From the Olympics to Asia, Jon Levene rounds up the best legal articles of the past three months on Legal Week Law

The summer months are traditionally a quieter time for the legal industry and, with many a lawyer taking their annual break, you would expect legal briefings to be far from the front of their mind.

Yet as the briefings mentioned in this article demonstrate, those firms producing clear, concise, commercially-minded content have been appreciated across the legal and business spectrum and still pulled in readers.

So what trends can Legal Week Law help identify over the past three months? With seven of the top 10 most downloaded briefings concerning some aspect of contract law, it is apparent that clearly explained advice on key commercial issues will remain perennially popular.

With increased pressure on legal teams to cut costs and demonstrate their worth, briefings on how to avoid costly mistakes consistently achieve high download figures.

Another trend which Legal Week Law has mirrored in the past few months is the increasing interest in the Far East and Asian markets.

Unmistakably, law firms are producing increasing amounts of content which reflects clients' cross-border ambition.

The fact that the top three most popular briefings all had an international element, demonstrates the increasing influence of global developments on how in-house legal teams are thinking and working.

This trend is further reflected in the growth of the legalweeklaw.asia website.

July

The overwhelming trend of the quarter was a focus on contract law – often seen as the bread and butter of in-house legal teams. From July onwards, Eversheds dominated coverage of this area with a range of briefings offering drafting advice and outlining some of the risks involved in common commercial agreements.

With more than 600 downloads, the most effective of these was 'International commercial contracts: a cautionary tale' which concerned the supply of a polymer by a Danish seller to an English purchaser.

Like much of Legal Week Law's most successful content, the briefing uses a recent case to discuss the wider legal issues and implications for businesses. The briefing's clear commercial advice and brevity all worked in its favour, helping to make it the quarter's most downloaded briefing.

Perhaps predictably, what linked many of the briefings on contract law was the importance of very clear wording to avoid commercial disputes. Eversheds' 'Common legal terms, real business meanings – an update' considered the scope of a 'reasonable endeavours' clause in a High Court case and outlined how it could have been better drafted.

Elsewhere, Macfarlanes' 'A "miss is as good as a mile" when it comes to contractual notice provisions' looks at a time-barred claim for breach of warranty and underlined the importance of certainty in commercial transactions.

A common feature of employment law briefings in the first half of 2012 was how employers should prepare for Euro 2012 and the Olympics (pictured), with a particular focus on unauthorised absence, misuse of computer systems and business disruption.

While these issues helped many employers anticipate and avoid potential problem areas, no one could have predicted the G4S Olympic security fiasco.

Travers Smith's 'Avoiding a G4S situation: seven ways of managing outsourcing risk' proved immensely popular by picking out the legal lessons from a recent topical issue. Concise yet informative, the article earned them 10 'thumbs up' and 269 downloads, making it its most popular briefing of the month.

The end of July saw one of the quarter's key employment law developments when the Court of Appeal handed down its decision on NHS Leeds v Larner. Firms including Wragge & Co, DLA Piper and Nabarro all covered the decision and how it affects employees' statutory rights to sickness and holiday leave.

August

Law firms have long produced Asia-specific content. However, what we have witnessed in the past three to six months has been a notable increase in download figures, matching the region's growing strategic importance for investors and businesses alike.

This was particularly notable at the start of August when King & Wood Mallesons' briefing on China's new judicial interpretation of contract law scored more than 200 downloads and eight reader recommendations, making it one of the month's most popular briefings.

Baker & McKenzie's overview of geothermal energy in Asia Pacific and DLA Piper's guide to mining in the region were both popular with Legal Week Law subscribers. Elsewhere, DLA Piper scored significant hits with its guides to doing business in Australia, China and Hong Kong (pictured).

In the first half of 2012, DLA Piper, Field Fisher Waterhouse and Linklaters all produced popular, in-depth pieces on how businesses can manage eurozone risk. Unsurprisingly, briefings on insolvency and managing financial problems proved popular.

In mid-August, Nabarro's much-read brief guides to receivership and insolvent liquidation demonstrate the harsh reality for many businesses. Similarly, Macfarlanes' 'Companies in financial difficulty – practical issues for directors' proved to be its highest-rated briefing of the quarter.

An analysis of the download data shows that 37% of subscribers who downloaded this briefing belonged to a company with an annual turnover of between £1m and £50m, reflecting the heavy toll the euro crisis is having for many small-to-medium sized enterprises in the UK.

In January, the European Commission outlined its proposal for reforming the European Union's privacy and data protection laws. This, combined with the EU's 'Cookie Directive' and an increasingly active Information Commissioner's Office, means that data protection has become one of the key legal topics of the year.

All of which helps explain the substantial success in late August of DLA Piper's handbook 'Data protection law around the world' – the most popular briefing of the month.

With 24 approval ratings, its popularity can be explained by the way it ties in various issues of interest to in-house lawyers, including compliance risk, an increasingly important practice area and differences in global legislation.

These key factors contributed to the briefing's 586 downloads, including 217 legal counsel, 109 general counsel/heads of legal and 18 company directors/CEOs.

Only 15% of those readers were from the Asia-Pacific region – a significant proportion given that on average, most briefings on legalweeklaw.com (as opposed to legalweeklaw.asia) achieve a 5% Asian readership.

September

Social media compliance has proved a fertile source for much legal content in recent years. Perhaps reflecting the saturation point this topic has reached, two firms discussed a different 21st century issue – namely, the perils of a hastily sent email.

Shoosmiths' 'Beware of creating a guarantee by email' looked at the recent Golden Ocean Group case, while Bond Pearce discussed the risks of inadvertent disclosure of confidential information.

2011′s hot topic – anti-bribery and corruption – continues to generate huge interest among Legal Week Law subscribers. Continuing the international theme, DLA Piper's 'What to do when you suspect corruption' looked at obligations and enforcement in the UK, the US, Australia and China.

Its concise yet comprehensive coverage made it September's most downloaded article. With 15% of readers from Asia, its global perspective certainly helped it reach this position.

Transparency International took a more specific view in 'Anti-bribery due diligence in mergers, acquisitions and investments'. Again, the guide's clear-cut advice and use of good practice principles and checklists earned it more than 250 downloads and eight recommendations from readers.

Top downloads – based on first week's performance

International commercial contracts – a cautionary tale, Eversheds
Common legal terms, real business meanings – an update, Eversheds
Data protection law around the world – the 2012 handbook, DLA Piper
Limited Liability Partnerships – what, when and why, Nabarro
Commercial in confidence? How to manage the risks of inadvertent disclosure of confidential information, Bond Pearce
Beware of creating a guarantee by email, Shoosmiths
A 'miss is as good as a mile' when it comes to contractual notice provisions, Macfarlanes
Avoiding a G4S situation: seven ways of managing outsourcing risk, Travers Smith

Recommended and peer-rated briefings

Data protection law around the world – the 2012 handbook, DLA Piper
International commercial contracts – a cautionary tale, Eversheds
Restrictive covenants in Europe – the information you need for each country, Eversheds
Commercial in confidence? How to manage the risks of inadvertent disclosure of confidential information, Bond Pearce
Companies in financial difficulty – practical issues for directors, Macfarlanes

Top international briefings

Data protection law around the world – the 2012 handbook, DLA Piper
Restrictive covenants in Europe – the information you need for each country, Eversheds
The art of settlement: top arbitration negotiation tips, King & Wood Mallesons
Issues for the global employer: termination, employment discrimination and workplace harassment, Baker & McKenzie
Business in China – a guide for investors, PLMJ
Global trademark strategies: tips on 'proofing' your brand worldwide, Baker & McKenzie
Legal advice privilege – Hong Kong case affirms who the client is, Eversheds
The 2012 guide to doing business in South Africa, ENS
China's new judicial interpretation of contract law – clarifications and implications,
King & Wood Mallesons
What to do when you suspect corruption – obligations and enforcement in the UK, the US, Australia and China, DLA Piper