Legal and Technical BYOD Pitfalls Highlighted at RSA Security Conference

Heads up  —  the article lists very good points.   Is your company allowing BYOD and do you have policies and security in place?

Excerpt:  Allowing employees to bring their own devices to work is causing new challenges, including what happens when a device needs to be wiped or employees want to sell their smartphone or tablet.

Mobile security and BYOD (bring your own device) are main themes at the European edition of RSA’s security conference, which takes place this week in London.

Read full article via Legal and technical BYOD pitfalls highlighted at RSA security conference | CFOworld.

NFIB Webinars: Expert Advice for Small Business Owners on Key Topics

This is a GREAT list of webinars on many of the issues and topics most entrepreneurs and small business owners need .     Lots of how-to included  Recommended

Excerpt introduction: Free small business webinars, from legal and tax advice to operations information, to help you run your business better.

Check out list of free webinars here   via NFIB Webinars: Expert Advice for Small Business Owners on Key Topics. National Federation on Small Business

Tying Non-Competes to Sale of Business: California Appellate Court Decision — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

California small business of-interest, need-to-know and news-to-watch.  Legal  NDA

Excerpt:   On August 24, 2012, in the case of Fillpoint, LLC v. Maas, a California appellate court issued an opinion reinforcing both California’s general public policy against covenants not to compete and the important exceptions to that rule. While California Business and Professions Code § 16600 generally declares void any covenant that restrains an individual from engaging in a lawful profession, trade or business, § 16601 provides an exception to this rule for covenants executed in connection with the sale of a business. The Fillpoint case instructs that, to qualify for § 16601′s sale-of-business exception, employers must thoroughly document and tether any non-compete covenant to the sale of a business.

Read full article via Tying Non-Competes to Sale of Business: California Appellate Court Decision — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.

How to ‘Digitally & Socially’ Win Over Your Legal – Regulatory Team

The article contains good advice and steps to follow for not only the healthcare industry but many of the steps equally translate into best practices for other industries as well.

Excerpt:  This afternoon’s article provides some top tips in order to maintain a happy working relationship with your legal and regulatory teams, particularly when it comes to implementing social media communities.

Social media in the pharmaceutical industry continues to generate a great deal of interest, discussion and debate – creating unintentional, adversarial relationships for brand marketers. For brands that decide to move forward with a social media concept, gaining legal / regulatory approval can be a significant hurdle. In this article, we will examine three ways that brand teams can better collaborate with their regulatory counterparts in the review and approval process, and succeed in bringing their social media communications to life.

1. Packaging your social media concept for legal / regulatory success

When approaching your legal / regulatory team with a social media concept, you will need to help them understand the framework of the campaign you are developing, and the business rationale behind it

Read full article via How to ‘digitally & socially’ win over your legal/regulatory team | pharmaphorum.

How Drug-Testing Cost One Firm $750,000 : AMEX

This is a serious heads up small business all.   Besides the fact that the particular example company made rather spectacularly stupid decisions, there are more takeaways in the content to make sure you are within compliance of all regulatory mandates.  Human resources management

Excerpt:  Drug-testing employees is supposed to save you headaches, not cause them.But one automotive parts company will pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit brought against it under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), alleging the firm took its drug-testing policy too far.According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Dura Automotive Systems tested all the employees in its Lawrenceburg, Tenn., plant for 12 substances in May 2007. The problem was that seven of the substances tested for were legal medications “lawfully prescribed for the individuals taking them,” according to the EEOC.The company—based in Rochester Hills, Minn.—also required the employees who tested positive for the legal meds to tell them what medical conditions they were taking the drugs for—and conducted the testing in such a way that everyone knew who had tested positive. Dura then made it a condition of employment that the employees stop taking their (prescribed) drugs. According to the EEOC, the company then suspended employees until they stopped taking the prescribed meds, and fired those who were unable to perform their job duties without their medication.

The EEOC filed suit after attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through its conciliation process, the agency said.

Read full article via How Drug-Testing Cost One Firm $750,000 : The World :: American Express OPEN Forum.

The Rise of the General Counsel — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Small business of-interest and takeaway advisory for when the “time makes sense” to choose inside legal versus private firms.  Legal

 Excerpt:  Obviously, private law firms have terrific lawyers who provide great service to business. And obviously the two trends described above are not uniform or universal. But there is a crisis in private firms, at the same time that there has been increasing growth, prestige and pay for general counsel and other inside lawyers. (For a more extended treatment of the views, go here.) No report on the the “uncertain times” facing “big law” should ignore the rise of inside counsel. Boards, CEOs and other business leaders have increasingly recognized that hiring outstanding general counsel and other inside lawyers is vital to the twin goals of the global corporation: high performance with high integrity.

Read full article via The Rise of the General Counsel — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.

Delaware Supreme Court Rules on Excess Insurer’s Coverage Obligations — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Small business need-to-know takeaway advisory.   Legal and insurance obligations

Excerpt:  ….. the Supreme Court of Delaware, applying California law, ruled that an excess insurer of Intel had no payment obligation even after Intel’s out-of-pocket defense costs, combined with Intel’s prior settlement with an underlying insurer, exceeded the underlying insurer’s policy limits — notwithstanding a provision in the excess insurer’s policy providing that coverage would apply when “the insured or the insured’s underlying insurance has paid or is obligated to pay the full amount” of the underlying insurer’s policy limits. Intel Corp. v. Am. Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co., et al., No. 692, 2011 (Del. Sept. 7, 2012).

This dispute arose from antitrust litigation that was brought against Intel and for which Intel sought reimbursement for defense costs from its insurers.

Read full article via Delaware Supreme Court Rules on Excess Insurer’s Coverage Obligations — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.

Second Circuit Clarifies Standards for Insider Trading Claims — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Small business of-interest, need-to-know and news-to-watch.       SEC and legal

Excerpt: In the latest of a string of litigation victories it has scored in the Second Circuit, the Securities and Exchange Commission convinced a panel of the Second Circuit on September 6, 2012, to vacate a district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Obus, No. 10 Civ. 4749.  In so doing, the Circuit clarified, and to some extent modified, the standards for tipper/tippee insider trading under the misappropriation theory.

Read full article via Second Circuit Clarifies Standards for Insider Trading Claims — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.

14 Legal Tips for Starting Up

Great list — in fact print and save.  They are basic but easily forgotten in the adrenalin of startups.

Excerpt:  Starting a company means lots of surprises, but a lawsuit shouldn’t be one. Successful young entrepreneurs explain what they wish they knew about the law when starting up.

Read full list via 14 Legal Tips for Starting Up | Inc.com.

Why Johnny Can’t Stream: How Video Copyright Went Insane

Small business need-to-know and news-to-watch.   Advice and takeaways — legal compliance.

Excerpt:  Suppose I could offer you a choice of two technologies for watching TV online. Behind Door Number One sits a free-to-watch service that uses off-the-shelf technology and that buffers just enough of each show to put the live stream on the Internet. Behind Door Number Two lies a subscription service that requires custom-designed hardware and makes dozens of copies of each show. Which sounds easier to build—and to use? More importantly, which is more likely to be legal?

If you went with Door Number One, then you are a sane person, untainted by the depravity of modern copyright law. But you are also wrong. The company behind Door Number One, iCraveTV, was enjoined out of existence a decade ago. The company behind Door Number Two, Aereo, just survived its first round in court and is still going strong.

Read full article via Why Johnny can’t stream: How video copyright went insane | Ars Technica.

Trends Related to IT Rules and Regulations – Part 2: Other Countries – Ernst & Young – China

Small business need-to0 know and news-to-watch.  Legal

Excerpt:  The US appears to be paving the way in introducing rules and regulations that specifically target the use of illegal IT and its impact on competition. While such specific laws do not yet exist in other countries or jurisdictions, this does not mean the absence of competition legislation or copyright and IP legislation.

Read full article via Trends related to IT rules and regulations – Part 2: Other countries – Ernst & Young – China.

Mid-Year Securities Litigation Update — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Small business need-to-know and of interest 2012 review of litigation and findings result and probable impact forward.  SEC legal

Excerpt:  Securities litigation filing trends remain generally steady in the face of these developments, with securities class action filings increasing only slightly in the first half of 2012, and the filings against particular sectors staying roughly similar to last year, with filings against financial industry companies at their lowest level since 2008. One particularly noteworthy development is that not a single securities class action filing thus far in 2012 has named an accounting firm as a defendant, possibly as a result of the Supreme Court’s rejection of aiding and abetting liability under the securities laws, emphatically reinforced last year in Janus Capital Group Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, 131 S. Ct. 2296 (2012) (in which Gibson Dunn represented Janus).

Some of the most significant case law and legislative developments in the first half of 2012 are summarized below.

Read full article via Mid-Year Securities Litigation Update — The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.

eGuide to Small Business Hiring

Recommended small business human resource management.  Here is a free eguide on legal checkboxes in your hiring process.

Excerpt:  ….. if you take care to check little legal boxes along the way, the whole process will be a lot easier in the long run. Once you’ve covered yourself with basic employment agreements, handbooks and other solid HR practices, you’ll be in an excellent position to make the most of your new workforce.

This eGuide to Small Business Hiring will lead you through the whole process. Above all, we want to show you how to get the legal basics nailed down so you have more time to do what you do best.

Read introduction and download guide here via eGuide to Small Business Hiring | SCORE. and Rocket Lawyer

Top 11 Litigation Tips to Help You Manage Risk in Your Workplace

Human resources management — need-to-know.  If you are lax on any of these, time to fix it.  Small business legal

Excerpt:  According to our most recent Employment Law Thermometer, the absolute No. 1 workplace legal issue at the moment is how to prevent and manage litigation.

That’s not surprising. EEOC claims are at an all-time high. Class actions continue to rise. Employers now win less than 50 percent of the time in court.

We’re here to help. Based on input from the world’s leading employment law experts with a combined approximately 8,493,527,624 hours of employment counseling and litigation experience, …

Read full list via Top 11 Litigation Tips to Help You Manage Risk in Your Workplace.  From TLNT

How Privacy Breach Notification Law Affects Your Blog

Here is a great heads-up and reminder.  YOU do need to know and abide by the rules governing privacy.  In today’s online business environment, don’t get caught short of the knowledge you need and the compliance requirements.   Legal

Excerpt:  Do you run a web-based business and collect data about your customers? If so, do you have professional practices in place to ensure the protection of that information and the privacy of your customers? No? Then ask not for whom the bell tolls, as it tolls for you—Privacy Breach Notification Laws are here.

Before you scramble to fire off an email to your service provider to disable your ecommerce facilities or remove all forms from your blog, don’t. If you’re running a small site or a modest-sized mailing list and don’t collect any information on your visitors, then please don’t be alarmed.

However, irrespective of the scope of your online presence, please take a few minutes to get yourself up to date on what privacy breach notification laws are, and how they impact you.

Read full article via How Privacy Breach Notification Law Affects Your Blog : @ProBlogger.