The document discusses planning the integration of an acquired company's legal department. It notes that while other functional groups often spend months planning integration, legal integration is rarely given proper attention. The author provides examples of opportunities that could be uncovered through a thoughtful legal integration plan, such as unused intellectual property or cost-saving measures.
The author then lists 25 key areas that should be addressed in a legal integration plan, such as personnel, knowledge management, outside counsel, and IP. It also provides questions to consider when gathering background information, integrating the general counsel, assessing other legal personnel, and evaluating skills. The lack of integration planning is seen as short-sighted and a missed opportunity.
November 2011 acc_docket_planning_the_integration_of_an_acquired_company's_le...Frank Fletcher
The document discusses planning the integration of an acquired company's legal department. It provides background on a fictional acquisition between two software companies, BiggerCo and SmallerCo. There are significant differences between the two legal departments in terms of location, technology use, outside counsel relationships, and compensation. Developing an effective integration plan for combining the legal departments is important but often overlooked. The document outlines key areas to assess and address when planning an integration, including personnel, knowledge management, budgets, and outside counsel. Without a thorough integration plan, opportunities may be missed to reduce costs and leverage the acquired company's resources.
The document summarizes research from the CEB Marketing Leadership Council on the digital evolution in B2B marketing. It finds that customers now self-diagnose problems and decide on solutions before engaging sales. Marketing and sales must get involved earlier and disrupt customers' purchase criteria. This requires fewer, higher-impact ideas and concentrated execution. Content roles must be formalized and digital teams integrated, rather than operating in silos. Insights come more from smart human analysis than tools.
This presentation stems from a CLE webinar on organizing, analyzing and presenting the key pieces of electronically stored information. How can you pull it all together—without pulling out your hair? Get tips, techniques and best practices at this information-packed and practical Webinar presented by three specialists in case analysis techniques and litigation technology.
A presentation stemming from a CLE webinar by Todd C. Scott of Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, which provides fantastic tips to minimize the risk of law firm malpractice. See the last slide for the next CLE Webinar on June 16, 2015
This is a short yet impactful piece based on three vignettes from attorenys that have started their own law firms. These address: 1) setting financial and personal goals for a law firm 2) when to hire staff and 3) setting policies and procedures.
A LexisNexis survey of legal departments found a renewed sense of optimism among U.S.-based corporate legal departments. More than 70% of survey respondents, which were mostly comprised of corporate attorneys, said this year has been better as compared to the previous year. The survey also found that corporate legal departments are planning to bring more work in-house, that compliance and operational efficiency are the top challenges, and expect legal budgets and staffing to remain flat.
Did you know? The litigation software tools and business of law software tools have been combined into a single software division headquartered in our new Software Center of Excellence in Raleigh, NC. These slides were part of the presentation by the top LexisNexis software executive, Michael Lipps, at ILTA 2014. In it he maps what LexisNexis sees as top 5 technology trends in the legal community against a number of product updates in the software portfolio.
November 2011 acc_docket_planning_the_integration_of_an_acquired_company's_le...Frank Fletcher
The document discusses planning the integration of an acquired company's legal department. It provides background on a fictional acquisition between two software companies, BiggerCo and SmallerCo. There are significant differences between the two legal departments in terms of location, technology use, outside counsel relationships, and compensation. Developing an effective integration plan for combining the legal departments is important but often overlooked. The document outlines key areas to assess and address when planning an integration, including personnel, knowledge management, budgets, and outside counsel. Without a thorough integration plan, opportunities may be missed to reduce costs and leverage the acquired company's resources.
The document summarizes research from the CEB Marketing Leadership Council on the digital evolution in B2B marketing. It finds that customers now self-diagnose problems and decide on solutions before engaging sales. Marketing and sales must get involved earlier and disrupt customers' purchase criteria. This requires fewer, higher-impact ideas and concentrated execution. Content roles must be formalized and digital teams integrated, rather than operating in silos. Insights come more from smart human analysis than tools.
This presentation stems from a CLE webinar on organizing, analyzing and presenting the key pieces of electronically stored information. How can you pull it all together—without pulling out your hair? Get tips, techniques and best practices at this information-packed and practical Webinar presented by three specialists in case analysis techniques and litigation technology.
A presentation stemming from a CLE webinar by Todd C. Scott of Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, which provides fantastic tips to minimize the risk of law firm malpractice. See the last slide for the next CLE Webinar on June 16, 2015
This is a short yet impactful piece based on three vignettes from attorenys that have started their own law firms. These address: 1) setting financial and personal goals for a law firm 2) when to hire staff and 3) setting policies and procedures.
A LexisNexis survey of legal departments found a renewed sense of optimism among U.S.-based corporate legal departments. More than 70% of survey respondents, which were mostly comprised of corporate attorneys, said this year has been better as compared to the previous year. The survey also found that corporate legal departments are planning to bring more work in-house, that compliance and operational efficiency are the top challenges, and expect legal budgets and staffing to remain flat.
Did you know? The litigation software tools and business of law software tools have been combined into a single software division headquartered in our new Software Center of Excellence in Raleigh, NC. These slides were part of the presentation by the top LexisNexis software executive, Michael Lipps, at ILTA 2014. In it he maps what LexisNexis sees as top 5 technology trends in the legal community against a number of product updates in the software portfolio.
A study of challenges and opportunities facing the business of small law firms in billing realization.
- More than 80% of small law firms surveyed say they experience past due client accounts at least some of the time. More than half (52.9%) say between 10% and 39% of their total client base is typically past due.
- A majority of law firms surveyed (71.2%) report providing discounts or writing off legal work even before invoicing clients. Interestingly, an analysis comparing law firms that “always” and “never” provide discounts appears to show a correlation to past due accounts: Those law firms that reported never providing discounts on legal fees also reported substantially lower percentages of clients who allowed legal invoices to become past due.
MACPA works to keep it's members "future ready" and to be able to thrive in this rapidly changing and complex world. This update given every six months in interactive "town hall" meetings covers the latest developments in four major areas: 1) Lookout post - the latest trends and issues facing business and the Profession; 2) Laws, regulations and standards; 3) What MACPA is doing about these issues as a membership organization; and 4) How to keep their L>C, rate of learning greater than the rate of change, or to help CPAs find their competitive edge.
The current batches of trends revives around the "shift change".
Big Data Debate in Corporate Law - Inside Counsel - August 2015Rayford Davis
General counsels have traditionally been afraid of embracing big data due to concerns over risks and costs. However, data-driven decision making can help legal departments better understand risks, assess budgets realistically, and demonstrate their value to the business. While metrics are important, measuring legal work also poses challenges given its discretionary nature. Overall, when used properly, big data can help legal departments make informed choices that save companies millions through more efficient risk mitigation and management.
This presentation covers examines the business management side of law firms, including metrics for law firm marketing, law firm technology spending and law firm profitability. It is broken into the following sections:
- Six Numbers Law Firm Stakeholders Should Know
- Investing time in your law firm
- Law practice vs. Law firm business
- Developing a roadmap
- Evaluating Clients
- Working within your budget constraints
Gone are the days of corporate secretary duties performed in isolation. General counsel are under increasing pressure to deliver and demonstrate value to the organization. [Legal entities proliferate]. [New tax laws] and [privacy regulations like the GDPR] force a reassessment of legal structures.
Managing legal entities efficiently is critical for general counsel balancing legal, risk management, and leadership responsibilities. This presentation provides a comprehensive review of [entity management as a legal practice] and [entity management software ]as a tool from the perspective of the general counsel and in house legal team.
Ceo survey-the-role-and-value-of-todays-modern-gcAmber Clark
The document discusses the results of a survey of over 100 CEOs about the role of the general counsel (GC). It finds that while almost all public company GCs are now part of the senior leadership team, only 57% of private company GCs have this role. CEOs indicated the top areas for GCs to improve are business acumen and industry knowledge. Additionally, over half of companies have not identified a successor for the GC role, especially among private companies. The document advocates that GCs take on more strategic advisory roles to provide greater value to companies.
4 “I wish I would haves” to avoid – Lease management and lease accountingDeloitte United States
The implications of companies not getting their lease accounting and lease management practices in order before new lease regulations take effect, or simply not getting prepared fast enough, could be serious. Don’t let yourself get caught saying any of these four things six months from now. www.deloitte.com/leasepoint
The document provides a summary of the following:
1) Compliance Reporter will not publish next Monday and the next issue will appear on January 7th. It also wishes readers happy holidays.
2) The SEC may tone down questions about the social networks of fund firm insiders in its compliance inspections.
3) The UK Financial Services Authority plans to add 30-50 new staff to its enforcement division with a focus on market misconduct cases.
Fintech collaboration: Strategic insights and leading practices Patrick G. Rooney
This document summarizes a presentation on fintech collaboration between financial services institutions (FSIs) and fintech companies. The presentation discusses how the relationship between fintechs and FSIs has evolved from competition to more collaboration. It notes some obstacles that can inhibit collaboration, such as organizational barriers within FSIs and difficulties defining value propositions. The presentation provides recommendations on how to overcome obstacles, such as establishing dedicated ports of entry for fintechs and streamlining innovation processes. It also addresses challenges in benchmarking success and looks ahead at the future relationship between fintechs and FSIs.
Business Breakups (Series: Common Commercial Conflicts)Financial Poise
As any entrepreneur will attest, starting and operating a business comes with unique challenges. These challenges are a key reason that, by some estimates, half of the companies that are founded today will not exist four years from now. It can be argued that the effort and attention needed to find success precludes business owners from planning for failure. This webinar focuses on the realities of a failing business from the owners’ perspective. Join our panel of experts as they discuss the various considerations that should be given at the outset of start-up negotiations and through business breakup, including dispute negotiation and litigation.
To view the accompanying webinar, go to: https://www.financialpoise.com/financial-poise-webinars/business-breakups-2019/
This study found that file sharing is increasingly important in law firm collaboration and while those firms are keenly aware of the consequences of IT security risks, unencrypted email – reinforced with a statement of confidentiality – remains the primary mechanism for sharing files.
This is a presentation about IEG's evaluation of the Doing Business Indicators. The Doing Business Indicators are the Bank Group's well-known tool for comparing the business regulatory environments of 178 countries.
Successful strategic alliances between financial advisors and other professionals like CPAs and attorneys benefit all parties. The other professionals can offer more complete financial services to better serve existing clients, gain new clients, and increase revenue. Financial advisors obtain significant new assets under management in a cost-effective way by gaining referrals through the alliance. Strategic alliances open doors, build trust, and create new business opportunities for both alliance partners.
8.18.20 How to Negotiate with Venture Capitalistsideatoipo
Venture capital is the holy grail of funding for successful startups. Startups that successfully close a venture capital funding round will have access not only to money but also experience, expertise and connections. Silicon Valley has many success stories of venture-backed companies that went on to successful exits. However, there are as many stories of founders who lost their companies, exited too early or gave up too much to the venture capitalists. If a startup is lucky enough to get a venture capital term sheet, how can the startup founder protect herself? What should be negotiated, and what should she expect?
Join us as veteran Silicon Valley startup and venture capital attorney Roger Royse discusses how to negotiate with venture capitalists.
In this presentation, you will learn:
1) How to do due diligence on a venture capitalist
2) How to prepare your company for a venture capital financing
3) How to best position yourself for a successful raise
4) What terms to expect and what traps to avoid
5) What terms are standard, and what terms you should never agree to
6) What is a term sheet, and what can you expect to be in it
7) How to protect yourself from overreaching investors
8) How to position yourself for the future after the funding closes
9) What to expect after the close….
And more!
Please come with your questions, comments and scenarios.
About the Speaker:
Roger Royse is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Haynes and Boone, LLP and practices in the areas of corporate and securities law, tax, mergers and acquisitions and fund formation. He works with companies ranging from newly formed tech startups to publicly traded multinationals in a variety of industries. Roger has been an instructor or professor of legal, tax and business topics for the Center for International Studies (Salzburg, Austria), Golden Gate University School of Law and Stanford Continuing Studies and is a frequent speaker, writer, radio guest, blogger and panelist for bar associations, CPA organizations, and business groups. Roger is a Northern California Super Lawyer, is AV Peer-Rated by Martindale Hubbell, and has a “Superb” rating from Avvo..
Roger is the author of Dead on Arrival: How to Avoid the Legal Mistakes That Could Kill Your Startup and has been interviewed and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fox Business, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Tax Notes, Inc. Magazine, Nikkei Asian Review, China Daily, San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, The Recorder, 7X7, Business Insurance and Fast Company.
If you have questions for Roger, you can reach him at:
roger.royse@haynesboone.com
Closing the talent gap: Five ways government and business can team up to resk...Deloitte United States
1) The document discusses ways for government and businesses to work together to reskill workers as jobs are changing rapidly due to new technologies.
2) It suggests focusing training programs on specific job needs, expanding apprenticeships to new fields, and assisting lower-skilled workers.
3) The government could play a role connecting employers to job seekers and facilitating partnerships between education and industry.
Legal Entity Management is an area ripe for process enhancement as a means of ensuring accurate, timely compliance while controlling costs and mitigating risk.
The document discusses the changing landscape of eDiscovery as corporate clients increasingly manage eDiscovery in-house using new technologies. It notes that outside counsel needs to understand these technologies and changes in order to create value for clients through collaboration, ensuring complete productions, and advising on the appropriate role of tools versus human expertise. Outside counsel that can educate clients and help balance in-house and outsourced resources will be best positioned to maintain strong client relationships in this evolving environment.
EU General Data Protection Regulation: Practical steps for compliance, third ...Deloitte United States
The European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect May 25, 2018, yet only 34.5 percent of nearly 500 professionals involved in GDPR compliance efforts say their organizations can defensibly demonstrate compliance with the new data privacy rules today, according to a July 2018 Deloitte poll. Further, only 13.6 percent of respondents are confident that their organizations know what data third parties have and are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to analyze and manage third-party contracts for GDPR compliance. To learn more, go to: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/few-organizations-are-gdpr-compliant-eu-data-privacy-contract-management.html
Ready to send the world’s mostexpensive email? Avoid a million-dollar mistake by understanding the rules of CASL with this overview of Canada's version of the CAN SPAM Act. Designed for law firm marketing, this presentation is geared to law firm business development, marketing and CRM specialists.
Navigating the legal world while building a startup - Presentation x.pdfEkoInnovationCentre
Mallick Bolakale is an experienced startup lawyer and entrepreneur based in Lagos, Nigeria, with almost a decade of handling complex legal issues for businesses. Currently, he co-founded Regcompass Consults, a legal consultancy, and two startups, Applatch Inc. and Startbutton. His experience includes licensing, regulations, intellectual property, and working with technologies. He advises that involving lawyers from the beginning can help startups avoid legal issues and benefit from their strategic advice across business operations. It is important for startups to consider legal factors at every stage, such as founding, operations, partnerships, capital raising, and exit.
How does digital signing process make your business more successfulSreeramulaSatya
The digital signing process is rapidly replacing the organization’s manual methods and in turn, it is reducing the manual effort, especially the HR & sales department’s. Organizations are making their job done in one shot irrespective of the document count by following the process such as digital signing and go cardless, by experiencing the growth and productivity of their respective organizations.
A study of challenges and opportunities facing the business of small law firms in billing realization.
- More than 80% of small law firms surveyed say they experience past due client accounts at least some of the time. More than half (52.9%) say between 10% and 39% of their total client base is typically past due.
- A majority of law firms surveyed (71.2%) report providing discounts or writing off legal work even before invoicing clients. Interestingly, an analysis comparing law firms that “always” and “never” provide discounts appears to show a correlation to past due accounts: Those law firms that reported never providing discounts on legal fees also reported substantially lower percentages of clients who allowed legal invoices to become past due.
MACPA works to keep it's members "future ready" and to be able to thrive in this rapidly changing and complex world. This update given every six months in interactive "town hall" meetings covers the latest developments in four major areas: 1) Lookout post - the latest trends and issues facing business and the Profession; 2) Laws, regulations and standards; 3) What MACPA is doing about these issues as a membership organization; and 4) How to keep their L>C, rate of learning greater than the rate of change, or to help CPAs find their competitive edge.
The current batches of trends revives around the "shift change".
Big Data Debate in Corporate Law - Inside Counsel - August 2015Rayford Davis
General counsels have traditionally been afraid of embracing big data due to concerns over risks and costs. However, data-driven decision making can help legal departments better understand risks, assess budgets realistically, and demonstrate their value to the business. While metrics are important, measuring legal work also poses challenges given its discretionary nature. Overall, when used properly, big data can help legal departments make informed choices that save companies millions through more efficient risk mitigation and management.
This presentation covers examines the business management side of law firms, including metrics for law firm marketing, law firm technology spending and law firm profitability. It is broken into the following sections:
- Six Numbers Law Firm Stakeholders Should Know
- Investing time in your law firm
- Law practice vs. Law firm business
- Developing a roadmap
- Evaluating Clients
- Working within your budget constraints
Gone are the days of corporate secretary duties performed in isolation. General counsel are under increasing pressure to deliver and demonstrate value to the organization. [Legal entities proliferate]. [New tax laws] and [privacy regulations like the GDPR] force a reassessment of legal structures.
Managing legal entities efficiently is critical for general counsel balancing legal, risk management, and leadership responsibilities. This presentation provides a comprehensive review of [entity management as a legal practice] and [entity management software ]as a tool from the perspective of the general counsel and in house legal team.
Ceo survey-the-role-and-value-of-todays-modern-gcAmber Clark
The document discusses the results of a survey of over 100 CEOs about the role of the general counsel (GC). It finds that while almost all public company GCs are now part of the senior leadership team, only 57% of private company GCs have this role. CEOs indicated the top areas for GCs to improve are business acumen and industry knowledge. Additionally, over half of companies have not identified a successor for the GC role, especially among private companies. The document advocates that GCs take on more strategic advisory roles to provide greater value to companies.
4 “I wish I would haves” to avoid – Lease management and lease accountingDeloitte United States
The implications of companies not getting their lease accounting and lease management practices in order before new lease regulations take effect, or simply not getting prepared fast enough, could be serious. Don’t let yourself get caught saying any of these four things six months from now. www.deloitte.com/leasepoint
The document provides a summary of the following:
1) Compliance Reporter will not publish next Monday and the next issue will appear on January 7th. It also wishes readers happy holidays.
2) The SEC may tone down questions about the social networks of fund firm insiders in its compliance inspections.
3) The UK Financial Services Authority plans to add 30-50 new staff to its enforcement division with a focus on market misconduct cases.
Fintech collaboration: Strategic insights and leading practices Patrick G. Rooney
This document summarizes a presentation on fintech collaboration between financial services institutions (FSIs) and fintech companies. The presentation discusses how the relationship between fintechs and FSIs has evolved from competition to more collaboration. It notes some obstacles that can inhibit collaboration, such as organizational barriers within FSIs and difficulties defining value propositions. The presentation provides recommendations on how to overcome obstacles, such as establishing dedicated ports of entry for fintechs and streamlining innovation processes. It also addresses challenges in benchmarking success and looks ahead at the future relationship between fintechs and FSIs.
Business Breakups (Series: Common Commercial Conflicts)Financial Poise
As any entrepreneur will attest, starting and operating a business comes with unique challenges. These challenges are a key reason that, by some estimates, half of the companies that are founded today will not exist four years from now. It can be argued that the effort and attention needed to find success precludes business owners from planning for failure. This webinar focuses on the realities of a failing business from the owners’ perspective. Join our panel of experts as they discuss the various considerations that should be given at the outset of start-up negotiations and through business breakup, including dispute negotiation and litigation.
To view the accompanying webinar, go to: https://www.financialpoise.com/financial-poise-webinars/business-breakups-2019/
This study found that file sharing is increasingly important in law firm collaboration and while those firms are keenly aware of the consequences of IT security risks, unencrypted email – reinforced with a statement of confidentiality – remains the primary mechanism for sharing files.
This is a presentation about IEG's evaluation of the Doing Business Indicators. The Doing Business Indicators are the Bank Group's well-known tool for comparing the business regulatory environments of 178 countries.
Successful strategic alliances between financial advisors and other professionals like CPAs and attorneys benefit all parties. The other professionals can offer more complete financial services to better serve existing clients, gain new clients, and increase revenue. Financial advisors obtain significant new assets under management in a cost-effective way by gaining referrals through the alliance. Strategic alliances open doors, build trust, and create new business opportunities for both alliance partners.
8.18.20 How to Negotiate with Venture Capitalistsideatoipo
Venture capital is the holy grail of funding for successful startups. Startups that successfully close a venture capital funding round will have access not only to money but also experience, expertise and connections. Silicon Valley has many success stories of venture-backed companies that went on to successful exits. However, there are as many stories of founders who lost their companies, exited too early or gave up too much to the venture capitalists. If a startup is lucky enough to get a venture capital term sheet, how can the startup founder protect herself? What should be negotiated, and what should she expect?
Join us as veteran Silicon Valley startup and venture capital attorney Roger Royse discusses how to negotiate with venture capitalists.
In this presentation, you will learn:
1) How to do due diligence on a venture capitalist
2) How to prepare your company for a venture capital financing
3) How to best position yourself for a successful raise
4) What terms to expect and what traps to avoid
5) What terms are standard, and what terms you should never agree to
6) What is a term sheet, and what can you expect to be in it
7) How to protect yourself from overreaching investors
8) How to position yourself for the future after the funding closes
9) What to expect after the close….
And more!
Please come with your questions, comments and scenarios.
About the Speaker:
Roger Royse is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Haynes and Boone, LLP and practices in the areas of corporate and securities law, tax, mergers and acquisitions and fund formation. He works with companies ranging from newly formed tech startups to publicly traded multinationals in a variety of industries. Roger has been an instructor or professor of legal, tax and business topics for the Center for International Studies (Salzburg, Austria), Golden Gate University School of Law and Stanford Continuing Studies and is a frequent speaker, writer, radio guest, blogger and panelist for bar associations, CPA organizations, and business groups. Roger is a Northern California Super Lawyer, is AV Peer-Rated by Martindale Hubbell, and has a “Superb” rating from Avvo..
Roger is the author of Dead on Arrival: How to Avoid the Legal Mistakes That Could Kill Your Startup and has been interviewed and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fox Business, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Tax Notes, Inc. Magazine, Nikkei Asian Review, China Daily, San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, The Recorder, 7X7, Business Insurance and Fast Company.
If you have questions for Roger, you can reach him at:
roger.royse@haynesboone.com
Closing the talent gap: Five ways government and business can team up to resk...Deloitte United States
1) The document discusses ways for government and businesses to work together to reskill workers as jobs are changing rapidly due to new technologies.
2) It suggests focusing training programs on specific job needs, expanding apprenticeships to new fields, and assisting lower-skilled workers.
3) The government could play a role connecting employers to job seekers and facilitating partnerships between education and industry.
Legal Entity Management is an area ripe for process enhancement as a means of ensuring accurate, timely compliance while controlling costs and mitigating risk.
The document discusses the changing landscape of eDiscovery as corporate clients increasingly manage eDiscovery in-house using new technologies. It notes that outside counsel needs to understand these technologies and changes in order to create value for clients through collaboration, ensuring complete productions, and advising on the appropriate role of tools versus human expertise. Outside counsel that can educate clients and help balance in-house and outsourced resources will be best positioned to maintain strong client relationships in this evolving environment.
EU General Data Protection Regulation: Practical steps for compliance, third ...Deloitte United States
The European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect May 25, 2018, yet only 34.5 percent of nearly 500 professionals involved in GDPR compliance efforts say their organizations can defensibly demonstrate compliance with the new data privacy rules today, according to a July 2018 Deloitte poll. Further, only 13.6 percent of respondents are confident that their organizations know what data third parties have and are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to analyze and manage third-party contracts for GDPR compliance. To learn more, go to: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/few-organizations-are-gdpr-compliant-eu-data-privacy-contract-management.html
Ready to send the world’s mostexpensive email? Avoid a million-dollar mistake by understanding the rules of CASL with this overview of Canada's version of the CAN SPAM Act. Designed for law firm marketing, this presentation is geared to law firm business development, marketing and CRM specialists.
Navigating the legal world while building a startup - Presentation x.pdfEkoInnovationCentre
Mallick Bolakale is an experienced startup lawyer and entrepreneur based in Lagos, Nigeria, with almost a decade of handling complex legal issues for businesses. Currently, he co-founded Regcompass Consults, a legal consultancy, and two startups, Applatch Inc. and Startbutton. His experience includes licensing, regulations, intellectual property, and working with technologies. He advises that involving lawyers from the beginning can help startups avoid legal issues and benefit from their strategic advice across business operations. It is important for startups to consider legal factors at every stage, such as founding, operations, partnerships, capital raising, and exit.
How does digital signing process make your business more successfulSreeramulaSatya
The digital signing process is rapidly replacing the organization’s manual methods and in turn, it is reducing the manual effort, especially the HR & sales department’s. Organizations are making their job done in one shot irrespective of the document count by following the process such as digital signing and go cardless, by experiencing the growth and productivity of their respective organizations.
The document discusses several critical legal considerations that should be addressed in a comprehensive business plan. It notes that legal issues are an integral part of any business and should be considered early in planning. The document outlines several key legal topics that should be covered in a business plan, including corporate structure, licenses and registrations, contracts and agreements, intellectual property, and risk management. Incorporating these legal viewpoints helps ensure all factors impacting the business are considered and saves founders time, effort and money.
The document discusses improving the success rate of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for technology companies. It states that while most focus is placed on financial and legal due diligence, M&A deals often fail due to unaddressed strategic, business, operations, and integration issues. The author recommends expanding due diligence to include independent reviews of these other factors, and improving post-merger integration planning and management, in order to better assess risks and create longer-term value. Bonocore Technology Partners provides consulting services to assist with strategic assessments, integration program management, and lessons learned workshops for improving M&A success.
Birthing Unicorns: A Practical Guide to Legal Aspects of Launching Digital Me...BIEvents
This document provides a summary of key legal considerations for launching a digital media startup. It discusses implementing structures that facilitate raising capital and liquidity events like acquisitions or IPOs. Some of the main points covered include choosing the right legal entity and location, capitalization, intellectual property protection, employment compliance, and regulatory issues. The document emphasizes the importance of being prepared for diligence from investors or acquirers by having documentation like financials, capitalization tables, and contracts in order.
September 2011 Acc Docket Due Diligence & Your M&A Success Story Fle...Frank Fletcher
1) The in-house counsel closed the acquisition of TargetCo quickly at the CEO's urging, but soon uncovered several issues that could negatively impact the deal.
2) These issues included an investment banking firm seeking payment for advising TargetCo, millions of dollars in unpaid vendor invoices, unregistered trademarks, and a virus protection software flaw resulting in product liability lawsuits.
3) Further, a government agency alleged TargetCo overcharged for custom software work and filed a debarment proceeding.
The document discusses 10 common myths about Canada's SR&ED (Scientific Research and Exploratory Development) tax credit program. It aims to clarify that 1) companies do not need to reveal proprietary secrets when filing claims, 2) processing times have improved to around 4 months, and 3) projects do not need to be in science/technology to qualify as long as they involve technological advancement. The document provides examples to address each myth and encourage more companies to take advantage of the significant tax credits available through the program.
Most founders understand that capital raising is a core aspect of growing a business or expanding into new markets. The capital raise process, however, can seem exhausting and overwhelming.
This guide is designed to provide you with the basic tools you need for understanding how to approach the mechanics of the capital raise process, from preparation to post-closing, with confidence.
As a note, this guide applies to various corporate forms, including Corporations (INC) and Limited Liability Companies (LLC). However, the terminology used throughout is specific to Corporations.
CONTENTS:
CHAPTER ONE | HOW TO PREPARE
Before seeking capital, there are a few crucial documents and components to be prepared, organized, and ready to initiate the process.
CHAPTER TWO | THE CAPITAL RAISE PROCESS
Once the preparation is underway, gain a better understanding of the procedures and timelines involved.
CHAPTER THREE | AVOIDING COMMON PITFALLS
Now that the foundations are in place learn of the common pitfalls of the Capital Raise process and how to avoid them.
This document summarizes key points about legal department convergence processes from the perspectives of both in-house counsel and outside law firms. It discusses how convergence began as a trend started by DuPont in the 1990s to reduce the number of outside law firms used. Legal departments use convergence to better manage budgets, build stronger relationships with fewer firms, and implement performance metrics. Both in-house counsel and law firms must be clear on objectives, use data to inform decisions, and view interviews and implementation as important parts of the process. Overall, the document provides advice for effectively navigating convergence from both sides of the relationship between legal departments and outside counsel.
RegTech - regulators accelerating adoption of emerging technologiesLapman Lee ✔
Lapman Lee - managing director at Duff & Phelps provides his point of view how RegTech can help address (some of) the compliance challenges and how regulators are actually accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies benefiting the overall FinTech / InsurTech ecosystem.
100 Issues to Clarify with your M&A Counsel_Fletcher-Gottfried_ACC_ACC Docket...Frank Fletcher
The document discusses the situation of an in-house counsel at a manufacturing company that is considering strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. The company has historically relied on outside counsel for mergers and acquisitions, but is now embarking on a more complex sale process involving investment bankers and a public tender offer. The general counsel has put the in-house counsel in charge of overseeing the legal aspects of the sale process. This represents the first time the in-house counsel will need to take a more active role in managing outside M&A counsel, given the higher stakes and complexity compared to past deals.
Procuring for agile: thoughts on what good looks like webinar
Thursday 23 April 2020
presented by
Dr Jon Broome, Olubukola Feyisetan, John Lake, Jason Sprague, Will Webster
The link to the write up page and resources of this webinar:
https://www.apm.org.uk/news/procuring-for-agile-thoughts-on-what-good-looks-like-webinar/
ACCORDING to AG Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble, collaboration is a key ingredient in a company’s arsenal to help it innovate better and faster, and proactively
respond to the increased demand we face in a global and connected economy.
What is Social Networking?
The power behind the new communication paradigm exemplified by internet sites such as Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube is that it promotes the flow of ideas — including
advice, feedback and criticism — all of it free of charge.
I think that AG Lafley puts it best when he says: “No company today, no matter how large or how global, can innovate fast enough or big enough by itself.
Coworking spaces present both opportunities and risks for growing companies. While they provide resources and a collaborative environment, businesses must formalize structures to transition successfully. Key risks include a lack of formal business plans and protections when subsidies end. Attorneys can help by advising on risks, establishing proper legal entities and contracts, and facilitating connections within the community.
Legal structures to attract investors and penetrate the global market EkoInnovationCentre
Private equity funding and global expansion require careful legal structuring and due diligence. Private equity involves providing equity capital to growing companies in exchange for ownership stakes. The process includes expressing interest, conducting due diligence on both parties, negotiating terms, and closing with signed agreements. Both companies and investors must research the other thoroughly. Expanding globally requires understanding foreign laws, choosing governing law for contracts, selecting the proper legal entity like an LLC or joint venture, and ensuring compliance with corporate governance rules. Careful legal and risk assessment is vital for attracting investors and penetrating new markets.
Revolutionize How You Sell Through ConversationsApttus
Conversational interfaces are changing how users interact with Quote-to-Cash applications. According to Gartner, these interfaces will become a design imperative for business applications in the next 12 months. In this session, learn how the use of conversation through virtual assistants will open new opportunities to dramatically increase user adoption and productivity, and shorten process cycle times.
Conducting an Initial Coin Offering: Costs and ConsiderationsChristina Gagnier
The document discusses the costs and considerations of conducting an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). It notes that there are significant expenses associated with an ICO beyond just the direct offering costs, including ensuring corporate and financial readiness, establishing governance and internal controls, hiring advisors and specialists, and investing in technology infrastructure. Specifically, the document highlights that legal, accounting, and technology support are crucial areas that require advisors and compliance in order to minimize risks and costs when undertaking an ICO.
The document discusses CFO M&A strategies and experiences, including:
- How ICF sourced deal opportunities through investment bankers and expanding contacts.
- ICF's reliance on internal due diligence of contracts/backlog and external experts for accounting/legal/HR reviews.
- ICF's M&A process of due diligence, negotiating deals to closing, and post-closing integration.
- Key aspects of ICF's integration process including identifying teams, addressing culture/communication, and focusing on value drivers.
Similar to M&A Integration - Planning the Integration of an Acquired Company's Legal Department_ACC _Docket_Fletcherired_company's_legal_department (20)
Cleades Robinson, a respected leader in Philadelphia's police force, is known for his diplomatic and tactful approach, fostering a strong community rapport.
ZKsync airdrop of 3.6 billion ZK tokens is scheduled by ZKsync for next week.pdfSOFTTECHHUB
The world of blockchain and decentralized technologies is about to witness a groundbreaking event. ZKsync, the pioneering Ethereum Layer 2 network, has announced the highly anticipated airdrop of its native token, ZK. This move marks a significant milestone in the protocol's journey, empowering the community to take the reins and shape the future of this revolutionary ecosystem.
Methanex is the world's largest producer and supplier of methanol. We create value through our leadership in the global production, marketing and delivery of methanol to customers. View our latest Investor Presentation for more details.
UnityNet World Environment Day Abraham Project 2024 Press ReleaseLHelferty
June 12, 2024 UnityNet International (#UNI) World Environment Day Abraham Project 2024 Press Release from Markham / Mississauga, Ontario in the, Greater Tkaronto Bioregion, Canada in the North American Great Lakes Watersheds of North America (Turtle Island).
M&A Integration - Planning the Integration of an Acquired Company's Legal Department_ACC _Docket_Fletcherired_company's_legal_department
1. INSIDE:
Asian
Briefings
November 2011
Receiverships and
Commercial Real
Estate Loan Defaults
An
ig
Lit
at i
on
P
ic
re d
t io
n•
ti- C
n
ou
te r
fe
g
i t in
So
lu t
M&
s •
ion
nt
AI
e
ti
gra
on
o
• C
un
s
el
o
&C
li
mp
an
c e Of fi
ce
r •
Ma
na
gin
gS
oci
al
Me
dia
2. M&A Integration
——
Planning the
Integration of an
Acquired Company’s
Legal Department
BY FRANK FLETCHER AND KEITH E. GOTTFRIED
You are the general counsel of BiggerCo, a publicly-held
software and services company with annual revenues of
$600 million based in the heart of California’s Silicon
Valley. Almost three months ago, BiggerCo agreed to
acquire SmallerCo, another publicly-held software and
services company located in Raleigh, N.C., pursuant to
an all-cash, one-step merger transaction that merges
SmallerCo with, and into, BiggerCo. SmallerCo is
relatively comparable in size to BiggerCo, having about
the same revenues and an almost equal number of
employees. While the transaction has been structured
as a merger of equals, there is no doubt that BiggerCo is
acquiring SmallerCo and that BiggerCo’s management
team will be running the combined company. Among
the many attractions in buying SmallerCo were its very
significant international operations, as well as its large
government business. SmallerCo’s largest customer is
the US government. In contrast, BiggerCo has not, to
date, been successful in expanding overseas or in selling
to the US government.
ACC Docket
57 November 2011
3. more than their SmallerCo counterparts,
When the acquisition of SmallerCo
FRANK FLETCHER is the general
partly due to the increased cost of livwas first announced, many investors
counsel of Nero AG, a developer
of platform-neutral software
ing in Silicon Valley. While BiggerCo
thought that BiggerCo had overpaid for
technology for editing and
requires all of its outside counsel to
SmallerCo. In response to that concern,
managing video, music, photos
and other multimedia, which is headquartered
agree to its law firm retention agreement
BiggerCo’s stock got walloped. To adin Karlsbad, Germany, with subsidiaries in
and related outside counsel policies,
dress investor’s concerns, BiggerCo’s
Hangzhou, China; Yokohama, Japan; and
Glendale, California. Fletcher is responsible for
SmallerCo has no such process in place
CEO has been spending a lot of time on
all aspects of the company’s worldwide legal
function, including mergers and acquisitions,
and generally just executes whatever
the road touting the expected benefits of
software licensing, patents, trademarks,
engagement letter is sent to it by its law
the acquisition. Nevertheless, investors
antipiracy and litigation. Prior to joining Nero,
he was a member of the products and
firm. Having just completed a lengthy
remain skeptical and are particularly
technologies law group at Sun Microsystems,
“beauty contest” process to reduce the
concerned with whether BiggerCo has
where he served as chief counsel for the CPU
manufacturing, testing and validation groups,
number of law firms it uses, BiggerCo
the ability to successfully integrate the
as well as the global business services group.
now uses only a handful of law firms
two companies.
He can be contacted at ffletcher@nero.com.
for most of its corporate, litigation and
With the closing of the acquisition of
KEITH E. GOTTFRIED is a partner in
intellectual property work, and some of
SmallerCo now visible on the horizon,
these firms were required to agree to
BiggerCo’s CEO has asked each of his
either alternative fee arrangements or
senior executives, including you, to be
steep discounts off their standard billing
ready at the next meeting of the execurates, in exchange for being designated a
tive leadership team to present detailed
“preferred firm.” In contrast, SmallerCo
plans for integrating the applicable
uses over a dozen law firms and has
operations of SmallerCo into their
no discount or alternative fee arrangefunctional group, post-closing. Many
ments in place with any of them. All of
of the functional groups at BiggerCo,
BiggerCo’s securities compliance and
including finance, accounting, marketcorporate governance work is done by
ing, product management, sales, IT and
outside counsel, and you had not previhuman resources, have been working on
ously contemplated bringing that work
their M&A integration plans for months.
in-house due to the absence of appropriGiven that these other functional groups
ate in-house resources. As such, you are
have not been consumed for the past
pleasantly surprised to learn that SmallerCo has been able
three months with executing the acquisition of SmallerCo,
to bring all this work in-house and you are very impressed
they have had ample time to review the applicable funcwith the in-house attorneys that service these areas. You
tional group at SmallerCo, and contemplate and develop a
are equally surprised to learn that, notwithstanding how
detailed integration plan.
much government contracts work is done by SmallerCo, it
As your integration plan will be due shortly, you can’t
does not have any in-house government contract attorneys
put it off any longer. Where to start? You decide that to
and that all of the government contracts work is serviced
develop your integration plan you must first assess the situby outside counsel. With respect to technology, all of the
ation. The majority of SmallerCo’s attorneys are based in
attorneys at BiggerCo have company-paid Blackberries® or
Raleigh, with several attorneys based overseas to support
iPhones.® The attorneys at SmallerCo don’t have any such
SmallerCo’s international operations. BiggerCo has all
devices provided by the company. While BiggerCo uses a
of its attorneys based in Silicon Valley and has never had
state-of-the-art document management system that allows
attorneys based overseas. SmallerCo’s GC will move into
all of the attorneys in the legal department to have access
the organizational framework at BiggerCo, but an exact
to each other’s documents, no such system has ever been
role has not been identified, though it most likely will be
deployed at SmallerCo.
some type of corporate development or corporate affairs
As you begin to tackle your legal department integration
role. While the BiggerCo legal department did not use such
plan, you notice that, unlike many of the projects you take
titles as “assistant general counsel” or “associate general
on, this one seems not to have any precedent or canned
counsel,” all of the attorneys at SmallerCo (other than the
checklists to look to. You check with your outside counsel
GC) had the title “assistant general counsel” or “associand none of them have any sample M&A integration plans
ate general counsel.” In addition, there is significant pay
for a legal department. It seems impossible to believe that,
disparity between attorneys in BiggerCo’s legal departwith all the M&A transactions that get done in Silicon
ment compared to those in SmallerCo’s legal department,
Valley and beyond, nobody has ever sat down and prepared
with the BiggerCo attorneys being paid almost 20 percent
ACC Docket
58 November 2011
4. The lack of attention
to developing effective
strategies for integrating
an acquired company’s legal
department is extremely
short-sighted and causes
many companies to miss the
numerous opportunities
that may be presented by
the acquired company.
a detailed plan for how to combine the legal departments
of two public companies. The more you think about it, the
more issues come to mind, and there will be no shortage of
issues to consider and address in planning the integration.
Clearly, having a detailed roadmap to guide you would
have been extremely helpful.
This scenario may seem familiar to many of you. Like
the fictional in-house counsel depicted above, we also believe that a detailed roadmap for planning and executing on
the integration of an acquired company’s legal department
would be very useful. In our experience, the integration of
an acquired company’s legal department is rarely given the
thought and attention it deserves. There are many reasons
for this, including that a legal department is often viewed
as a cost center, and the development of a well-executed
integration plan could be expensive in the near-term. In addition, as noted above, a public company’s legal department
is generally not lacking for projects to keep it busy, if not
consumed, and there is little “down time” or even incentive to be strategic. How likely is a legal department to get
approval for additional headcount, or a budget to plan and
execute an M&A integration? We believe that the lack of
attention to developing effective strategies for integrating
an acquired company’s legal department is extremely shortsighted and causes many companies to miss the numerous
opportunities that may be presented by the acquired company. For instance, a thoughtful integration plan may, with
regards to the review of the acquired company’s intellectual property, uncover inventions that are still patentable.
A thoughtful integration plan may also uncover unused
trademarks that have been extremely well-protected — but
ACC Docket
ACC Extras on…
Integration of an Acquired
Company’s Legal Department
ACC Docket
• Due Diligence and Your M&A Success Story
(Sept. 2011). www.acc.com/docket/success-story_sep11
InfoPAKSM
• Organizational Effectiveness: The New Imperative
for Developing a World-Class Legal Department
(July 2011). www.acc.com/infopaks/wcld_jul11
Top Tens
• Top Ten Things to Do When Your
Company Is Acquired (Aug. 2011).
www.acc.com/topten/comp-acquired_aug11
• Top Ten Best Practices for Merger Transactions
from a Litigator’s Perspective (Aug. 2011).
www.acc.com/topten/merger-trans_aug11
Presentation
• Adding Value: Strategic Planning and
Demonstrating Success (May 2011).
www.acc.com/strat-planning_may11
Article
• Mergers and Acquisitions (Fraser Milner Casgrain
LLP) (June 2010). www.acc.com/m&a-fraser_jun10
ACC has more material on this subject on our website.
Visit www.acc.com, where you can browse our resources
by practice area or search by keyword.
are currently not being actively used — that can be potentially recycled for the acquired company’s products. There
may also be numerous “leaky faucets” in the acquired company’s legal department that can be quickly turned off to
produce significant cost savings. Obvious areas here would
be franchise taxes for unused subsidiaries, trademark
maintenance fees for marks that will never be used again,
outside counsel who are being inefficiently managed and
retained at much higher rates than what the acquirer typically pays, license fees for software that is not being used,
retainers for consultants who are not being used, and fees
for warehouse space to store files that is not being used.
In addition, a thoughtful integration plan could uncover
lawsuits and other claims where there is an opportunity —
that theretofore had not been fully explored — to expedi-
60 November 2011
5. Five Ways to Doom
an M&A Transaction
1.
Execute poorly on the M&A integration or
do not complete it on a timely basis.
2.
Pay insufficient attention to customers (and employees)
as the kinks in the integration are worked out.
3.
Miss the landmines in due diligence.
4.
Overpay.
5.
Forget what it is you are buying (particularly in
a services business when it is people).
Twenty-Five Key Areas of Focus
for Legal Department Integration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
Legal personnel
Knowledge management
Budget and forecast
Technology support
Invoice management
Records retention
Outside counsel management
Litigation management
SEC reporting
Corporate governance
International operations
Subsidiary clean-up
Patents, trademarks and other intellectual property
Labor and employment
Stock option and employee benefit plans
Forms and templates
Contract management
Product licensing and sales
Real estate (owned and leased)
Regulatory environment
Government sales and relations
Public relations
Marketing
Insurance
Corporate policies
tiously resolve the matter, which could result in a significant reduction in legal fees being paid to outside counsel.
There may even be cases where the acquired company can
reap a very attractive settlement payment from a defendant,
but in the midst of the acquired company’s sales process,
no one had been willing to engage with the defendant and
its counsel to work out the mechanics of a settlement.
Based on our M&A experiences, and particularly,
reflecting back on our past experiences in integrating an
acquired company’s legal department and being integrated
into a acquirer’s legal department, we have prepared an
extensive list of issues that should be considered and addressed sooner rather than later (hopefully, prior to the
closing of the acquisition), as you begin to plan the integration of an acquired company’s legal department with that
of the acquirer, thus ensuring a smooth transition and a
successful integration.
Gathering background
1. How do the legal needs of the acquired company
compare to the legal needs of the acquirer?
2. How will the legal needs of the acquired
company be satisfied moving forward?
3. Have you received feedback from your
client groups regarding their anticipated
post-closing legal support needs?
4. What are the expectations of the acquirer’s
CEO in terms of headcount and postacquisition budget for the legal department?
Integrating the GC of the acquired company
5. Can the acquired company’s GC be expected to
accept a role reporting to the acquirer’s GC, or
would the acquired company’s GC prefer operating
in a different department such as Corporate
Development or HR? Does the former GC have
knowledge and skills necessary for such a transition?
6. Do you know what role the GC of the target
envisions for himself at the merged company? Does
the former GC expect a dual-GC type of role?
7. Does the former GC have job-title expectations
(e.g., deputy GC, AGC or GC of subsidiary)?
Other legal department personnel
8. Will the legal department personnel of
the acquired company be retained?
9. Will there be a need to relocate legal department
personnel from the acquired company’s
offices to the acquirer’s headquarters?
10. Is it necessary for the acquirer to have lawyers
at multiple locations domestically? Overseas?
ACC Docket
62 November 2011
6. Have you completed an
assessment of the skill
sets for attorneys at each legal
department to determine
which skill sets are
in very short supply
and which are redundant?
11. What core competencies are required by the
acquirer’s legal department, and do any of the
acquired company’s legal department personnel
fill a void in the acquirer’s legal department?
12. Is there a need to hire additional legal department
personnel as a result of the acquisition?
13. Have job descriptions been prepared and
circulated to Human Resources for approval?
14. Is there any pay disparity between attorneys at the
two companies that will need to be addressed?
15. Did there seem to be an inordinate
number of promotions or raises prior
to the closing of the transaction?
16. Do you have a current organizational chart for
the acquired company’s legal department? Do
you have a current organizational chart for your
own legal department? Have you developed an
organizational chart for the merged company?
17. Have you completed an assessment of the skill
sets for attorneys at each legal department
to determine which skill sets are in very
short supply and which are redundant?
18. Have you identified any “superstar” attorneys
on either side with skill sets you can’t
afford to lose? Have you done anything to
make sure you keep these individuals?
19. Are there any competencies in the target
company’s legal department that are currently
being underutilized (e.g., an ex-Big Law
attorney currently doing licensing who could
be supporting future M&A projects)?
20. Is the acquirer missing any core competencies
in its legal department (e.g., open source,
export compliance, FCPA, patents, etc.)?
ACC Docket
21. Is there an attorney at the acquirer with a necessary
core competency who is expected to leave the
acquirer in the near future and who may be replaced
with an attorney from the acquired company?
22. Have you obtained the bios for each
attorney from the acquired company,
including title and salary history?
23. Have you thought about an on-boarding
process for the new attorneys? Will they all be
brought to the parent HQ for this process? Or
is an off-site for all attorneys warranted?
24. Is the integration an opportunity to
upgrade the skills and competencies of
your legal department with more qualified
attorneys from the acquired company?
25. Are there any state bar issues? What is the state
bar membership status of each new attorney
being added to the team? Can each new attorney
produce a certificate of good standing in every
jurisdiction in which they are admitted?
26. If you are going to be relocating attorneys
to California, can these attorneys obtain
in-house counsel registration?
27. Have all legal department personnel from the
acquired company been briefed on the policies
and procedures of the acquirer’s legal department
(i.e., outside counsel retention, issuance of
legal opinions, bar admission requirements,
attorney conduct rules, CLE policies, etc.)?
28. Do you have a standard email signature
that you require your attorneys to use?
Has this been communicated to the
acquired company’s attorneys? ∑
Please read the rest of this article, available exclusively in the
ACC Digital Docket at www.acc.com/docket.
Have a comment on this article? Visit ACC’s blog
at www.inhouseaccess.com/articles/acc-docket.
64 November 2011
7. Knowledge management
29. How do you assess and preserve the knowledge of the
acquired company’s personnel, including those in the
legal department, before they leave the company?
Budget and forecast
30. Has the legal department’s budget and forecast
been revised to reflect the consolidation with the
legal department of the acquired company and the
resulting additional expenses, including, but not
limited to, additional outside counsel fees, additional
attorney and legal support personnel, additional
costs for software licenses and technology support
(Blackberries®, cell phones, computers, etc.),
additional costs for malpractice insurance, additional
overhead allocation, additional travel and related
expenses, and additional bar and association dues?
Technology support
31. Does your IT department understand the
needs of the merged legal department?
Are any additional servers required?
32. Does either company’s legal department use
matter management, document management
and/or calendaring software that will need to be
rolled out to the other? Do you need to purchase
any additional software licenses or seats?
33. Does the acquired company have better software
license terms that can be leveraged by the acquirer?
34. Should all the computers in the acquired company’s
legal department be scanned for documents
that can be imported into the acquirer’s legal
department document management system?
35. Does each of the acquired company’s attorneys have a
personal digital assistant or cell phone paid for by the
company (e.g., Blackberry®, iPhone®, Android®, etc.)?
Invoice management
36. How does the acquired company’s legal
department process and approve its invoices?
37. Have all outside counsel to the acquired
company been advised that, going forward, all
invoices for legal services should be sent to the
attention of the acquirer’s legal department?
38. Have all outside counsel to the acquired
company been requested to notify the acquirer’s
legal department of all outstanding invoices
as of a fixed date so that a proper accrual
can be made of legal expenses payable?
39. Are any of the outstanding invoices items
that are reimbursable pursuant to any
indemnification or insurance arrangements?
40. What will be the approval process for paying the
outstanding legal invoices of the acquired company?
Records retention
41. Will all of the acquired company’s files be kept in
an existing location or moved to a new location?
42. Has the acquired company’s records retention
policy been recently updated and distributed
to the acquired company’s employees?
43. Are processes in place to ensure that, with
respect to open litigation matters, relevant
records are being preserved? Is there any need
to issue a document preservation memo(s) in
connection with acquired company litigation?
44. Is additional secure file storage capacity necessary?
45. Have all the acquired company’s files and
records been scanned and backed up as part
of the acquirer’s disaster recovery plans?
46. Do you know where all the acquired
company’s files are?
47. Are there files in the possession of the acquired
company’s outside counsel that should be retrieved?
48. What is the timetable for implementing the acquirer’s
records retention policy at the acquired company?
Combining best practices
49. Does the acquired company’s legal
department use some best practices that
can be adopted by the acquirer?
Outside counsel management
50. Have you received a list of outside counsel
employed by the acquired company, the tasks
that they handle and the current billing rates?
51. Have you received copies of all outside counsel
engagement letters for all active matters?
52. Have all outside counsel to the acquired
company, domestic and foreign, been
notified about the acquisition?
53. Have all outside counsel to the acquired
company been provided with a copy of the
acquirer’s outside counsel guidelines?
54. Has a decision been made as to which of
the acquired company’s outside counsel
will continue to be retained?
55. Have all outside counsel to the acquired company
that will continue to be retained been asked to
sign revised engagement letters with the acquirer
that includes the acquirer’s standard engagement
letter addendum and outside counsel guidelines?
8. 56. With respect to outside counsel that will not
be retained going forward, has the acquirer
requested that all of the acquired company’s
files be delivered to the acquirer?
57. Have all outside counsel been asked to provide
a list of all matters that they are currently
working on for the acquired company?
58. Are there matters being handled by outside counsel
that can be handled more efficiently and effectively
by in-house counsel? Are those matters capable of
being transitioned from a practical perspective? If
it would be more effective to transition the matter
to in-house counsel, are additional resources
needed in-house prior to such transition?
59. In the acquisition, are you acquiring any
new skill sets that would allow certain tasks
previously performed for the acquirer by
outside counsel to be brought in-house?
60. Have all outside counsel been asked to provide
budgets for open litigation matters that they
are working on for the acquired company?
61. Is there an opportunity to consolidate some of
the matters being handled by outside counsel to a
smaller number of firms? Does the acquirer need
multiple firms to process trademark filing requests?
Does the acquirer need multiple counsel in foreign
jurisdictions? Does the acquirer need multiple
counsel to support the human resources group?
62. Can the consolidation of outside counsel
be leveraged to obtain cost savings?
Litigation management
63. Has a list of all outstanding litigation matters
to which the acquired company is a party
been prepared and compared with what
was listed in the disclosure schedule?
64. Have all outside counsel representing the acquired
company in litigation matters been notified of the
acquisition, and the new protocols for consultation
and approval of all actions in the litigation?
65. Has the estimate for the costs to resolve the pending
matters changed since the transaction closed?
66. Are there litigation matters that can be easily
settled or otherwise disposed of? Should
settlement be considered? Are changes in
litigation counsel necessary? Are changes
in litigation strategy necessary?
67. Will any of the pending litigation matters need to be
disclosed in either the acquirer’s Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K?
ACC Docket
68. Have you received litigation budgets and
forecasts for all ongoing matters involving the
acquired company, including a calendar of court
appearances, deposition schedules, etc.?
69. Are continuances or postponements necessary so
that you can get your arms around the matters
or make changes in assigned counsel?
70. Are all litigation matters appropriately described
in the disclosure schedule to the acquisition
agreement? Are there other claims or contingencies
that have “come out of the woodwork” since
closing that were not appropriately disclosed in the
disclosure schedule to the acquisition agreement?
71. Have you requested of all court filings for
ongoing litigation and other related materials
for inclusion in the acquirer’s legal department
files and for distribution as required (insurance
companies, outside counsel, experts, etc.)?
72. Have you designated a point person
for each litigation matter?
73. Have the insurers been appropriately
notified of all pending litigation to the extent
required by the relevant policies?
74. Have you reviewed all current insurance
policies for applicable coverage?
75. Have you requested a letter from the insurance
carrier delineating coverage terms and limits?
SEC reporting
76. Does the description of the business in the
Annual Report on Form 10-K need to be
revised to reflect the acquired business?
77. Do any changes need to be made to the risk factors or
the forward-looking statement safe harbor factors?
78. Are there additional agreements that need
to be included as exhibits to the Form 10-K
(material contracts, employment agreements,
leases, credit agreements, the acquisition
agreement, new employee benefit plans, etc.)?
79. Will any of the officers or employees of
the acquired company be deemed an
executive officer of the acquirer for whom
Section 16 filings will be necessary?
80. Are there any new directors of the acquirer
as a result of the acquisition for whom
Section 16 filings will be necessary?
81. Are there any Section 16 officers that will be
departing from the acquirer or who will remain
with the acquirer but will no longer be deemed
Section 16 officers? If yes, have “Section 16 exit
memos” been prepared and distributed to them?
C7 November 2011
9. 82. Do the processes that have been implemented
pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
need to be revised to address the acquired company?
83. Will there be any changes to the list of named officers
in the acquirer’s annual meeting proxy statement?
Corporate governance
84. Will additional sub-certifications be needed to
ensure compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?
85. Are there any changes to any of
the board committees?
86. Are there any changes to the schedule
of board or committee meetings?
International operations
87. Are additional legal personnel
needed in overseas locations?
88. Do any of the acquired company’s trademarks
need to be registered in overseas locations?
89. Are any additional foreign qualifications needed?
90. Are there redundant foreign subsidiaries
or other legal entities as a result of the
acquisition that need to be merged out?
91. Are any changes needed to either
party’s transfer pricing policies?
92. Will there be any exchange control
issues going forward?
93. Are there any additional permits
or approvals to obtain?
94. Should a compliance audit be performed
to assess any potential FCPA issues?
95. Are there opportunities to obtain any governmental
subsidies or incentives from the host government?
Export controls compliance
96. Has a review been undertaken to determine
whether any additional filings need to be done
with the US Department of Commerce to export
the products of the acquired company?
97. Are additional export licenses needed?
Subsidiary cleanup
98. Do you have a list of corporate entities
owned by the acquired company?
99. Do you have an up-to-date list of
your own corporate entities?
100. Have all of the acquired subsidiaries been entered
into the acquirer’s subsidiary tracking database?
101. Have you determined who will serve as the
directors of the foreign subsidiaries? Have you
checked residency/nationality requirements?
102. Have actions by unanimous consent been
prepared to change the officers and directors?
103. Has a review been undertaken to determine which
subsidiaries to retain and which to eliminate?
104. Are any of the acquired subsidiaries “significant
subsidiaries” for SEC reporting purposes?
105. Are any of the acquired subsidiaries subject to
open federal, state, local or foreign tax audits?
106. Are any of the acquired subsidiaries parties to any
debt instruments, or are any of their assets pledged?
107. Has the par value of the subsidiaries’ shares
been reviewed to determine whether excessive
franchise taxes are being incurred?
108. Are there domestic subsidiaries that need to
be merged out of existence or dissolved?
109. Are there subsidiaries that cannot be merged
out of existence or dissolved because of open tax
audits, IP ownership or contractual reasons?
110. Have all the corporate minute books been
retrieved and are they all up to date?
111. Are all the acquired subsidiaries in good standing
and are they qualified to do business in the
jurisdictions where they need to be so qualified?
Patents
112. Does there need to be coordination between
the patent procedures at each company [e.g.,
the invention disclosures, patent committees,
patent payments to inventors (upon
submission of patentable idea, upon approval
of patentable idea by the patent committee,
upon completion of the patent application,
upon issuance of the patent, etc.)]?
113. Do you have a current list of patents
for the acquired company?
114. How will the patents of the acquired company
be docketed and maintained (i.e., by an existing
patent service provider or moved to a new service
provider)? In examining the preceding, do you
recognize any tasks that can be brought in-house or
consolidated for a third-party service provider, such
as management of maintenance fees for patents?
115. Has a patent audit been conducted of the acquired
company to determine whether there are additional
inventions to patent that are not time-barred?
116. Have your patent attorneys sat down with the key
inventors at the acquired company and discussed
the patent philosophy of your company?
117. Is there any opportunity to license the
acquired company’s patents and develop
a revenue stream from such patents?
10. 118. Is there any patented technology at the acquired
company that might cause you to change a
current IP litigation strategy, or vice versa, is
there any patented technology at the acquirer
that can be leveraged in any IP litigation
that the acquired company is a party to?
119. Does the transaction have any effect on
any patent license agreements that the
acquired company is a party to?
120. Does the acquisition open the door to
examining a patent licensing strategy?
121. Does the acquired company have procedures
to examine patentable ideas prior to release
of new products? Would this be a good
opportunity to implement such procedures?
Trademarks and other intellectual property
122. Has the acquirer’s list of trademarks
and service marks been updated?
123. Has a decision been made as to which brand
names, trademarks and service marks of the
acquired company will continue to be used?
124. Are additional registrations required,
domestically and/or overseas?
125. Are there opportunities to restructure the
ownership of the acquired company’s intellectual
property to effect a more tax-efficient structure?
126. Are revisions to the acquirer’s intercompany agreements required?
127. Are there older trademarks at either company
that can be re-used or expanded such that prioruse or registration rights can be leveraged?
Website
128. If the acquired company is going to continue with
its stand-alone website for a transitional period,
have the copyright and trademark notices, privacy
policy and terms of use been revised to be in
accordance with the acquirer’s approved template?
129. Have all the country-specific websites of the
acquired company been reviewed to determine what
changes will need to be made to the copyright and
trademark notices, privacy policy and terms of use?
130. If the acquired company was a public company,
have the investor relations and corporate
governance links on the acquired company’s
website been re-linked to the acquirer’s investor
relations and corporate governance pages?
131. Are there web-linking agreements that
need to be updated to reflect that the links
will now be to the acquirer’s website?
ACC Docket
132. Have you applied for all potential “cybersquatting” domain names relating to
the acquired company’s products?
133. Have you coordinated on how you would
like splash screens to appear on the acquired
company’s websites? Is there a clickthrough to the merged company’s site?
Labor and employment
134. Should all of the acquired company’s employees
be required to execute new offer letters?
135. Do the employees of the acquired company
need to sign new confidentiality and
assignment of inventions agreements?
136. Have all of the acquired company’s
employees been advised of the acquirer’s
employee policies and procedures?
137. Have you coordinated with HR on any
potential reductions in force (e.g., severance
agreements, employment law compliance,
collective bargaining issues)?
138. Have WARN Act notices been given?
139. Have severance agreements been drafted?
140. How can severance liabilities be minimized?
141. Have all employment agreements with
severance provisions been reviewed?
142. Should the legal department plan an
employment law compliance training session
for the managers of the acquired company?
143. Are there any collective bargaining organizing
initiatives currently underway?
144. Are the employees of the acquired company
covered by any collective bargaining agreements?
When are such agreements next up for renewal?
Stock option and employee benefit plans
145. Are any new stock option plans being
implemented to rollover the stock options of
the employees of the acquired company?
146. Are there any new incentive compensation plans
(ICP) or management by objectives (MBO) plans
that are being implemented for the new employees?
147. Have the appropriate Form S-8 and
other filings been made with the SEC
and the applicable stock exchanges?
148. Have the stock option plans been adapted, and
the requisite approvals obtained, so that stock
options can be issued to employees overseas?
Use of forms and templates
149. Have you reviewed the acquired company’s
template agreements and attendant rules of use?
C9 November 2011
11. 150. Have you reviewed the acquired company’s
templates to determine if key provisions
(warranties, limitation of liability,
indemnification, rights in derivative IP, etc.)
comply with the policies of the acquirer?
151. Have you provided the acquired company’s
attorneys with a copy of your standard
NDA(s) and the related rules of use?
Contract management
152. Have the disclosure schedules been reviewed for
any contracts with change in control provisions
that will be triggered by the transaction and
require that a consent be obtained (or a
notice be provided) by the acquirer for the
contract’s assignment to be effective?
153. Has a form notice to customers and
request for consent been prepared by legal/
contract management and approved by
sales/marketing for distribution?
154. Are there contracts that require the acquirer
to procure consents that still need to be
obtained for assignment of contracts from
the acquired company to the acquirer?
155. Is someone charged with maintaining a
continuously updated list of contracts
that require consents to be obtained?
156. How will the contract management
process be merged?
157. Have the acquired company’s contract
management personnel been trained on
the use of the acquirer’s forms?
158. How will the acquired company’s contract files be
maintained and where will they be maintained?
159. Are there customer contract forms used
by the acquired company that should
replace forms used by the acquirer?
160. Are there changes to the form customer contracts
that need to be made due to the acquirer now doing
business in additional states or foreign jurisdictions
where local law requires such changes?
161. Do you need to bring in a temp paralegal to
handle notices and assignments required under the
acquired company’s agreements? Or is it realistic
to assign these tasks to current staff members?
Product licensing and sales
162. Has a decision been made on which
company’s product licensing forms and
templates will be used going forward?
163. Has a timeline been established for converting
all of the acquired company’s product
license agreements and sales agreements
to the new forms and templates?
164. Have the forms been adapted for
use in new foreign locations?
165. Have the sales folks been briefed on the legal
terms that they are not to negotiate without the
approval of the acquirer’s legal department?
166. Are new click-through agreements needed for
the merged company’s software products?
167. With the acquisition, is it realistic to form
a group at the merged company to have
paralegals or contract managers handle
repetitive form agreements or processes, such
as NDAs, evaluation agreements or open source
reviews, or new product release approvals?
Real estate (owned and leased)
168. Are any leases being terminated?
169. Do any of the leases to which the acquired
company is a party to require notice or consent
to assignment or change of control?
170. Are any subleases being contemplated with respect
to redundant office space of the acquired company?
171. Are any leases being renegotiated?
172. Are facilities being consolidated,
domestically or overseas?
173. Are there “change of address” notices, which
are required to be sent to any governmental
authorities, domestically or overseas?
174. Are there opportunities to minimize
real estate or transfer taxes?
175. In reviewing the consolidated property
portfolio, are there opportunities to
sell or sublease properties?
Regulatory environment
176. Does the acquired company place the
acquirer in a new regulatory environment
where, for the first time, it is subject to
compliance with a statute or regulation that
heretofore it did not have to comply with?
177. Are there notices to be filed in order to
comply with new regulatory requirements?
178. Does the acquirer’s legal department have
sufficient competency to ensure the acquirer’s
compliance with the new regulatory regime?
179. Is the nature of the regulatory regime such that an
additional full-time in-house person is necessary,
or is it such that outside counsel is sufficient?
12. 180. Has an in-house legal person been appointed as the
point person for this new regulatory regime? Or has
outside counsel been identified to handle this area?
Government sales and relations
181. Does the acquisition affect the acquirer’s
government relations strategy?
182. Are additional state and/or federal
lobbying resources needed?
183. Does the GSA schedule need to be
amended to include the acquired company’s
products and price schedules?
184. Do security clearances need to be obtained by any
legal department personnel in connection with sales
to governmental agencies and instrumentalities?
185. Are there government entities, domestic and
overseas, where the relationship with the
acquired company could be improved?
Public relations
186. Have the employees of the acquired
company been advised of the acquirer’s
communications policies and processes?
187. Has the press release boilerplate been
updated to include, among other things,
any additional forward-looking risk factors
and trademark attribution language?
Marketing
188. Have the marketing personnel of the
acquired company been briefed on the
acquirer’s process for vetting and approving
new brand names, trademarks and service
marks, and approving all product packaging
and the legal notices placed thereon?
189. Has the product packaging of the acquired
company’s products been reviewed to determine
changes that will need to be made?
190. Has the “style guide” been updated to
incorporate the acquired company’s products
and brands, and has the legal department
approved the revised “style guide”?
194. Do the limits and retention amounts of the
acquirer’s insurance need to be revised?
195. Is there transaction-specific litigation that
needs to be brought to the attention of
the insurance broker and the insurer?
196. Has the acquirer’s legal malpractice
insurance coverage been updated to
include the additional legal department
personnel from the acquired company?
197. Should any in-house counsel be covered
under the acquirer’s D&O insurance policy
(e.g., GC, deputy GC, corporate secretary,
assistant corporate secretaries, etc.)?
Corporate policies
198. Have all of the acquired company employees
been made aware of the acquirer’s policies?
Have copies been distributed, either hard-copy
or via email, of the acquirer’s policies to ensure
compliance (e.g., code of conduct, SarbanesOxley Act, policy against harassment in the
workplace, insider trading, antitrust/competition,
revenue recognition, whistleblower, records
retention, foreign corrupt practices act, etc.)?
199. Is additional compliance training necessary for
the employees of the acquired company?
200. Has a click-through acknowledgement been
created for the website for the acquired
company employees to acknowledge that
they have read the acquirer’s policies?
Conclusion
The M&A world is littered with deals that have gone bad
because folks paid scant attention to the heavy lifting that
integration requires following the closing of any transaction.
We hope the 200 items that we have listed above will provide in-house counsel with a useful roadmap for planning
the integration of two legal departments post-acquisition,
and will contribute to not only a smooth transition, but also
an M&A transaction that has a better chance of being successful due to a thoughtful integration strategy.
Insurance
191. Has the acquirer’s insurance broker been
brought up to date on the transaction, and
provided with relevant information and required
notices with respect to the transaction?
192. Have the insurance policies of the acquired
company been converted to tail policies?
193. Is there additional insurance that needs to be
procured as a result of the acquisition?
ACC Docket C11 November 2011