News
Welcome to Bell Gully's regular round-up of issues relevant to in-house counsel.
Leadership and complex legal work help earn Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year title
A lawyer dealing with complex issues including human rights and intercountry adoption is the winner of this year's CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award.
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Chinese-based companies boasting more local lawyers
Global companies operating in China used to be full of western-trained lawyers acting as in-house counsel. This article discusses the recent rise in homegrown in-house counsel and the benefits they bring to organisations.
Read more at: www.legalweek.com
Cracking down on cartel behaviour
The Ministry of Economic Development has released a report raising the prospect of up to seven years imprisonment for those involved in 'hard core' cartel behaviour. Jail time would bring New Zealand into line with countries such as Australia (which has only recently criminalised cartel conduct) and the United States, which has seen enforcement agencies routinely seeking imprisonment since the 1970s.
Read the MED's discussion document at: www.med.govt.nz
ASIC's new guidelines for handling confidential information
Australia's corporate cop, ASIC, has just released guidelines for handling confidential information in the Australian share market. The regulator's bid to stop confidential information finding its way out into the market is likely to result in increased compliance costs for many businesses.
Read more at: www.smh.com.au
In-house counsel's take on twitter
Creating policy around social media can be tricky business. This article introduces some interesting questions for in-house counsel to consider when framing social media policy.
Read more at: blogs.findlaw.com
Keeping it simple
The business community demands practical, commercially-focused advice from its lawyers. In this article, Zoe Lyon looks at the benefits for private practice and in-house counsel of using plain English and bringing their advice back to basics.
Read more at: www.lawyersweekly.com.au
Networking tips for in-house counsel
Industry networking can be a challenge for in-house counsel working in small legal teams or perhaps even as their organisation's sole legal practitioner. This article provides some advice on ways in-house counsel can effectively develop networks.
Read more at: www.lawyersweekly.com.au
'Failing firm' guidelines
The Commerce Commission has released guidelines on how applications for mergers and acquisitions involving the 'failing firm' argument will be treated.
Read more at: www.lawsociety.org.nz
Corporate governance in the credit crisis: an update for in-house counsel
Deficiencies in corporate governance practices have been highlighted by many recent corporate failings. It is not surprising that corporate governance and its role in controlling and monitoring the business of companies is being scrutinised again as regulators, shareholders and others seek answers to questions such as how could it all have gone so wrong? And, more importantly, what lessons need to be learnt to avoid future crises?
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Global financial crisis prompts law firms to rethink the way they operate
Lexis Nexis general manager for legal markets Mike Russell recently hosted nine senior lawyers and managers from top Australian firms for a roundtable discussion on the future of law.
Read about some of the outcomes of the discussion at: www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Chinese investment cuts both ways
While Chinese investment into Australia dominates the country's headlines, there are significant investment opportunities in China which should not be ignored.
Read more at: au.legalbusinessonline.com
Corporate governance in the credit crisis: an update for in-house counsel
It has been eight years since Enron placed corporate governance under the spotlight for companies, investors and governments worldwide and the global financial crisis has renewed that focus.
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Downturn behind upsurge in in-house roles
This article argues that increased in-house employment opportunities in Australia's corporate and government sector is evidence that businesses and organisations are bolstering their in-house capacity to avoid briefing work out to expensive external providers.
Read more at: www.lawyersweekly.com.au
Cadbury GC provides in-house perspective
In this article, Cadbury GC Karen Perret talks about her approach to engaging outside counsel and Cadbury's experience appointing a formal legal panel for its Australian operations.
Read more at: au.legalbusinessonline.com
ASIC lifts ban on covered short selling of financial securities
Australian Securities and Investment Commission has lifted the ban on covered short selling of financial securities. Covered short selling of securities was temporarily banned on 21 September 2008 because of extreme market volatility.
Read more at: www.asic.gov.au
Australia's in-house lawyers set to tackle pro-bono
Australia has just launched a professional insurance indemnity scheme which will assist in-house and government lawyers to get involved in pro-bono legal work. Until now, in-house and government lawyers - unlike their private practice counterparts - have been restrained from participating in pro bono legal practice because they usually don't hold the necessary professional indemnity insurance to cover them for civil claims arising out of their pro-bono work.
The scheme comes into force on 1 July, read more at: www.lawyersweekly.com.au
Knowledge and inspiration to "step up" in challenging times
A strong line-up of speakers shared knowledge and inspiration at this year's annual Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand (CLANZ) conference in Christchurch last week.
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Inspiring lawyer and leader named CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year
A lawyer described as an inspiration to all corporate counsel is the winner of the 2009 CLANZ-Bell Gully Young Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award.
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Legal leadership
In this article, NZLawyer talks to award-winning in-house counsel about what makes a good leader within small teams, as part of an organisation and within the in-house profession.
Read more at: www.newzealandlawyer.co.nz
Time to change the focus
The economic environment, a change of Government and a changing of the guard at the Commerce Commission provide an opportunity for the Commission to shift its balance towards a greater emphasis on resolving cases earlier and at lower cost to New Zealand Inc.
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Managing social networking sites at work
The impact of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace on employment issues is broadening. In Australia, Telstra General Counsel has just released a six-page memo for its employees outlining its policy for behaviour on these sites.
Read more at: www.thenewlawyer.com.au
For Bell Gully's analysis of the impact of social networking sites on employment issues and our tips for concerned employers, go to: www.bellgully.com
Protection and promotion in tough economic times
This two part series looks at what steps some New Zealand in-house counsel are taking to survive the current economic downturn and to ensure that they emerge from it stronger than ever.
Read part one at: www.newzealandlawyer.co.nz
Read part two at: www.newzealandlawyer.co.nz
In-house lawyers sign up for social networking
Social networking platform, Connected, run by the LexisNexis Group, is proving a popular resource for in-house lawyers. After opening up for users four months ago, half of the almost 3000 lawyers already signed up are in-house counsel.
Read more at: www.lawyersweekly.com.au
The nine-day working fortnight
The nine-day working fortnight scheme is designed to abate the impact of the current global economic turmoil on New Zealand businesses and their employees. This article looks at how the scheme will work and some of its potential benefits and drawbacks.
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
London's lawyers laud banking sector reforms
London's leading financial services lawyers have welcomed proposals aimed at shaking up Britain's banking sector. The more interventionist approach proposed will give banks less freedom to choose their appetite for risk. Many believe the success of the proposals will hinge largely on how much global support there is for greater financial supervision.
Read more at: business.timesonline.co.uk
Com Com cracking down on cartels
This report looks at two recent judgments on cartel activity in New Zealand, which it sees as indicative of the increased investigation into cartel activity by the Commerce Commission.
Read more at: www.nbr.co.nz
Clients welcome cost cuts at UK law firms
Many UK law firms have implemented cost-saving measures in 2009 and these measures have been welcomed by clients demanding better value for money in tough economic times. In this article, Alex Aldridge finds that many firms still have a long way to go before clients are convinced that they will see the benefits.
Read more at: www.legalweek.com
Court rules overseas residents must comply with Commerce Act
The Commerce Commission has welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling which confirms New Zealand courts jurisdiction over overseas residents alleged to have breached the Commerce Act.
Read more at: www.comcom.govt.nz
Australia continues ban on short-selling of securities
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has announced that it will keep the ban on covered short selling of financial securities in place until 31 May 2009 but will keep this position under review.
Read more at: www.asic.gov.au
In-house counsel assess future challenges
In-house counsel at several leading Australian and New Zealand businesses comment on what they see as the biggest challenges for 2009.
Read more at: au.legalbusinessonline.com
When failing = winning
For firms facing closure in these tough economic times, the prospect of recouping some of the losses by selling to another industry player is likely to be welcomed. This article discusses the scope to achieve Commerce Commission blessing for such a sale, even when it might result in the purchaser gaining a very high market share (or even a monopoly).
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Free access to Australian citations
Australia has its first internet-based system offering free access to citations, LawCite. The database was developed by the Australasian Legal Information Institute and is available at:
Australia's banking sector calls for reform around credit rating
Australia's banking industry has called for improved regulation of credit rating agencies, largely held responsible for triggering the global financial crisis. Key industry representatives met recently to discuss potential reforms.
Read more at: www.theaustralian.news.com.au
Corporate counsel association head answers the tough questions
General Counsel of America's Association of Corporate Counsel Susan Hackett speaks frankly about in-house counsel's role in the financial meltdown and key issues to consider in 2009.
Read more at: www.law.com
RMA reforms signal a step in the right direction
Bell Gully welcomes the Government's announcement that it will be embarking on a significant series of reforms to the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Read more at: www.bellgully.com
Applying new regulatory laws on Commission's New Year radar
The Commerce Commission has started the year with a full book of reviews that will shape its approach to the regulation of some of New Zealand?s key industries.
Read more at: www.newzealandlawyer.co.nz
Insolvent companies targets of class actions
Several high-profile Australian companies have fallen victim to the global financial crisis and their shareholders are now launching class actions against the insolvent companies and their boards of directors. It's a trend which began in the United States, where more than 100 class action claims are already in the courts. The claims mostly relate to boards of companies providing poor or misleading information to shareholders, breaching their corporate governance requirements.
Read more at: www.abc.net.au
Employees to face three month trial period
A change to New Zealand's employment law means that employers with fewer than 20 employees can, by written agreement, employ workers on a 90 day trial period. During that period, employers may terminate the employment relationship without the risk of the employee bringing a personal grievance claim.
Read more at: www.beehive.govt.nz
