Tech Circuit: March Madness/Spring Fever Edition

You knew somebody was going to come up with this! Ryan McConnell, in his Risky Business column in our sibling publication, Corporate Counsel, came up with a hilarious (if possibly illegal) way for GCs to get their employees to assess compliance risk. "This year, as companies are revising their compliance programs to try to ensure a risk-based approach to compliance, the NCAA tournament presents a monumental opportunity," writes McConnell, a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. "Instead of hiring some costly third party to assist in this effort, the NCAA tournament presents a free way to conduct an internal compliance assessment by creating a compliance risk assessment bracket in the style of the ones used leading up to the Final Four," he wrote.

The basic idea: Your company sanctions an internal NCAA tourney (carefully checking local and state gambling rules) and offers a tasty price (he suggests $10 grand to the winner). The catch? To enter, they must also submit their "risk bracket" that leads to identifying the four most significant compliance risks. (See sample bracket.) McConnell even comes up with sample rules. One caveat: Don’t let the GC or chief compliance officer be the executive who announces the new contest. "Employees will think it is a trick and not respond." Full story here.