Hi, everyone! It's Dan Clark, your favorite author of your favorite newsletter, writing from the Lonestar State where I'm covering the Association of Corporate Counsel's Annual Meeting. The event has been great; I met a lot of interesting people. And possibly more importantly, I've had some great BBQ.

If you're a commuter or can find 20 minutes, take a listen to this week's episode of Legal Speak. My boss, Corporate Counsel Editor in Chief Heather Nevitt, speaks with Orix GC Ron Barger about the change mindset that law firms need to survive.

I can be reached anytime at [email protected] or you can find me on Twitter @DanclarkALM.

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What's Happening -

L to R: Tyler Carlson, ARAG Legal Insurance; Ann Cosimano, ARAG Legal Insurance; Del Sabzerou, DaVita Inc.; and Stephanie Cannaday, OptumRx Inc.

 

When to Help Employees With Their Legal Issues? Uh, Never.

As in-house counsel, every now and then you'll find yourself facing questions from company employees about their personal legal issues. Everything ranging from a prenuptial agreement to a dispute with their landlord.

For example, let's say your company has a party and a co-worker is later arrested for drunk driving. You wake up to a phone call from an employee in jail because of a DUI. They want legal advice. After all, you may the only lawyer they know.

Luckily for you, I went to a panel on the subject and (spoiler alert!) it seems the best answer is to stay a mile away from your colleagues' personal legal problems. The panel was moderated by Tyler Carlson, a senior underwriter with ARAG, which sells legal insurance that companies can offer their employees. So yeah, maybe there's a built-in bias there. Still consider the DUI hypothetical:

➨Del Sabzerou, assistant general counsel of DaVita Inc., pointed out the employee could later sue the company, setting up a conflict of interest and a possible violation of professional ethics rules. “I would definitely not represent her as her attorney,” Sabzerou said.

➨ Second, chances are that if you're working in-house, you're not a criminal lawyer and you wouldn't be able to adequately advise them.

➨ Panelist Ann Cosimano, GC of ARAG North America, was solution oriented, saying she'd refer that co-worker to a qualified attorney … and also enforces a two-drink ticket maximum at company holiday parties.

Artificial Intelligence Is the Buzz at ACC

 

Seriously, I can't go anywhere at this conference without hearing discussions about AI. There have been several panels on the topic at the conference. Honestly, as someone who does not work with AI, it scares me a little bit. I once had an email conversation with a robot and didn't know until I Googled its name. Spooky!

I am, however, learning that robots talking to people isn't what is on the mind of those who want to bring machine learning and artificial intelligence into legal departments. On Tuesday, I spoke to Barry Plunkett and Andrew Perry at ABBYY. They're here pitching a product to extract information from contracts using machine learning. They say that lawyers have started to move beyond trepidation and are starting to become curious.

“There is a lot of interest and the audience is here to learn and see how it is applied,” Perry said. “Our job is to show them how they can use this in a practical way.”

“Everyone is also much more curious about how they can begin to take advantage of it,” Plunkett said.

More ACC conference news:

➤ Blockchain for More Than Just Crypto, but Presents New Legal Issues

➤ Professional Conduct Rules Should Guide Ethics of AI Use

➤ Extra Precautions Needed in the Legal Marijuana Biz

 

 

Another Departure From Uber

 

Meanwhile in non-ACC news, Uber … The company has weathered a heap of scandal, and its management at least seems to be getting better at cleanup.

In the latest installment , Cameron Poetzscher, the company's “highest ranking deal maker,” resigned on Monday, a month after The Wall Street Journal reported that he made inappropriate comments to employees and had a consensual affair with a coworker.

The ride sharing company's chief financial officer Nelson Chai will take over the role for Poetzscher while a replacement is sought.

My colleague Caroline Spiezio reached out to Uber and all they said was “We thank Cam for his four-and-half years of service to Uber.”

GCs — They're Just Like Us

 

Check out LinkedIn GC Blake Lawit enjoying a lunchtime serenade during his company's Week of Bonding and Legal Rejoicing. The video was posted last week on (where else?) LinkedIn and has received thousands of views.

 

➤➤ Does your company engage in “legal rejoicing” or other team building? What works? What doesn't? Email me.

Don't Miss –

 

Thursday, October 25, the organization will be hosting an event on the changing world of global trade at Club Industriales in Mexico City. GLL is an invitation-only membership group offering general counsel a global platform for in-person collaboroation to exchange ideas and receive advice and guidance from peers. For more information, contact Meena Heath at [email protected].

Thursday, November 1. The Economist is hosting its 15th General Counsel conference at the Jumeriah Carlton Tower in London. The event seeks to find “compelling solutions to meet changing expectations.” Speakers include Sarah Jones, the group general counsel to the BBC, Dervish Tayyip, assistant general counsel at Microsoft, and Mark Maurice-Jones, the general counsel of Nestle UK and Ireland.

Wednesday, November 14. In-house lawyers from leading Bay Area companies will come together at Perfecting Your Pitchin San Francisco, a forum for women lawyers to practice pitch delivery, perfect their presentation skills and get business development tips straight from top in-house lawyers. Panelists include Ashlie Beringer,deputy GC at Facebook; Eleanor Lacey, general counsel at Sophos; and Dana Rao, general counsel at Adobe.

Wednesday, November 28-Thursday, November 29. Legal industry players will gather at ALM's LegalWeek Connect in London for keynotes, workshops and roundtables on collaboration, diversity and talent. Featured speakers include Clare Wardle, general counsel of Coca Cola European Partners; Helen Hayes, legal director for Uber in Northern and Eastern Europe; and Jeremy Barton, general counsel of KPMG UK.

On the Move -

 

From GoPro to Blowing Smoke. Well not exactly smoke. Sharon Zezima, the former GoPro GC last week was made the top lawyer for PAX Labs Inc., a cannabis vaping company. While Zezima was the top lawyer at GoPro, the legal department there was named the 2016 Legal Department of The Year in M&A by The Recorder, a Law.com affiliate. Zezima is the first GC for Pax.

Post-Merger GC. Following the merger of tech companies Artivest and Altegris, the former hired its first GC and CCO on Thursday. Artiest named Kamal Jafarnia as its top legal officer. He will report directly to the CEO and split his time between the company's offices in California and New York. He will be responsible for creating the post-merger legal department.

From Parliament to Facebook. The social media giant announced last week that the former British deputy prime minister will become the company's global head of policy and communication. Nick Clegg, who started in the new post on Oct. 22, will work out of Facebook's London offices before moving to the U.S.

Search Engines To Crypto. A former in-house lawyer for Google and Yahoo has been named the general counsel of HBUS. The digital currency company named Tiffany McCoy to be its first general counsel. In her role, she will help to educate those in the company on the crypto regulatory landscape.

Asia Shuffle. Tricor Group, a Hong Kong-based business advisory and services company, has hired Judy Wong as its top attorney. Wong, who will focus on compliance issues, was previously an in-house lawyer at Ernst & Young.

That's all for this week! Thanks for reading Inside Track.

Click here to check out more great briefings from my colleagues at Law.com.