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Google Simplifies Its Privacy Policies

September 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Google has always tried to make things easier for its worldwide users cum admirers, if we may say so. It once again tries to win the hearts of its followers. How ? Has anybody ever tried reading what the Privacy Policies in a Google’s webpage comprise of ? Many would say no. Google is rewriting its Privacy Policy and making it simpler for their regular user.

“Long, complicated and lawyerly—that’s what most people think about privacy policies, and for good reason. Even taking into account that they’re legal documents, most privacy policies are still too hard to understand,” Mike Yang, Associate General Counsel at Google, said..

“So we’re simplifying and updating Google’s privacy policies. To be clear, we aren’t changing any of our privacy practices; we want to make our policies more transparent and understandable,” he makes clear.

via Google Simplifies Its Privacy Policies.

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LegalTech is in NYC next week: here is why you should go if you can – The Posse List

January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

LegalTech New York opens this coming Monday (February 1st) at The Hilton New York (1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York  1-212-586-7000).

The show is presented by ALM Events, a producer of educational and networking events.  And most of us know ALM through its various media outlets/brands:  The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, Law.com, Law Journal Press, The National Law Journal, etc.

It is the world’s largest legal technology conference and trade show.  Last year the show attracted nearly 13,000 attendees and featured almost 300 exhibiting companies. The 2010 conference will offer more than 60 educational sessions for attendees on topics ranging from electronic discovery and knowledge management to emerging technologies.

Each day, the sessions are parsed into multiple tracks including: Risk Management, General Counsel, Web 3.0, Intelligence, Knowledge Management, International E-Discovery, ILTA Advanced IT, Comprehensive Recordkeeping, and Emerging Technology.

We have covered both LegalTech shows (New York and LA) because our membership base has expanded beyond our core of contract attorneys/temporary attorneys and contract forensics consultants to include paralegals, in-house counsel, law firm attorneys, solo practitioners, e-discovery vendors, legal media, and others.

If you are contract attorney/temporary attorney or a contract forensics consultant or paralegal, or involved in some aspect of e-discovery work, and you’ll be in NYC next week,  you should go.  No, not necessarily pay the $695 single-day attendance fee if you cannot afford it.  Because a lot of LegalTech events are open to everybody.

via LegalTech is in NYC next week: here is why you should go if you can – The Posse List.

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SEC restructures to catch next Madoff | The Harvard Law Record

January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Reeling from the fallout of the Madoff scandal, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been searching for a new strategy and new leadership in its mission to protect the investing public from fraud.  As part of this effort, the S.E.C. recently unveiled six new organizational departments that will lead units aimed at supervising particular domains of finance: asset management, market abuse, structured and new products, foreign corrupt practices, and municipal securities and public pensions.  These changes come with a public recognition that in the rapidly changing world of modern finance the Commission must be constantly vigilant to keep pace with innovation in the markets, as well as a keen awareness that in the wake of the Madoff fiasco the public and Congress are demanding swift action to improve the quality of financial industry oversight.

But while the Commission seeks new and innovative strategies for fulfilling its policy objectives, its core mission of overseeing financial markets continues to depend on its ability to directly probe into the activities of market players, and starting at the end of January, the front-lines inspectors in America's financial capital will have a new chief, private fund industry expert Norman Champ '89, who will take on the role of Regional Associate Director for the S.E.C.'s New York Regional Office.  Champ brings a wealth of experience as an attorney and industry insider, having worked for eight years at Davis Polk & Wardwell before becoming general counsel at Chilton Investments, a private investment management fund based in Stamford, Connecticut with over $7 billion in assets under management.  Champ served until the end of 2009 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Chilton, in addition to representing the interests of the hedge fund industry as a member of the board of directors of the Managed Funds Association.

via The Harvard Law Record – SEC restructures to catch next Madoff.

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Dubai – Transparency attracts foreign capital

January 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A sophisticated economy like Dubai needs to put in place a more focused legal system to tackle issues like bankruptcy, said Brackett B Denniston III the Senior Vice-President and General Counsel with General Electric GE. Besides, almost all GCC countries need to beef up their labour laws, he added. Appreciating the anti-corruption stand of regional governments, he pointed out that more steps taken to enhance transparency could help the region attract more foreign capital.

Denniston told Emirates Business that Dubai had grown fast into a financial hub and its legal system needed to keep pace with this growth. He pointed out that legal disputes in the region were lesser as compared to many developed countries which has helped to bring financial investments into the GCC states.

Besides, the setting up of arbitration courts at Dubai International Financial Centre DIFC and other financial hubs in the Gulf had led to a more confident business environment, he felt.

GE places the UAE and the GCC high on its list of potential business locations, seeing opportunities in the regions infrastructure, energy and healthcare sectors. The company has had a presence in the region as far back as the 1930s. It has been working in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and has undertaken a range of projects in Lebanon and Jordan.

via Transparency attracts foreign capital.

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Defendants and General Counsel Sanctioned for Failure to Preserve Evidence : Electronic Discovery Law

November 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment

In April 2006, plaintiff Swofford was shot seven times, on his own property, by two deputies in pursuit of two burglary suspects.  Plaintiffs brought suit against the sheriff in his official capacity and against the deputies individually.  In August 2006, plaintiffs’ counsel sent the first of two letters requesting the preservation of relevant evidence.  In February 2007, plaintiffs’ counsel sent a second preservation letter and a notice of claim as required by Florida statute.  Defendants did not deny receipt of these letters, but evidence was nonetheless destroyed.

Despite defendants’ receipt of the letters, no litigation holds were ever issued.  Rather, the letters were forwarded to six senior employees of the Seminole Country Sherriff’s Office (“SCSO”), including named defendant Sherriff Eslinger.  No preservation instructions were provided to the deputies involved in the shooting.

General Counsel for the SCSO, David Lane, later testified that by forwarding the letters, “he believed that the SCSO ‘would cover the course and scope of the evidence requested in the [letters]” and that nothing further need be done.  “In fact, Lane professed not to have ever read the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to ascertain on even a rudimentary level what his and his client’s obligations were in this regard…”  The senior officials who received the preservation requests also made no effort to sequester or preserve evidence.

In the absence of any effort to preserve evidence, relevant data was lost, including electronically stored information.  Specifically, the laptop of one of the deputies involved in the shooting was wiped of its contents and recycled and emails were manually deleted.

via Defendants and General Counsel Sanctioned for Failure to Preserve Evidence : Electronic Discovery Law.

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