Approximately 32% of in-house lawyers were uncomfortable with using videoconferencing before the COVID-19 pandemic.

That's out of a group of nearly 250 respondents in the latest Association of Corporate Counsel COVID-19 flash poll. Almost all of the in-house counsel in that uncomfortable group are now comfortable with videoconferencing.

"To be clear, we all absolutely HATE video interviewing. Outside recruiters like me, internal HR folks, and especially the actual hiring manager CEOs and GCs … none of us want this," wrote legal recruiter Mike Evers in a Corporate Counsel column in April. "And so a strong preference to wait for the traditional process has become an added reason, beyond macro conditions, to kick the hiring can down the road."

The art of getting business done over video has become a lifesaver in a way to help current and potential co-workers interact amid the stay-at-home orders. But there is privacy and security risk involved every time employees, who are most likely using personal devices, logging in to a videoconferencing software.

"I would say, as in-house counsel, I do not have any more security concerns with Zoom than I did with any vendor that we use for data and privacy," ACC vice president and chief legal officer Susanna McDonald told Corporate Counsel. "All internet systems have a certain amount of risk. You have to use them appropriately and thoughtfully and mitigate those risks like any other system."

Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex are the most popular videoconferencing tools used by in-house legal departments, according to the ACC poll.

But when Zoom soared in popularity at the start of the pandemic, some users were experiencing "Zoombombing" where unauthorized users entered a conference, with some spreading hate to the surprised users. This helped the industry as a whole continuously address security issues, such as with Webex providing security guidance and Microsoft describing a security and compliance plan with its Teams software.

With companies constantly updating users about the software, in-house counsel seem to be warming up to the technology that has the potential to bring up more risk and compliance issues as the second wave of COVID-19 cases forces more employees to work from home.

What concerns do you still have with daily videoconferencing? Please let me know at [email protected].

 

SPONSORED BY ALM

Announcing Two Incredible Keynote Speakers for the Women, Influence & Power in Law Conference

WIPL is known for having some of the most engaging and energizing keynote speakers attend to share their thoughts, experiences, war stories and tips on effective leadership. And this year is no exception. This year, we are grateful to welcome two remarkable women come and inspire us: Tina Tchen, the President and CEO of the "Times Up" Legal Defense Fund and Paula Boggs, Founder of Boggs Media LLC and Former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Law and Corporate Affairs at Starbucks from 2002-2012. READ MORE

 

Working at the hospital during COVID-19, the legal department needed to be available to not only proceed with our day-to-day work but we needed to support the medical staff by following the issuance of New York State governor's executive orders and [New York State Department of Health] mandates and guidance in order to draft policies, procure [personal protective equipment] and supplies and address employee concerns. There was no time to be inactive because there would be consequences.

- NuHealth general counsel Megan Ryan talks to Corporate Counsel about being a top lawyer for a health care system amid the COVID-19 crisis in New York.

What's Happening

 

Pay Your Way

In-house counsel are increasingly using alternative fee arrangements for high-volume and predictable matters such as labor and employment; finance, loans and investments, and mergers and acquisitions matters, according to the latest LexisNexis CounselLink 2020 Enterprise Legal Management Trends Report.

Approximately 32% of finance, loan and investment matters in 2019 included some kind of AFA. That's up from 2018 when 28% of finance, loan and investment matters had an AFA.

For labor and employment matters, 25% of matters involved an AFA compared to the previous year where just under that percentage included an AFA.

In 2019, 19% of M&A work included some kind of AFA. In previous trend reports, the number was just over 10% for M&A work.

"I think that is a positive thing to see. Legal departments are more creative in breaking a matter down to its component parts in order to find ways to get at least a little predictability on what they are going to spend," Kristina Satkunas, director of strategic consulting at LexisNexis CounselLink, told Corporate Counsel.

 

Back to School: COVID-19 Edition

Dannelle Whiteside, GC and soon-to-be interim president of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, is one of many education top lawyers facing uncertainty as students start instruction for the upcoming fall semester.

The administration at APSU, she said, has been focused on putting the necessary precautions in place to mitigate students' and employees' risk of exposure to COVID-19 and its impact.

The university has not yet been served with a lawsuit pandemic-induced fees. When the university went to an online model in the spring, Whiteside said students were encouraged to find off-campus housing but could remain in the dorms and get a prorated refund.

"That is a financial risk to us as well because we still have to pay debt service on those dormitories," Whiteside said.

 

Communications and Investigations

Companies have embraced the daily use of alternative communications platforms like Slack more during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Launching an investigation doesn't appear to have changed much from a process standpoint, however, Slack and other collaboration platforms have introduced significantly more surface area to cover.

Stacey Blaustein, counsel at IBM, indicated that the company rolled out the mandatory use of Slack in January as a way to supplement email.

"Over the last few months that we've all been working remotely there's been a huge increase in these collaborative environments and the way people communicate and collaborate has shown tremendous expansion across the enterprise," Blaustein said during a panel hosted by Hanzo.

Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards

 

Corporate Counsel's Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards awards deadline for submissions is today.

We are looking for general counsel and law firm partner applicants in the following categories:

Crisis Management: Industry – General Counsel Banking & Finance Insurance Transportation & Infrastructure Manufacturing & Chemicals Technology, Media & Telecom Retail & Consumer Goods

In-House & Law Firm Awards Innovative Leadership Thought Leadership Collaborative Leadership Women's Legal Awards General Counsel of the Year/Managing Partner of the Year Lifetime Achievement

If you know a general counsel or law firm partner who qualifies for a WIPL award, then please apply here.

Does Force Majeure Apply?

 

COVID-19 as a Trigger for Force Majeure: A Global Survey is a collaboration between ALM editors and McDermott Will & Emery lawyers Lisa Richman, Shawn Helms, Jason Krieser and Matthew Cin.

The authors developed the survey as a simple Q&A that allows companies and legal professionals to quickly access guidance for key questions across multiple jurisdictions, including globally. The ALM team designed the title to ensure easy access to answers as well as to the precedent underlying the guidance.

The publication, online and in ebook format, covers 10 countries and 16 U.S. jurisdictions, including California, New York, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas and D.C. The international sections help readers assess contractual obligations in Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the U.K.

The ebook can be purchased at Law Journal Press.

On the Move

 

Assurant has officially named Jay Rosenblum CLO of the New York-based global insurance firm. Rosenblum had held the interim top lawyer title since February. He joined Assurant last year as senior vice president of government relations and regulatory affairs in Washington, D.C.

Paul Grewal, the legal leader who helped Facebook weather its Cambridge Analytica scandal, has joined cryptocurrency platform Coinbase. Grewal, a former magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, is stepping into the role of CLO for the San Francisco-based fintech company after more than four years as Facebook's vice president and deputy GC.

Cryptocurrency investment platform BlockFi named Jonathan Mayers as its GC. With stints at Renaissance Technologies, Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital, he will take charge of contributing to the conversations around regulatory developments in the cryptocurrency field on behalf of the Jersey City, New Jersey-based firm.

Merck & Co. hired Deborah Telman to be the first GC for a company it plans to spin off for its women's health, legacy brands and biosimilars businesses. Telman will be at the legal helm of Organon & Co. headquartered in Jersey City.