systems, Inventus, LLC and McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC. We thank them for their dedication to the in-house community we all serve.
I was fortunate to attend the ABA International Section’s Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. early in May. What a tremendous event! Five full days of great speakers and invaluable networking opportunities for lawyers from around the globe. The main themes I heard were concerns about the global economic outlook; the evolution of the regulatory environment, particularly the reach and impact of laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and the daunting challenges facing corporate counsel as they try to do more with less while managing monumental risks such as cybersecurity. A number of lawyers told me they do not rely on mainstream legal media to stay on top of the news and information they need in their roles, but rather will call colleagues who have boots on the ground around the globe to get a firsthand assessment of what’s going. It was pleasant to hear that MCC is one of their most valued sources – the publishing equivalent of the advice of a trusted colleague. We thank you for that.
In this issue we are pleased to present an interview with John Villafranco of Kelley Drye, who led a working group of the ABA, which recently released an important report, Self-Regulation of Advertising in the United States: An Assessment of the National Advertising Division.”
We continue our in-depth coverage of cybersecurity in this issue. Don’t miss the findings from BakerHostetler’s “Data Security Incident Response Report” on page 13. And find out on page 22 why Nicole Joy Leibman of Sills Cummis says you should consider conducting a cyber fire drill.
Get a better understanding of priorities and compliance with Jones Day’s contribution about the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) on page 6. Read EisnerAmper’s interview on page 8 to understand an accountant’s role in the innovation cycle. And on page 17, Inventus offers insights into how to control the cost of document review and bring more efficiency to your in-house operations.
In addition, in our special section on Life Sciences, Rees Morrison of Altman Weil offers a method for comparing key in-house metrics across multiple industry sectors. We also feature insights on page 29 from Dykema on the long-term evolution of the patent laws and their application to biologics.
Finally, in our In-House Ops section, which begins on page 33, we dip into a recent media briefing by the Washington Legal Foundation on the efficacy of OMB’s role as gatekeeper for science in the regulatory state, and we talk to the lawyer behind a company that offers in-house lawyers a real-time view of the construction of their outside legal bills.
Looking ahead, please keep an eye out for our annual July/August double issue, which focuses on risk management and insurance, emerging/frontier markets, and anti-bribery/FCPA, along with a very special report: The Changing Face of In-House Operations.
Thank you for reading MCC. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me with your suggestions.
Best,
Kristin Calve, Publisher
Published June 8, 2015.