Cyber security + Tech / Risk Management

Alex Mitchell’s Top 5 Tips for Delivering Value as a General Counsel

Expert tips for delivering value as a General Counsel from Alex Mitchell, Asia Pacific General Counsel at Unisys. Video interview and career advice for in-house lawyers.

5 Steps to Bridge the Reputation-Reality Gap During a Cyber Incident

As 2022 cyber events have shown us, few crises have the potential to impact an organisation’s reputation as negatively as a cyber incident. When not handled correctly, the damage to an organisation’s reputation from a cyber event can be severe and long lasting.

Cybersecurity awareness: The maturity journey

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that in order to mitigate cyber security risk, companies need to train their staff in how to identify and respond to IT threats. When over 90% of IT breaches are via staff, it would be prudent to accept this as major risk.

Legal drafting and the promise of technology

Drafting is essential but can be tedious, time consuming and error prone. How can technology help?

Privacy in one’s image and biometrics

Three Legal experts from Cooper Grace Ward delve into biometric data privacy, and some key court cases that will play key roles in the commercial use of that data in the future.

Employment Law

Be careful what you wish four: Australian considerations of a 4-day work week

Aurora borealis (the Northern Lights). Stunning landscapes. Outdoor hot-tubs, year-round. All of these, you will find in Iceland. And yet, recently this country has been in the headlines not for these things, but for its work practices? The 4-day work week.

Understanding your contracts with workers

The contract is in the driving seat, but who is in control, where are we going and, most importantly, how do we get there safely?

A question of notice: employment contract’s implied term of reasonable notice versus the Fair Work Act’s notice provisions.

Courts have had to decide many cases in which a dismissed employee claims damages for breach of contract, the alleged breach being the failure to give the amount of notice that was implied into the contract (because there was no express term specifying the period of notice to be given).

The importance of effective leadership in a volatile environment

Those faced with leading organisations in current volatile environments clearly encounter significant challenges. Effective leaders are those who have the skills to make good decisions in an ambiguous environment, develop opportunities through innovation to gain a competitive advantage. They are highly valuable to organisations.

Right-of-entry – different approach by the Fair Work Ombudsman

Following the formal abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the transfer of its functions to the Fair Work Ombudsman (albeit with a fraction of the budget), some employers are asking legitimate questions about the FWO’s approach to compliance and enforcement.

General Counsel

A crisis management guide for in-house counsel

Preparing for disaster or crisis? Free download: crisis management checklist. Natural disasters, industrial accidents, stakeholder activism, cybercrime or the loss of a contract are only some of the events that could precipitate a crisis and cause reputational damage.

Alex Mitchell’s Top 5 Tips for Delivering Value as a General Counsel

Expert tips for delivering value as a General Counsel from Alex Mitchell, Asia Pacific General Counsel at Unisys. Video interview and career advice for in-house lawyers.

Why knowing how to monitor state and federal legislation is critical

Thousands of measures are proposed across Australia annually, and hundreds end up being legislated, ranging from relatively minor, to wide-ranging policy that can have major social, economic, or industrial significance.

Property

Challenges for Victorian council landlords in managing leasing portfolios

Managing a large and varied leasing portfolio can be challenging for any landlord.

Climate-related challenges for council landlords managing leasing portfolios

Climate change will continue to present challenges for council landlords in how they manage their leasing portfolios.

How do councils deal with granting easements over council land?

An easement is a non-exclusive right to use another person’s land, in perpetuity, for a particular purpose. The perpetuity element is one of the key things which differentiates an easement from other forms of land access rights, such as a lease or a licence.

Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property & Rule of Law

Indigenous Cultural IP – new topic on Practical Guidance Intellectual Property

Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been calling for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of their culture and heritage.

Advancing the rule of law through collaborative partnerships and innovation

Approving a company’s financial statements is one of the board’s core irreducible responsibilities. Discharging this responsibility requires a proper corporate governance framework and sufficient financial literacy, among other things. The featured checklist in this article steps through these and other key considerations that the board should take into account when signing-off on accounts.