Author: TSA Press

Earlier this week, Quinn Emanuel shuttered its New York office after one of the firm’s partners tested positive for coronavirus, enacting a work-from-home policy for all of its attorneys and staff members. Employees at other firms were shocked, and perhaps even envious, that such a successful firm had done such a thing, pondering if their own firms would ever close their doors to protect their health.

Now we know that at least one more firm is willing to close its doors to spare its employees from suffering through a COVID-19 diagnosis.

Which Biglaw firm could it be?

Faegre Drinker, the 1,300-lawyer strong merger product of Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath, decided to temporarily close all of its offices — every single one of them across the globe, 22 in total — due to coronavirus fears. That’s an incredibly bold move. The American Lawyer has more information:

None of the firm’s lawyers and staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus, but a person who attended a recent event at Faegre Drinker’s Washington office did, the firm said in a statement. As a result, the firm’s executive leadership decided Monday to close the firm’s offices.

“Because the health and safety of our personnel and clients is our top priority, Faegre Drinker is temporarily closing its D.C. offices. As a measure of caution, our leadership team has also taken the step of closing our global offices on March 10 while we evaluate this situation,” the firm said in its statement.

The firm noted in its statement announcing the office closures en masse that its employees “are equipped with the required technology to work remotely and remain ready and available to assist clients.”

How long can a Biglaw firm survive with all of its employees working from home? We may soon find out, because Faegre Drinker has not said when it plans to reopen its offices across the globe. Stay tuned for further developments.

What is your firm doing to protect lawyers and staff from coronavirus? Please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “Coronavirus Response”). Stay safe.

Faegre Drinker Closes All 22 Offices After Potential Coronavirus Exposure [American Lawyer]
Philadelphia law firm, Faegre Drinker, temporarily closes 22 offices as precaution [Philadelphia Inquirer]

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

* Justice Sotomayor is recusing herself from a Supreme Court case involving the electoral college, but it has nothing to do with President Trump’s recent statement about recusals at the high court. [Washington Post]

* A couple filed a lawsuit about coronavirus against a cruise liner while still on a Grand Princess cruise. Hope they’re out of containment before depositions… [The Hill]

* Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer is not optimistic about the amount of prison time the movie mogul may need to serve. [Hollywood Reporter]

* It appears real estate heir Robert Durst will testify at his trial over the alleged murder of his friend Susan Berman. [AP]

* Federal defense attorneys are alleging that New York City’s federal jails are not prepared for the coronavirus outbreak. [New York Daily News]

* A man was shot yesterday just steps away from the Bronx DA’s office. Should have no problem finding a prosecutor to handle this case. [New York Post]

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Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

The people’s party resolved to work with all progressive forces in pushing for a peaceful and non-violent people’s action meant to return the country to legitimacy and democracy.

The people’s party took hours deliberating on the deteriorating situation across the country, the threat of the corona virus, hunger and starvation, the collapsed social services sector, the sky-rocketing fees and food prices, the power and fuel shortages and the general high cost of living that has affected every household in Zimbabwe.

To this end, it was resolved that, a big political action be mobilised and organised.

The NSC also noted that the people’s party’s call and quest for genuine and sincere dialogue to resolve the national situation has been spurned and turned down by Mr. Mnangagwa.The people’s party has therefore drawn a line in the sand until the possibility of dialogue becomes a viable and available option.

The NSC received a report of the state, health and hygiene of the people’s party. In this regard the NSC discussed the persistent and desperate machinations by the illegitimate regime to portray the people’s party as a house in turmoil by manufacturing fake letters and false communication in the names of certain of our leaders.

To this end, Senator Morgen Komichi, a respected people’s party leader himself, took advantage of today’s meeting to dismiss the false communication manufactured in his name. He also reaffirmed his unstinting faith and loyalty to the party and its leadership and expressed his undying faith in the MDC as the sole repository of hope for the people of Zimbabwe.

The people’s party leadership also discussed and noted the need for message discipline and consistency and emphasized that all communication be done by its relevant designated officials.

The people’s party notes with extreme concern  the deteriorating health situation in the country and in particular the threat of the corona virus, and has since directed the Secretary for Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera to actively state the position of the people’s party on the matter.

Zimbabweans are demanding for a people’s government, an improvement of their livelihoods and restoration of their dignity, a decisive end to corruption, respect of human rights and a return to constitutionalism and democracy.

#ChangeThatDelivers

MDC Communications

The programme, which was criticised for being both chaotic and violent, resulted in numerous deaths in the course of land seizures.

On Friday, the Zimbabwean government gazetted new legislation under which former landowners may opt for repossession or monetary compensation. The new regulations will apply to indigenous farmers whose farms were appropriated, as well as to those whose land was protected by bilateral treaties.

Several countries, among them South Africa, Austria, France, Germany, Mauritius, Holland, Sweden and Malaysia, had signed investment protection agreements with Zimbabwe at the time.

Of those covered by bilateral treaties, South Africans were the worst affected, according to the Commercial Farmers Union in Zimbabwe, as over 200 farmers lost their land.

However, the new legislation does not automatically grant compensation. Any application may be rejected “on the basis that granting it would be contrary to the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, regional or town planning or the general public interest”, according to the gazetted regulations.

Land ‘waiting to be used’

The South African Embassy in Zimbabwe welcomed government’s decision to return land under Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) to its former owners.

“We welcome the development, as we believe there is enough land waiting to be used,” a spokesperson from the South African Embassy, speaking on behalf of ambassador Mphakama Mbete, said by phone from Harare.

“We think the position is in line with the mantra ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’.”

He said commercial agriculture would grow “exponentially” now that land is being availed again to those with expertise and the required capital.

“While we don’t have the numbers, in terms of those likely to benefit, we have spoken to a number of South African farmers who already have their own funding to start agriculture activity in Zimbabwe, so this decision is welcome,” he said.

Despite droughts that have befallen the southern African country several times since year 2000, land reform has been blamed for Zimbabwe’s failure to feed itself, with the country resorting to imports and international help.

The United Nations World Food Programme plans to double the number of Zimbabweans that it assists, up to 4.1 million, and will require over $200 million to meet needs in the first half of 2020 alone.

Post published in: Agriculture

The position was taken during a CiZC coordinating committee that was attended by resident’s associations, youth representatives, women and girls groups, LGBT groups and several community based organisations operating in various provinces in Zimbabwe.

The government initiated constitutional amendment relates to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges among others.

The Bill also seeks to allow the President to increase the number of ministers to be appointed outside parliament from 5-7, introduce a youth quota that will see ten youth representatives drawn from political parties through proportional representation, extend the women’s quota by 10 more years and limiting parliament powers in the adoption of international treaties.

The fear among democratic partners is that if adopted, the Bill will single handedly take us back to the Lancaster House constitution that centralised power within the president and ensured that Zimbabwe remained a defacto one party state.

Public Hearings on the Bill will be conducted at 21 venues dotted around the country from March 29 to April 4, 2020.

In justifying the position taken by members, CiZC Spokesperson Marvellous Kumalo indicated that government erred in introducing these amendments given the country’s economic challenges that has resulted in high unemployment rates, kneeling down of industry, poor service delivery.

“As a coalition we are rejecting in totality these amendments for exactly what they are, a mockery to democracy and a recipe for disaster.

“The common denominator around these amendments is centralisation of power and in our analysis we have even noted that was the same idea behind all the amendments that the previous constitution being amended at least 21 times.

“These amendments are undesirable, they come at a time when the country’s economic situation requires attention from all stakeholders.

“We do not see a necessity to amend the constitution and our message is clear, let us implement the current constitution had the confidence of at least 94 percent of Zimbabweans, learn first and pick lessons that can influence any amendments.

“We reject the amendments because there is no evidence to support the proposal and if you look for example at the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission which government intends to replace with the Office of the Public Protector you will realise that the new office will be manned by appointed personnel and in previous years when we had the Office of the Public Protector citizens did not get recourse on matters raised with the office. The ZHRC has done well in releasing reports that have exposed government, it is accountable to parliament while the Public Protector office will be answerable to the president. This is the reason why the office of the Ombudsman failed in the previous constitution,” said Khumalo

He warned that the amendment will be debated as a Bill not independently hence the need to educate citizens that the Bill is an omnibus bill that should be rejected in its entirety.

“This is an idea by the drafters of the Bill was to ensure that Zimbabweans are divided around the amendment.

“It is important to note that at this stage there are no good apples in the Bill. We have to reject them in total,” he said.

The Elections Resource Centre (ERC) Director Tawanda explained that these amendments are all about entrenchment of power in the president which unfortunately has an effect of creating unfair level playing field for elections abd stressed that 20 out of 27 provisions in the Bill have direct implications on elections.

In terms of de-linking delimitation of electoral boundaries from censuses, the ERC pointed out that there was really no need to touch the Constitution on this aspect as there was an option to address this through reviewing the Census Act and still achieve the same goal.

He further pointed out that prosecutors and judges play a central role in elections hence there is need to build public confidence through allowing citizens to participate in their recruitment as provided for under the current constitution. The ERC also raised concern over the governments desire to amputate the constitution before its full implementation noting that Zimbabwe is yet to align at least 50 percent of its laws to the new constitution.

Post published in: Featured

Whether you are a Legal Operations professional or a Chief Legal Officer at your company, contracts undoubtedly play a role in your corporate counsel responsibilities.

Maybe you’ve been tasked with figuring out how to reduce the time it takes for your department to turn redlines on sales contracts that come in from the field. Or maybe you’ve been asked to conduct a risk and legal liability audit of contractual relationships across the enterprise.

Whatever your role, it’s likely to become more complex in recent years. The regulatory landscape in which contracts are at play is constantly changing; a globalized marketplace connected by digital communication has accelerated the pace of business; supply chains have become more globalized and sales contracts more intricate.

To address these challenges, corporate legal departments are taking a lead in adopting a new approach that helps them manage contracts holistically. That approach is enterprise contract management.

 Enterprise contract management transforms both how a legal department operates internally and with outside stakeholders. And, ultimately, it changes how an entire enterprise looks at its contractual foundation.

As an introduction, here are five views of enterprise contract management from a corporate counsel point-of-view.

1. Enterprise Contract Management as Provider of Risk Management and Strategic Data

We’ve all heard the wisecrack: Legal is “the department of no” (or, at best, the “department of slow”). Sales and procurement look at the legal team as a hurdle to their success, rather than a guardian of the business.

Traditionally, this reputation for legal has grown out of a difference in posture toward risk. Sales might be more comfortable with a high-risk, high-reward deal, while legal defaults to a protective stance. The problem in this common scenario was that neither side was operating with much data.

Contracts can serve as a barometer of corporate risk, telling company leaders where it is doing business, with whom and on what terms. Yet gaining a holistic view of these contractual terms is impossible without a centralized digital contract platform.

With an enterprise contract management platform, legal can pull data on how different indemnity clauses have performed to choose the best language, identify suppliers or customers with reputational issues using data from third parties, and assign precise risk ratings to contracts or classes of contracts as a whole.

In this way, the enterprise contract management platform can allow legal teams to bring actionable data to the table when advising on risk and strategy.

2. Enterprise Contract Management as an Operations Streamliner

According to the International Association of Contract and Commercial Managers (IACCM), poor contracting processes can cost companies 9.2% of their revenue.

When you consider how many business users handle contracts, this isn’t surprising. When emails are sent back and forth between stakeholders with contracts and redlines attached, there is no sure way to know which represents the master and no way to measure where contracts are getting hung up in the process. Even those firms that have migrated to a content management system that addresses version control still have no insights into contract turn-around time, where delays are occurring, which redlines violate regulatory and commercial rules, and so on.

Conversely, with an enterprise contract management platform, all contracts are managed centrally. Legal departments can cut down on the number of templates used, reducing risk and speeding up approvals. And the platform can deliver key performance metrics on how many contracts a company is handling and how long they are taking at each stage of the approval process. With this data, legal departments can identify and address bottlenecks, streamlining the process.

3. Enterprise Contract Management as a Negotiation Playbook

Contract negotiations offer legal counsel an opportunity to showcase their deep experience and knowledge to create better outcomes for the organization. Many lawyers still lug around three-ring binders filled with accumulated templates and clauses to respond to negotiation scenarios, while others have evolved to using a folder on their PC desktop.

By contrast, an enterprise contract management platform captures every redline and contextual conversation around those changes (such as messages between the contract parties) for full visibility into the negotiation process. The platform then tracks contract performance by pulling data from other systems like ERP and CRM. When it comes time to negotiate a renewal, counsel has a 360 view of past negotiation tactics and performance to better plan out how to handle the negotiations. With the help of artificial intelligence, companies can take these capabilities even further, analyzing contract language and outcomes at scale to drive better decision making when parties come to the table.

4. Enterprise Contract Management as a Business Unifier

For a long time, legal departments stayed in their lane until the business came to them with contracting needs.

That is changing, though, as legal heads use their position as advisors and protectors of the business to drive strategic change across the company. One way they are doing this is by using contract management software to unify the entire enterprise’s operations.

Consider the journey of Colin Flannery, worldwide General Counsel at Vertiv. Following its divestiture from Emerson Electric, the then-new CEO of Vertiv announced an objective to unify the company’s culture: “One Vertiv.” Accordingly, each department leader was charged with manifesting this mission in a demonstrable way.

The Vertiv legal department recognized that contracts were the glue that held together the global and matrixed enterprise.  Accordingly, they responded by spearheading an enterprise contract management initiative to unify disparate legal teams scattered across the globe and even more disparate contracting processes supporting the Vertiv business.

Using enterprise contract management, the legal department was able to re-engineer their contracting process with the aim of creating a single source of truth for their worldwide agreements.

5. Enterprise Contract Management as an Institutional Knowledge Repository

Lastly, an enterprise contract management platform can act as a valuable repository for institutional knowledge captured across an organization.

Take for example a major airline that is an Icertis customer. This company relies heavily on agreements with partner airlines to drive revenue. Its executive team realized that much of its partner operations relied on the memory of individual members of its legal team—a situation that leadership knew was not sustainable.

To build an organization that could stand the test of time, the company sought a software solution it could “build memory” into. Since contracts form the foundation of these partner agreements, an enterprise contract management platform was the obvious fit.

With an enterprise-wide contract management system, the airline has a single source of truth for all of its partner operations and does not have to rely on the memory of people who show up for work each day. In this way the system is creating a more sustainable, future-proof system and will allow the company to optimize these crucial operations, regardless of the team members leading the charge.

Learn More

So, what is enterprise contract management? For corporate counsel, it eludes a narrow definition.  The outcome, though, is a contracting process that turns static documents into strategic corporate assets that can accelerate, protect and optimize business.

The above examples only scratch the surface of how this new approach to contracts is helping business. If you’d like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Wells Fargo, as you know, is still suffering from some unpleasant after effects of its little unauthorized accounts scandal. It turns out, however, that the revelation of that sales strategy was not just unwelcome news to John Stumpf (and, later, Tim Sloan), but also to the people running Fifth Third Bank, which was also allegedly doing some unauthorized account opening according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose sole remaining job is apparently to police this one very specific offense.

Every once in a while, I like to just go off on a rant. And this week, I’m particular perturbed by the snail-like pace with which law firms (and others) manage to keep up with technology.

You know, we live in a time when things move fairly quickly. The laptop I bought about four years ago still works, but it’s largely obsolete in terms of memory, storage, and processor speed. And that’s the way it goes with technology.

Almost across the board, we see new technologies emerge that constantly alter how we do things. Walk the vendor hall of any conference — not just legal technology conferences — and you’ll see all sorts of solutions to problems in any number of areas of commerce. It’s about more efficiency, better communication, interoperability, and (yes) some unnecessary things, too.

So, why is any conversation still occurring anywhere that raises questions about a law firm’s ability to deliver contemporary legal services to clients? I wrote about this not too long ago, and here I am — two years later — still saying it.

And it’s not just me. The American Bar Association and many state bar associations have tied technology competence to the duty of competence. It cannot be the case the nonlawyers are reading the model rules and update more closely than practicing lawyers. Or can it?

For readers in the legal operations space on the corporate side -– let’s for discussion purposes call you the “client” — I’ve suggested, and I dare to reminder you again, that you control the purse strings here. You can dictate to your panel firms and even to new firms the terms and conditions of any legal engagement. Why don’t you?

For my law firm friends, this is not an “if you build it, they will come” situation. True, some law firms have embraced technology and they provide some of the best and most-advanced technology services available on the market. With shrinking revenue, smaller margins, and a consolidating legal market, other firms are outsourcing technology and bringing outside experts to the table when needed.

But a large majority of firms and practitioners still just don’t get it. They have not heeded the ABA or any of the state bar requirements that the duty of competency in modern legal practice includes understanding technology and effectively advising clients on the importance and use of technology. Many firms have chosen just to not evolve.

You want to know why more and more work is moving in-house? Why you have less work than five years ago? Does anyone think that the rise to prominence of organizations like CLOC is just an accident? Or why your client now dictates which vendor to use?

It’s got nothing to do with the law you practice and everything to do with how you practice — and how you interact with your clients.

If I were building a law firm today — and this is not entirely hypothetical because in some countries nonlawyers can do this, and the US is hopefully not too far behind — I would not have a fancy office with a view. I wouldn’t have any of the amenities that I’ve observed at firms. Instead, I’d have a really good relationship with my clients, interact with them on a regular basis, and understand their legal and risk management needs. And, of course, how technology can be used to help them.

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Mike Quartararo is the President of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS), a professional member association providing training and certification in e-discovery. He is also the author of the 2016 book Project Management in Electronic Discovery and a consultant providing e-discovery, project management and legal technology advisory and training services to law firms and Fortune 500 corporations across the globe. You can reach him via email at mquartararo@aceds.org. Follow him on Twitter @mikequartararo.