Another Top 10 in Law Blogs, another ILTACON in the books! This week a number of our top blog posts feature ILTACON coverage, including a guest post from Cynthia McCollough on Heather Morse’s blog, about the art of mastering pitches, Stephen Embry’s rumination on the Day 1 keynote, and Kevin O’Keefe’s interview with Ryan Alshak, the inspirational CEO of Ping, Inc. Other great posts from this week are Steven L. Friedman’s report on the news that Aretha Franklin may not have left behind a will, and Suyash S. Raiborde’s excellent piece on how the DOJ and DOL have teamed up to fight employment discrimination against US workers. Have a safe and happy weekend!
“Don’t Wait for the storm to pass. Dance in the rain.” Ryan Alshak, CEO of PING, on the Keys to Startup Success – By Isabelle Minasian: Kevin O’Keefe spoke with Ryan Alshak, CEO of Ping, Inc., at ILTACON 2018. Below is their interview. To watch the video, click here or scroll to the bottom of the page. You can follow PING on Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin. Kevin O’Keefe: Who am I talking with? Ryan Alshak: Ryan Alshak Kevin O’Keefe: And Ryan, what do you do? Ryan Alshak: I founded a company with my best friend, Kourosh (Zamanizadeh), and we started a company that’s automating time and billing by leveraging machine learning. View Full Post
Aretha Franklin is Reported to Not Have Left Behind a Will – By Steven L. Friedman: Last week, Aretha Franklin passed away at 76 due to advanced pancreatic cancer. This week, reports have been coming in claiming that the Queen of Soul had died without a Will or Trust. According to her long-standing attorney, Don Wilson, he had requested that she establish a trust numerous times, but she never got around to creating one.Unfortunately, Aretha Franklin is far from the first notable individual to pass without establishing a Will or Trust, many of whom often happen to be significant celebrities and musicians. View Full Post
After a Key Employee Leaves – By Lisa Stam: Further to our post last week about key employees leaving, employers may wonder about risks to their business and options for recourse if that key employee leaves and sets up a competing shop next door. There are three main potential risks presented by a departing key employee: Misuse of employer confidential information Setting up a competing business Soliciting former employer customers.These are risks we try to mitigate for at the outset of the employment relationship with good contracts and restrictive covenant agreements. The end of the employment relationship is when the risks become live. View Full Post
PlanTech Decoded – the Tech is here, so let’s Plan to use it! – By Kathryn Hampton and Steven Minke: We can fly around the world with a tap; find a soulmate with a swipe and buy a house with our thumb print, so why is the UK so old school when it comes to getting planning permission? The good news is that we needn’t be.The technology to revolutionise the planning process is already here and is being used in other countries around the world to build the homes, offices and infrastructure they need to flourish. View Full Post
DOJ and DOL Combine Forces to Combat Employment Discrimination Against U.S. Workers – By Suyash S. Raiborde: On July 31, 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Labor (DOL) signed an agreement that sets guidelines for inter-agency collaboration to combat suspected employer non-compliance with immigration laws. The agencies have agreed to share resources, including records, and education and training where necessary, and refer cases to one another when an agency learns of employer non-compliance. The DOJ and the DOL play important roles in employment-based immigration compliance. View Full Post
Pitch Perfect: Masterful Pitches to Get Buy-in For Your Next Project – By Heather Morse: Guest post from Cynthia McCollough, Digital Marketing Strategist, University of Michigan Law School Cyndy is senior-level marketing consultant with extensive experience at law firms and global technology organizations. Her achievements are primarily focused on implementing and managing strategic marketing environments that improve efficiencies, measure results, and drive new business. You can follow Cyndy on Twitter, where she tweets on the intersection of law and technology. View Full Post
ILTA Keynote: That Will Never Happen. Until It Does – By Stephen Embry: So, the 2018 ILTA Conference opened today. ILTA calls itself the “premier peer networking organization, providing information to members to maximize the value of technology in support of the legal profession.” This year’s version sported record attendance and enthusiastic crowds even though just as last year, there was a leadership crisis on the eve of the conference–the CEO “resigned” just days before the start–and even though for some reason ILTA decided to crack down on press passes and some say selectively apply its media criteria. View Full Post
New State Trade Secret Law was Nearly a Secret Itself – By Andrew P. Botti: When the Governor signed a recent appropriations bill passed by the House and the Senate during the last days of the most recent legislative session, the bill contained a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The UTSA version in the proposed legislation was buried deep within the appropriations bill, which was not entirely surprising. View Full Post
Flypasts, Flybraries, Hurricanes and Paper Planes: The Summer Reading Edition – By Ashleigh Standen: The heatwave may be over but the wave of August out-of-office responses is still building, so rather than post about controversial redelivery conditions or the fascinating behaviour of interest rates, and prompted by the striking intersection of aviation and literature recently, we thought it seemed high time to offer Legal Flight Deck: The Summer Reading Edition. You’re welcome. View Full Post
Why Blockchain Custody Is So Difficult—A Hard Part – By Simon Keen and Alexandra Kambouris Alberstadt: In our previous post, we provided a simple answer to the following question posed by Director Dalia Blass of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management: To the extent a fund plans to hold cryptocurrency directly, how would it satisfy the custody requirements of the 1940 Act and relevant rules?” Our simple answer was to treat cryptocurrencies as “financial assets” under Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code. View Full Post