So far, we’ve re-capped Alishan Naqvee’s introduction to anti-corruption laws, and Stuart Gerson’s comments on the US’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Following Stuart’s presentation, the group heard from Charles Wander of Fladgate LLP, who spoke about the new UK Bribery Act.

Charles began by saying that he would give a brief overview of what’s coming on July 1, 2011 in the UK.  As he had mentioned during an earlier session, the firm has been doing some work on this with their clients, trying to understand what the issues might be.  As Stuart had said, this is going to be applied on a worldwide basis, so it will be applied to anyone with any kind of tenuous connection with the UK.  

The UK was not without anti-bribery legislation – through the end of June they would have a piece of legislation dating back to the 19th century. It was ultimately felt that this didn’t have sufficient teeth.  The UK was criticized in 1997 by the OECD when the incoming Labour administration discontinued an investigation into alleged bribery by British Aerospace, as part of the Al Yamamah contracts in Saudi Arabia.  This was heavily criticized as being a decision made for political reasons.

Continue Reading Corporate Breakout Session – Anti-Corruption Laws – UK Bribery Act

Yesterday, I shared with you this post re-capping Alishan Naqvee’s introduction to the topic of anti-corruption at our 2011 Annual Meeting.  To follow up on that, we’ll review Stuart Gerson’s (Epstein Becker & Green) comments during the session regarding the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and its implications for those in the room.  

Stuart provided the attendees with both an article he and a colleague authored on the FCPA, and an overview that their healthcare group had developed.  Stuart said that as Alishan had mentioned, both the FCPA and the new UK Anti-Bribery law are extraterritorial – but not only are they applied overseas throughout the world, but they are also applied against non-US citizens, as long as the commerce that they’re supporting is in the stream of interstate commerce within the US.

So non-US citizens who have never stepped food in the US are subject to the FCPA, which is a criminal statute that has long jail sentences associated with it.  Additionally, they have fines up to $2 million per offense – and an offense is an individual act, so there could be a long series of them that results in the fines adding up to immense sums.  And this is applicable all around the world.

Continue Reading Corporate Breakout Session – Anti-Corruption Laws – the FCPA

During our  2011 Annual Meeting in Lisbon, we had specialty group breakout sessions – and lucky for you, our corporate session was recorded! The group had a roundtable discussion dedicated to the topic of "Anti-Corruption Laws and Navigating Client Businesses in Foreign Territories," which was moderated by Alishan Naqvee of LexCounsel Lawyers in India.

Alishan began with some slides to aid the discussion, saying that there is an organization in Japan called Control Risks, who conducted a survey of about 50 companies in Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.  All of them said that corruption is a major cost for international business, and at the same time, an increasing number of companies in the world, while they are not absolutely aware of the anti-corruption laws in their jurisdictions, most of their business is governed by them, even when doing business in other jurisdictions.

However, corruption brings a very different dimension in cross-border investments, because the country from where the investee is investing and the country where the investment is being made may be governed by separate parameters and laws.  These could be domestic, but at the same time, there could be laws from the country where the investment is being made.

Continue Reading Corporate Breakout Session – A Re-Cap

This week’s Ask Friday! is a special one because it’s my first video blog post! I hope there will be many more to come…

This week’s question comes from Barry Camson, who wanted to know five tips for building relationships. So without further ado….

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ikZWq8L2gro

 

Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network. For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Emre Özcan of our member firm Özcan & Natan in Istanbul, Turkey.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
Our practice is working to expand in the corporate-commercial, finance and real estate fields of law without losing its boutique nature.

Who would be your typical client? 
Foreign or local entities who have business with an international nature.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you? 
I would like them to know me as a solution-provider and problem/dispute preventative.

What has been your most challenging case? Why? 
A case to strike a decision issued by the Turkish Treasury, for the cancellation of the Free Zone license of a factory.  We had to file an action for the cancellation of the complete communiqué issued by the Prime Ministry, but in the end succeeded and forced the administration to amend the communiqué and re-issue the license.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer? 
The day I took the attorneys’ oath at the Istanbul Bar Association.

What do you do when you’re not practicing law? 
I like to follow local and foreign politics as well as football. Politics is sometimes more fun!

What would surprise people most about you? 
I was almost entering auditions of state acting school instead of the university exams.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
The fun we had when we hosted the European Meeting in Istanbul in 2007, especially when I saw how good lawyers could party at the club we went to after the gala dinner!!!

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer? 
I would either choose to be an actor or a diplomat.

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you? 
Bruce Willis

How would you like to be remembered? 
Knew how to enjoy life to the fullest!

 

Recently, when I was seeking out Ask Friday! questions, Cordell Parvin suggested that I answer the question of "What would you recommend busy lawyers be reading on business development and what will they get from it?"

Nothing immediately popped into my mind, and Cordell was nice enough to share his list with me, as well as what’s on his Kindle. Then, coincidentally, the same question appeared on the Legal Marketing Association’s listserv.  Those who responded were gracious enough to be included in my post, so without further ado, here is the recommended reading straight from legal marketers and business development coaches!

Continue Reading Ask Friday! The Business Development Books Edition

Last week’s post covered the questions of what the panelists discussing social media are doing at their firms, and the challenges they’ve faced.  This week’s looks at their social media policies and the effect of the approval process in blogging. 

Social Media Policies

We next covered the question of social media policies, and whether firms are looking only at what their attorneys and staff are doing professionally, or also at their personal social networking habits.

Continue Reading Social Media – What Are Mid-Sized Firms Doing?

Welcome to ILN-terviews, a series of profiles of ILN member firm attorneys, designed to give a unique insight into the lawyers who make up our Network. For our latest interview, we chose ILN member, Paul Feldman of our newest member firm, Davis, Malm & D’Agostine in Boston.

In one sentence, how would you describe your practice?
I have a business practice specializing in real estate, environmental, and contract disputes.

Who would be your typical client?
Large publically traded companies and mid-sized closely held companies.

What would you like clients and potential clients to know about you?
My style of practice is to get the job done effectively and efficiently.

What has been your most challenging case? Why?
A multi-million dollar contract dispute, that involved calculating damages by analyzing some 80,000 transactions.

What has been your proudest moment as a lawyer?
The US First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial judge’s jury instruction in a copyright infringement case I tried resulting in a new trial and a favorable outcome for the client.

What do you do when you’re not practicing law?
I spend time with my family, attempt to play golf and frequently attend music concerts.

What would surprise people most about you?
Despite my Type A personality and aggressive advocacy for my clients, I am a softie.

What has been your most memorable ILN experience?
The Saturday evening dinner at the Palace in Lisbon.

What career would you have chosen if you weren’t a lawyer?
I love seeing things built- a real estate developer or architect.

If a movie were made of your life, who would you want to play you?
Harrison Ford.

How would you like to be remembered?
Great dad and husband.

This afternoon, I had the good fortune to sit in on Kevin O’Keefe’s webinar on "Beyond Blogging: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn." I’m already sold on the benefits of all three for law firms, but I love hearing Kevin’s stories which I can relate to our attorneys to win them over. The five most important things I heard Kevin say in his webinar were:

  1. Starting to use these tools isn’t a strategy – it’s a tactic. Saying that the strategy is to get on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook is like saying you’re going to have the lawyers drive red cars. It doesn’t make sense. Use them as relationship-building tools and tools that frame your identity.
     
  2. Because media is more social, and a shared experience, you need to be doing those things that will cause your information to be shared by others who have people trusting them. 
     
  3. Just because another law firm is doing something doesn’t mean you have to do it. 
     
  4. It doesn’t matter if your clients or perspective clients ever see your information being shared or if they read your blog – influencers and amplifiers are seeing it and connecting you to the right people. 
     
  5. Empower the lawyers at your firm to use social media to build relationships.

Continue Reading Beyond Blogging: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn – A Re-Cap of LexBlog’s Webinar

Following my LinkedIn presentation at our Annual Meeting, we had a panel discussion about what some of our law firms are doing with social media.  I was joined by Charles Wander of Fladgate LLP in London, David Ellenhorn of Ogden Murphy Wallace, PLLC in Seattle, and Bill Holder of Clark Wilson LLP in Vancouver.

Because we had a rather in-depth discussion which I think raises some interesting points and questions I’d like to get your feedback on, I’ll be breaking the post up into two – part one focuses on the social media activities that the firms represented on the panel are engaging in, and some of the challenges they’ve been faced with. 

Continue Reading Social Media – What Are Mid-Sized Firms Doing? Activities & Challenges