From Leveson to FATCA, Jon Levene rounds up an action-packed three months from the end of 2012 with the pick of the quarter's best legal briefings

After summer 2012′s relative lull, Legal Week Law saw an eventful three months as business activity across the legal and commercial sectors picked up. Indeed, following November's flurry of regulatory developments – including the publication of the Leveson report, the chancellor's Autumn Statement and the release of new guidance on US anti-bribery laws – Legal Week Law witnessed the year's highest monthly download figures.

As in previous quarters, popular briefings on contract law and employment law, as well as 'back-to-basics' legal guides, continue to resonate strongly with Legal Week Law's 18,000 users. However, more so than in previous reviews, this quarter's data highlights how law firms are beginning to think more creatively when it comes to making an impact. 

In addition to the customary client alerts and legal guides, law firms are now making increasing use of annotated timelines, online reference tools, recorded webinars and infographics as presentational techniques to grab the attention of existing and potential new clients.

October 

The beginning of October underlined one of 2012′s key findings: when it comes to grabbing the attention of time-pressed in-house counsel, contract law is king. Macfarlanes' 'Implying terms into contracts' and Mills & Reeves' briefing on the 'Battle of the forms' both achieved more than 400 downloads within the first week.

Even more popular was Wragge & Co's 'International contracts for the supply of goods – a comprehensive checklist'. With 20 recommendations, the briefing's success highlights the value of practical, reference tools and guides with an international flavour.

Following the publication of the Wheatley review's final report, October saw the continued fallout from the LIBOR-rigging controversy. 

This development was covered by many of Legal Week Law's client firms. Shoosmiths' 'LIBOR controversy: what happens next?' discussed the initiatives aiming to restore the faith of financial markets. 

In their finance review, Travers Smith focused on the response of diverse regulatory bodies. However, by focusing on the practical business impact, Field Fisher Waterhouse's 'Implementation of the Wheatley report on LIBOR – considerations for financial institutions' proved to be the most popular briefing with more than 150 in-house counsel from the financial sector downloading it. 

October also saw a return to the previous quarter's hot topic: data protection. With more than 400 downloads in the first week and 19 approval ratings, DLA Piper's 'Protecting confidential information: trends and tactics for today's employer' was the second most popular briefing of the quarter. 

The 28-page report demonstrates the value of in-depth pieces when executed with polish and genuine insight. With its case spotlights, highlighted key points and checklists, the report shows that when complex legal information is presented in a clear, accessible way, the rewards are manifold.

November 

November proved to be the busiest month of 2012 for Legal Week Law. This fact was compounded by a variety of high-profile developments both home and away. In the UK, Field Fisher discussed the implementation of the US FATCA agreement; A&O reviewed highlights of the recently published Energy Bill; and on 'Leveson D-Day', Eversheds looked at the long road ahead for press reform. 

What each of these briefings helped demonstrate was the importance of a swift response to high-profile legal developments, even if the resulting briefing is compromised on length, detail or analysis.

With regards to Stateside matters, the US Government published its much-anticipated guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on 14 November, a hot issue given the increasing global risk to companies of falling foul of anti-bribery laws. This development was studied in detail by Legal Week Law's US-bred firms. 

Baker & McKenzie was first off the mark with 'Inside the US Government's highly-anticipated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidance'. The briefing's comprehensive analysis and question-and-answer format achieved more than 150 downloads from general counsel and heads of legal. 

Latham & Watkins also made a considerable impact with its 'Guidance on the guidance' briefing. In contrast to Bakers, Latham focused principally on the guidance's commercial impact by discussing the nine most relevant areas for multinational companies. 

December

As is customary in December, many law firms published sector-specific reviews of the year's key legal developments, as well as previews of the 12 months ahead. 

Wragges' 'Annual patents review 2012′ provided an in-depth analysis in essay format on the year's most important cases. Taking a different approach, Taylor Wessing's review of European data protection in 2012 offered a series of lessons to help businesses better prepare for the challenges in 2013. 

Similarly, Eversheds' take on employment law reviewed the year's key legislative changes and case law highlights, and asked whether these developments merely foreshadow much greater changes in 2013. 

Most successful, however, was Herbert Smith Freehills' 'Litigator's yearbook'. With sections covering privilege, mediation and contract law, the review's broader scope was rewarded with 530 downloads, 42% of which coming from general counsel/in-house role readers.

Another method for boiling down practical legal information in a reduced format is the timeline. Two firms in particular made effective use of this: Bond Pearce's employment law timeline outlined in graphical form 2012 and 2013′s key cases and legislation. 

Conversely, Herbert Smith's impressively detailed 'Timeline: a guide to the legal milestones ahead' provided an exhaustive forecast of key legal developments across 14 practice areas until 2015.

Interestingly, Bond Pearce's timeline received greater downloads and recommendations, despite its focus on only one practice area and narrower yearly coverage. 

With 285 downloads and eight recommendations, Bond Pearce's piece suggests that when preparing for high-impact legislation on the horizon, 'at-a-glance' summaries are of greater value for the busy GC or in-house lawyer.

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Top 10 downloads of 2012

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Top recommended and peer-rated briefings of Q4