Thats a wrap!
Thank you to the WLG members and their clients for participating in the first-ever eConference. We're overwhelmed by the new connections, exciting conversations and ideas that have come out of the past three weeks.
Many sessions were recorded and are viewable from the eConference roundup page, along with presentations and weekly summaries. If you have feedback, comments or ideas for connecting members online, please reach out to one of the WLG Staff Team members.
We look forward to building on the success of this virtual event. If we don't see you in person, see you online soon!
Asia Regional Meeting
- Asia and Australia are moving back to a new normal, meaning a return to the office. However, with new measures, restrictions, and even laws in place to protect workers, it is business as unusual.
- Firms are applying lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis and are focused on protecting their culture by protecting staff salaries and jobs and finding cost savings in going virtual.
- While some governments have imposed businesses to shut down and provided subsidies to offset losses, others have taken a hands-off approach by making shutdowns voluntary, therefore putting the risk of losses on business owners.
View Recording
Joint Webinar: Intellectual Property & Information Technology and International Trade Group: "What IP Practitioners Need to Know About Current Free Trade Agreements"
USMCA Trade Agreement
- The US, Mexico and Canada have taken the required steps for entry into force of the USMCA on July 1, 2020.
- Agreement strengthens IP rights for trade secrets, patents and industrial designs; and strengthens enforcement mechanisms to empower border services in cases of suspected counterfeiting and provides for criminal and civil penalties for pirating movies, circumventing digital locks and signal theft, and stealing trade secrets.
EU Free Trade Agreements
- CETA opens up Canada's/EU's goods, services and public procurement markets, contains provisions on labor rights and the environment, and enables EU firms to export more to Canada and vice versa. Both have agreed to eliminate customs duties for imports of goods originating in either the EU or Canada.
- The agreement between MERCOSUR (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) and the EU allows market access with the EU granting free trade to 95% of its tariff lines and MERCOSUR to 91%. Several tariffs will be immediately reduced with entry into force of the agreement.
- The general principles regarding IP rights for both agreements are to foster production and commercialization of innovative products and ensure the protection of IP rights; with MERCOSUR, to promote R&D and access to knowledge.
- The main areas of concern for IP rights in CETA are trademarks and geographical indications; for MERCOSUR they are geographical indications, copyright, trade secrets, enforcement, and border measures.
View Recording
International Corporate Transactions Group: "The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Mergers and Acquisitions and Related Contracts"
- There is a significant downturn in M&A activity with 10-25% of normal deal flow and some deals signed pre-pandemic have been terminated or delayed.
- Unlike the recession in 2008, there is cash flow and somewhat less uncertainty, so there is optimism about at least a partial rebound.
- While every situation is different when it comes to contract enforcement, more so than usual, parties are willing to work to find practical solutions.
- Force Majeure is the center of the legal debate and there is a potential re-shaping of the concept.
- Courts are sending the message to renegotiate contracts before considering court or arbitration; courts will likely be more inclined to adjust penalties.
View Recording
Week Three: Small Group Discussion - Careers
- There is uncertainty about virtual coaching, training, and mentoring developing lawyers. Some are finding increased proactivity, and communication is keeping workflows moving as young lawyers want to demonstrate their value.
- Colleagues are finding a new level of connectivity with their colleagues in the virtual environment. Seeing the "human" side of someone's life at home is creating opportunities to develop empathy and understanding for their peers.
- The consensus is people haven't yet digested what the effects on careers may be as there is uncertainty in what the medium- to long-term impacts will be on the economy and business. However, confidence in work from home arrangements in terms of productivity and quality of work has increased, indicating this is likely a lasting shift.
Marketing & Business Development Professionals Forum "Get Ranked: Tips and Tricks from the Pros for Directory Submissions"
- The main sources of feedback for Chambers rankings are clients, firm submissions and, to a lesser extent, peer reviews; client feedback is the most important factor; feedback is about quality, not quantity.
- Many firms, and practice areas within firms, submit the same referees; firms need to be strategic and internally communicate about referees.
- Researchers ask clients specifically about the work, the level of sophistication, how complex or unusual the deal is, what they feel the firm has done well, whether younger lawyers were involved, and how recent the relationship is.
- Chambers looks at deals to get an idea of the work the firm does; it's not a ranking table of the volume or dollar amount, rather the quality of the work.
- High-profile, already-ranked lawyers naturally attract feedback - while you shouldn't neglect them, put more energy into other lawyers you strategically want to be ranked. Vary the approach from year to year as Chambers reviews multiple years of submissions.
View Recording
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