General Counsel Roundtable

The General Counsel Roundtable is a membership of the world’s leading legal executives dedicated to: best-practice and quantitative research, tools, templates, peer-to-peer learning, executive education, and guidance on emerging trends related to legal department management and practice.

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Ouside Counsel Management Resources

Our resources can help you save 10% or more. Many companies turn to us to identify inefficiencies in their outside counsel management and to help them lower law firm costs without sacrificing quality. Law firm spending is increasing. Discounts are decreasing. Quality of work is eroding. Do you have all the tools you need to build a best-in-class outside counsel management strategy? We do. Let us help.

VIEW  |  Our Four Step Process

ACCESS  |  An Overview of our Outside Counsel Management Resources

ACCESS  |  A Sample Alternative Fee Arrangement

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Litigation Management of European Countries

Companies are likely to face a rising volume of litigation as operations continue to expand across the globe. To help our members benchmark their practices against those of other European companies, this research provides guidance on:

• The organisation of litigation within the legal department
• The involvement and supervision of outside counsel
• Tactics to manage litigation

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Teleconference Replay  |  Driving Business in a New Era of Regulation
Improving Regulatory Tracking

An uncertain global economic environment, coupled with an increased appetite for government regulation, is rapidly altering the regulatory environment that companies must navigate in 2009.

In response, GCR has devoted a significant portion of 2009 to this new era of regulation, and our in-person member meetings focus three critical areas:

1. Improving regulatory tracking
2. Driving targeted business outcomes by taking advantage of the changing environment
3. Shaping public debate effectively

ACCESS REPLAY

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Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council

The Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council is a membership of the world’s leading compliance executives dedicated to: best-practice and quantitative research, tools, templates, peer-to-peer learning, executive education, and guidance on emerging trends related to compliance management and practice.

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Code of Conduct
Toolkit

To help members overcome the challenges of planning and coordinating numerous activities in implementing a code of conduct, we have created the Code of Conduct Rollout Toolkit with a suite of best practices, tools, and templates to help you save time and resources. The resource center can help you:

• Diagnose department efficiency
• Prepare and defend current and future budgets, and
• Rethink staffing ratios, practice coverage, and use of law firms.

DOWNLOAD  |  Sample Code of Conduct Implementation Process

DOWNLOAD  |  Sample E-Mail Requesting Functional Partner Participation

REQUEST  |  More of Our Code of Conduct Offerings

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Compliance and Ethics Management in Europe

To provide targeted support for compliance and ethics officers in Europe this compendium showcases case studies and data drawn from European companies and employees. It introduces recent approaches in risk management and training adopted across a range of industries as well as a set of survey findings about functional management and the levels of business misconduct.

This compendium provides guidance on:

• Organizational, staffing and spending trends for compliance and ethics functions in Europe
• Trends in employee reporting about compliance and integrity issues
• Risk management and training strategies

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Protecting a Culture of Integrity in a Downturn

Over the last 8 months, we have investigated how compliance and ethics executives should adapt their activities to reinforce integrity principles in this period of economic turbulence. Drawing from over 175,000 survey responses from employees in 75 countries, the we have identified key imperatives for both management as well as the compliance and ethics function to protect integrity and reinforce trust across the organization. The full study will be published later this fall.

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Corporate Legal Exchange

The Corporate Legal Exchange (CLEx) is a Corporate Executive Board program that serves more than 1,200 Legal executives at small and midsized companies. Clients have access to performance-sharpening insights, interactive benchmarking tools, training, and analyst support to help them drive faster, more effective decision making.

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Developing More Effective Contract Management

Contract management constitutes the majority of a small legal department’s workload, and the challenge of managing high volume with limited resources can prove overwhelming.

Streamline contract drafting/ negotiation and re-allocate time to higher-value work by leveraging CLEx’s top contract management resources.

DOWNLOAD  |  Developing More Effective Contract Management

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Guide to Records Management: Maintain a Retention Schedule and Develop E-Mail Controls

Increased litigation, legislative changes, and the growth of electronic communications have resulted in companies looking to general counsel to create and oversee an effective, non-burdensome records management solution. Listen to this webinar to see how progressive organizations:

• Maintain an up-to-date retention schedule
• Develop appropriate e-mail controls

LISTEN TO REPLAY

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Seven Quick Wins to Reduce Outside Counsel Spend

Outside Counsel fees still account for 60% of legal department budgets. To help general counsel at small and midsized companies reduce Outside Counsel costs and re-allocate scarce budget dollars, CLEx identified seven quick tactics you can implement today.

DISCOVER  |  Seven Quick Tactics

Legal and Compliance Video Series

Member Conversations

General Counsel, Retail Clothing Company
"I arranged for GCR to give their Rationalizing Workshop as the centerpiece of our legal department retreat.

Following the workshop, GCR staff worked with me to devise a plan for seeing through the action steps determined at the retreat. Because of the workshop, I saw a new perspective on outsourcing our routine employment work, which was previously done in-house. We also, at GCR’s recommendation, engaged in a time tracking activity that revealed the need to transfer more work to paralegals, which we did. This was process oriented streamlining at its best."

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Corporate Counsel, Construction Group
"I was charged with creating and implementing a records management program in the space of one year. GCR staff analyzed our current state, and created a records management plan with deadlines, owners and associated resources. The plan allowed us to have everything in line before I left for extended leave."

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General Counsel, Travel Website
Following a group efficiency session with GCR, I left with a renewed interest in giving our individual attorneys the autonomy to apply GCR’s efficiency teachings to his or her own workload. At my request, GCR created a 5-day guide for individuals to use in improving workload management, time management, and client management. The results were immediately evident and continue to flourish."

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General Counsel and Head of Compliance, Utilities Company
"Just prior to joining GCR, I retained a consulting firm to benchmark my compliance program. I was dissatisfied with the results and went to GCR for better information. The GCR staff facilitated an hour-long research discussion, presenting customized benchmarking data, and introducing the customizable risk assessment tool. Following the discussion, we took steps to restructure our corporate compliance function, prepared a board presentation based on GCR materials, and developed a new reporting structure."

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General Counsel, Communications Company
“The GCR staff ran a day-long workshop to create a customized contract playbook. The playbook became a collection of preferred clauses for the most frequently negotiated language in company contracts. GCR staff also formatted the playbook into a usable and searchable format, saving over 60 hours of research time and 80 hours of drafting time for my staff. Our time investment was less than 8 hours."

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General Counsel, Manufacturing Company
"I had been tasked with creating a compliance training presentation for the corporate employee population. With my consultation, CELC staff created a 40+ page compliance education deck, which was rolled out to the entire company. I invested less than 2 hours of time across two weeks for the presentation to be completed and saved upwards of 40 hours of work."

Educational Resources

A set of unique services and resources

Compliance Peak

Compliance Peak offers a variety of courses covering typical compliance topics including conflicts of interest and insider trading.

Our courses are designed to provide simple, engaging, and cost-effective training that raises employee awareness and willingness to react to key compliance risks. It includes the following:

• High Interactivity–Use of scenario-based learning and interactive exercises to increase employee engagement
• Time Efficiency–Ability to complete courses in less than 30 minutes

VIEW SAMPLE COURSES

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Legal Leadership Academy

The Legal Leadership Academy focuses on upskilling in-house counsel to become high-performing strategic thought partners to the business on pressing challenges and major initiatives.

The Academy's year-long learning journey helps in-house staff develop core business, analytical, and communication skills and teaches them to apply these skills in an legal-specific environment to ensure a high ROI on the training.

VIEW PROSPECTUS

VIEW SAMPLE COURSE

In the News

Legal and Compliance Practice Joins Forces with Corpedia
The Corporate Executive Board today announced a strategic alliance with Corpedia, a global leader in compliance and ethics solutions and e-learning. The new alliance will bring the latest compliance and ethics tools and resources to members of the Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council (CELC) and the General Counsel Roundtable (GCR), programs of the Corporate Executive Board.

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CEB’s Legal and Compliance Practice Collaborates with Legal OnRamp
The Corporate Executive Board Company announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Legal OnRamp, the leader in Legal Web 2.0, as part of an initiative to bring new resources to law department members of the General Counsel Roundtable, a program of the Corporate Executive Board.

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Effective Risk Oversight Begins with Triage
Most senior legal executives report that risk management is a top priority for their Boards in 2009, But do they have the right oversight structure to effectively address it?

Controlling Legal Spending in 2009
Most senior legal executives report that risk management is a top priority for their Boards in 2009, But do they have the right oversight structure to effectively address it?

Employee Fraud and Misconduct
The recession has brought more than just layoffs and losses; it is increasing employee fraud and misconduct. Here's what you can do about it.

Archives

Legal and Compliance Practice Regulatory Update: Second Quarter 2009

In response to the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape and the increased risks of regulatory uncertainty in companies' operating environments, the Legal and Compliance Practice has created this presentation highlighting the most discussed regulatory changes in our membership in the second quarter of 2009. This presentation is the first in a series of GCR regulatory updates in key areas, and will be available on a quarterly basis.

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Best Practice: Delta Company Ethics Bulletin

To clarify company expectations and provide employees with guidance and examples on how to handle difficult compliance and ethics situations, Company A publishes Business Ethics Bulletins. The Bulletins provide real-life examples of misconduct and ethical leadership by employees at the company.

This resource can help you:

• Showcase company-specific examples to clarify company expectations under the code of conduct
• Create productive conversations between employees and managers about compliance and ethics at the company

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Confidentiality Statement

	Responses to Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council surveys are confidential. Institutions do not have access to individual employee responses. Company-provided data, including names and email addresses, and responses to questions are processed, reviewed and aggregated in the United States by the Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council™(CELC), a division of The Corporate Executive Board® (CEB). Survey respondents are guaranteed that CEB will: not disclose personal information to a non-agent third party or use it for another purpose besides the purpose for which it was originally intended; obtain written contracts from Agents that they will safeguard personal information; take reasonable precautions to protect personal information in its possession from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction; only utilize survey responses in ways that are compatible with the purposes for which the information was originally collected, including creation of company specific reports and ongoing research by CEB; grant the ability to correct, amend or delete information that is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete while the survey window is open; guarantee that CELC will take reasonable steps to ensure that information provided is relevant, accurate, complete, and related to its intended use; and store responses on CEB web servers in the US, which support 128-bit encryption when available on browsers. To review or update information provide on Compliance and Ethics Leadership Council surveys, please contact celc@executiveboard.com.
Abbreviated Confidentiality Statements (in the languages available within survey)
French	En participant à cette étude, je comprends que mes réponses sont confidentielles. Personne dans mon organisation n'aura accès à mes réponses personnelles ni ne pourra m'identifier sur la base des réponses que j'ai fournies. En outre, les serveurs Web du Corporate Executive Board® prennent en charge le cryptage 128 bits lorsque celui-ci est disponible sur les navigateurs.
Canadian French	En acceptant de participer à ce sondage, je reconnais que mes réponses demeureront confidentielles. Personne de mon organisation n'aura accès à mes réponses ou ne pourra m'identifier grâce à celles-ci. De plus, les serveurs Web du Corporate Executive Board® prennent en charge le cryptage sur 128 bits avec les navigateurs compatibles.
Italian	Partecipando a questo sondaggio, dichiaro di essere consapevole che le mie risposte rimarranno riservate. Le mie risposte non saranno rivelate a nessuno nell'ambito della mia organizzazione né potrò in alcun modo essere identificato in base alle risposte da me fornite. Inoltre, i server Web di The Corporate Executive Board® supportano la crittografia a 128 bit, se disponibile nei browser in uso.
Spanish	Al participar en este estudio, entiendo que mis respuestas son confidenciales. Nadie en mi organización tendrá acceso a mis respuestas ni tendrán la posibilidad de identificarme a causa de las respuestas que di. Además, los servidores de The Corporate Executive Board® soportan 128 bits de encriptación cuando están disponibles en los buscadores.
Portuguese	Ao participar deste estudo, entendo que minhas respostas são confidenciais. Ninguém em minha organização terá acesso às minhas respostas individuais nem poderá, de forma alguma, identificar-me com base nas minhas respostas. Além disso, os servidores Web Corporate Executive Board® suportam criptografia de 128 bits, quando disponível nos navegadores.
Afrikaans	Deur aan hierdie studie deel te neem, verstaan ek dat my antwoorde vertroulik is. Niemand by my organisasie sal toegang tot my individuele antwoorde hê nie en niemand sal my van my antwoorde kan identifiseer nie. Verder ondersteun die Corporate Executive Board®-webbedieners 128-bis-enkripsie indien dit op die blaaiers beskikbaar is.
Dutch	Door deel te nemen aan dit onderzoek ben ik mij ervan bewust dat mijn antwoorden vertrouwelijk zijn. Niemand van mijn organisatie zal te weten komen wat mijn persoonlijke antwoorden zijn en niemand zal mij kunnen identificeren aan de hand van mijn antwoorden. Bovendien ondersteunen de webservers van de Corporate Executive Board® 128-bits codering wanneer dit beschikbaar is op de browsers.
Russian	Принимая участие в исследовании, я понимаю, что мои ответы являются конфиденциальными. Ни одному лицу в моей организации не будет предоставлен доступ к мои ответам или к идентифицирующей информации, содержащейся в моих ответах. Более того, веб-серверы Совета по соблюдению законодательства и этике Корпоративного исполнительного совета поддерживают 128-битное кодирование, если такое кодирование поддерживается настройками обозревателя.
German	Mir ist bekannt, dass alle im Rahmen dieser Umfrage abgegebenen Antworten vertraulich behandelt werden. Kein/e andere/r Mitarbeiter/in meines Unternehmens erhält Zugriff auf meine Antworten, und ich kann nicht anhand meiner Antworten identifiziert werden. Mir ist bekannt, dass über die Webserver des Corporate Executive Board® 128 Bit-Verschlüsselung möglich ist, sofern mein Browser über eine solche Option verfügt.
Korean	이 조사에 참여함에 있어 내 답변이 기밀로 처리됨을 이해합니다. 해당 조직의 누구도 내 개인 답변을 열어 볼 수 없으며, 제출한 답변을 근거로 내 신원을 확인할 수 없습니다. 또한 Corporate Executive Board® 웹 서버는 호환되는 브라우저를 사용하는 경우 128비트 암호화를 지원합니다.
Japanese	この意識調査に回答した場合、私の回答は機密情報として取り扱われると理解しています。 私の組織には私の回答を閲覧できる個人、または私の回答を元に回答者が私であることを特定できる個人はいません。 尚、Corporate Executive Board®のウェブサーバーは128-bit暗号をサポートしています（対応ブラウザのみ）。
Chinese	对于参与此次调查，我了解我的回答是完全保密的。 我的组织中的人无法查看我的个人回答，或以任何方式根据我提交的回答来识别我的身份。 此外，在适用时，公司执行委员会®的网络服务器会在浏览器上支持 128 位加密。
Malay	Dengan menyertai kajian ini, saya memahami bahawa respons saya adalah rahsia. Tiada sesiapapun dalam organisasi saya akan mempunyai akses kepada respons individu saya atau mempunyai cara untuk mengenal pasti saya melalui respons saya. Tambahan lagi, pelayan web The Corporate Executive Board® menyokong penyulitan 128-bit apabila tersedia pada penyemak imbas.
Arabic	إنني بالمشاركة في هذه الدراسة أعلم أن إجاباتي سرية. ولن يتسنى لأي شخص يعمل بالشركة الاطلاع على إجاباتي الشخصية أو تحديد شخصيتي بأي حال من الأحوال من خلال الإجابات التي أُدلي بها. فضلاً عن ذلك، تدعم خادمات الويب الخاصة بشركة Corporate Executive Board® التشفير فئة 128 بت إن توفرت هذه الإمكانية في المستعرض.
Norwegian	Ved å delta i denne undersøkelsen forstår jeg at mine svar vil bli behandlet konfidensielt. Det er ingen i min organisasjon som vil få tilgang til mine individuelle svar, eller på noen måte kunne identifisere meg basert på svarene jeg gir. The Corporate Executive Board®s nettservere støtter 128-bits kryptering når det er tilgjengelig i nettleserne.
Turkish	Bu ankete katılmakla, yanıtlarımın gizli tutulacağını anlamış olduğumu bildiririm. Çalıştığım kuruluştan hiç kimse benim yanıtlarımı göremeyecek ve yanıtlarımdan yararlanarak kimliğimi tespit edemeyecektir. Ayrıca The Corporate Executive Board® Web sunucuları, tarayıcıda kullanılabilir olduğu sürece 128 bitlik şifrelemeyi desteklemektedir.
Polish	Biorąc udział w badaniach rozumiem, że moje odpowiedzi są poufne. Nikt w mojej firmie nie będzie miał dostępu do moich odpowiedzi i nie będzie żadnego sposobu na zidentyfikowanie mnie w oparciu o udzielone przez mnie odpowiedzi. Co więcej, serwery www The Corporate Executive Board® obsługują kodowanie128-bit, kiedy są dostępne na przeglądarkach.
Czech	Vím, že při účasti v této studii jsou moje odpovědi důvěrné. Nikdo z mé organizace nebude mít přístup k mým individuálním odpovědím ani nebude mít možnost nějakým způsobem zjistit mou totožnost na základě odpovědí, které poskytuji. Webové servery společnosti The Corporate Executive Board® navíc podporují 128bitové šifrování, pokud je k dispozici v prohlížečích.
Hungarian	A felmérésen való részvételemmel tudomásul veszem, hogy válaszaim bizalmasak. Szervezetem egyetlen munkatársa sem férhet hozzá egyéni válaszaimhoz, és semmilyen módon nem azonosíthatnak be a megadott válaszaim alapján. Továbbá a The Corporate Executive Board® webböngészői támogatják a 128-bites titkosítást, ha az elérhető a böngészőkön.
Thai (Kadai)	โดยการเข้าร่วมในการศึกษานี้ ฉันเข้าใจว่าคำตอบแบบสำรวจของฉันเป็นความลับ ไม่มีผู้ใดในองค์กรของฉันมีสิทธิ์เข้าถึงคำตอบส่วนตัวของฉัน หรือไม่มีทางระบุได้ว่าเป็นฉันที่ตอบแบบสำรวจนี้ ยิ่งไปกว่านั้น เว็บเซิร์ฟเวอร์ของ The Corporate Executive Board® จะสนับสนุนการเข้ารหัส 128-บิตเมื่อสามารถใช้งานได้บนเบราว์เซอร์
Latvian	Es saprotu, ka mana dalība aptaujā ir konfidenciāla. Organizācijā, kurā es strādāju, nevienam nebūs piekļuve manis sniegtajā atbildēm un nevienam nebūs iespējams mani identificēt, balstoties uz manis sniegtajām atbildēm. Turklāt Corporate Executive Board® tīmekļa serveri atbalsta 128 bitu šifrēšanu, ja tā ir pieejama pārlūkos.
Romanian	Participând la acest studiu, înţeleg că răspunsurile mele sunt confidenţiale. Nimeni din organizaţia mea nu va avea acces la răspunsurile mele individuale şi nu va avea niciun mod de a mă identifica pe baza răspunsurilor pe care le dau. Mai mult, serverele Web de la The Corporate Executive Board® acceptă criptarea pe 128 biţi dacă aceasta este disponibilă în programul de navigare.
Bahasa Indonesia	Dengan berpartisipasi dalam studi ini, saya memahami bahwa jawaban saya adalah rahasia. Tidak ada seorang pun dalam organisasi saya yang akan mendapatkan akses ke jawaban individual saya atau akan dapat dengan cara apa pun mengidentifikasi saya berdasarkan jawaban yang saya berikan. Terlebih lagi, server web The Corporate Executive Board® mendukung enkripsi 128-bit jika tersedia pada browser.
Swedish	Genom att delta i denna undersökning förstår jag att mina svar är konfidentiella. Ingen i mitt företag får tillgång till något av mina svar eller kan på något sätt identifiera mig på grundval av de svar jag lämnar. Dessutom stöder Corporate Executive Board® webbservrar 128-bitars kryptering när sådan finns på webbläsaren.
Finnish	Osallistuessani tähän tutkimukseen ymmärrän vastaukseni olevan luottamuksellisia. Kellään organisaationi jäsenellä ei ole pääsyä yksilöllisiin vastauksiini eikä heillä ole mitään keinoa tunnistaa minua antamieni vastausten pohjalta. Lisäksi Corporate Executive Board® -verkkopalvelimet tukevat 128 bitin salausta, silloin kun selain sitä tarjoaa.