What's New Archives

2009 - What's New  

30 November - ACLA Announces Online MasterClass Series – Second Seminar

13 November - ACLA Announces Winners & Finalist of the 2009 Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards.

Australian Government Lawyer of the Year
Winner:       Nicholas Egan, State Solicitors Office Western Australia
Finalists:      Dr Rebecca French, Special Counsel, Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office

Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year
Winner:      Karen Perret, General Counsel – Australia & New Zealand, Cadbury
Finalists:     Suyin Ng, Corporate Lawyer, Lonely Planet
                   Louise Sullivan, General Counsel, Cleary Bros (Bombo) Pty Ltd

Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year
Winner:     Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Legal Team
Finalists:    Medibank Private, Legal Team  
                  Woolworths, Legal Team

Excellence in Sustainability
Winner:     Corporate Express Australia Ltd, Legal Team
Finalist:     AGL Energy Limited, Legal Team.

11 November 2009 - ACLA Announces alliance with Select Law. 

8 October 2009 - ACLA takes a position on the national regulation of the legal profession.

1 October 2009:  ACLA Supports ILO Awards

10 September 2009 - ACLA Announces:  the ACLA Online MasterClass Series

ACLA is delighted to announce, in conjunction with Australian’s largest corporate webcaster, Boardroom Radio, a brand new online webinar service to members:  The ACLA Online MasterClass Series.  During the next few months ACLA will trial a series of three full-length online seminars on hot-topics of interest to members, brought to you by leading presenters from home and abroad.

25 August 2009 - ACLA Announces:  Legal Department Benchmarking Report wins APEX 2009 Award

24 August - ACLA Announces: Launch of ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards

ACLA is pleased to announce the launch of the 2009 ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards, presented by ACLA with the generous support of principal sponsors Middletons, legal publisher The International Law Office and legal consulting firm Allocatur.

This year there will again be two senior individual awards: the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award and the Australian Government Lawyer of the Year Award.  In addition, there will be our junior award, the Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year Award; a team award, the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year Award; and the ACLA Excellence in Sustainability Award, which will recognise an individual or team contribution to sustainable practices within an organisation.

21 August - ACLA Announces: ACLA National Conference and Annual Dinner 2009 Final Program

ACLA is pleased to announce its 15th annual National Conference, which will be held on 12-13 November in Melbourne at the Sofitel Hotel.    

With the past 12 months having been amongst the most tumultuous on record for the global economy, this year’s National Conference theme is - Opportunity Beckons: Performance in the face of change.  The Conference will address the critical challenges facing Australian businesses and explore ways that in-house counsel can identify, adapt and capitalise on opportunities for the future.

A new flexible program features 4 pre-conference workshops, 8 parallel sessions, a mix of international and local legal perspectives, expert speaker panels, current hot legal topics and inspirational and motivational sessions, all meticulously researched to meet your personal and professional development needs.

4 August – ACLA Announces –a new partnership between ACLA and Legal Jobs Centre

ACLA is proud to announce a new partnership with Legal Jobs Centre, the leading online recruitment portal exclusively for legal professionals.  You may have already noticed the new Legal Jobs Centre section as the official job board of the ACLA website.

Employers using Legal Jobs Centre can recruit from a qualified and talented pool of legal professionals, create a company profile page for job seekers, and see live stats to maximise responses to job postings.

Job seekers can easily browse legal jobs by location, sector, PQE and salary expectation. When new job posts arrive matching the nominated criteria of the job searcher, a complimentary job alert e-mail provides the opportunity to be first in line to apply.

A Special discount of 40% on a package of five Enhanced Premium job postings, therefore paying only $465, is available for members until 21 August.  Please contact: Mathew Hambrook, Legal Jobs Centre, Sales Manager, Ph: 02 8437 4776. 

21 July – ACLA Announces – ACLA Newsstand – powered by Lexology

ACLA is pleased to announce the launch of ACLA Newsstand – a new daily newsfeed designed and developed exclusively for ACLA members.  Powered by Lexology this exciting service is now available.

ACLA Newsstand will be rolled out to all members.  By customising the content according to their needs and business interests, members will stay fully briefed on legal developments, both domestic and international, which affects the businesses they represent.

National President Phil Wallis commented:  “ACLA Newsstand will be a very useful, tailored and easily accessible resource that coincides directly with our focus on saving ACLA member’s time, money and effort”.

16 July – Linex Legal launches new tailored current awareness service for ACLA members

Linex Legal has agreed to provide its new Enterprise Search platform to all ACLA members as a member benefit. All members are able to search for legal updates and reviews via a custom ACLA branded portal. Sources include all major Australian law firms and regulatory bodies.  International sources are also available.  Other available services include access to custom web based alerts (access to latest articles in each practice area) and an RSS Feed Directory.

If you have any queries about the service please visit www.linexlegal.com or contact support@linexlegal.com.

3 July - Law Council of Australia Gaire Blunt Scholarship

The Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia is offering a scholarship to commemorate the life of Gaire Blunt who played a central role in developing and mentoring the careers of many young lawyers.

The scholarship is aimed at a person at junior stage of their legal career in Australia.  To apply for the scholarship, lawyers will need to submit a paper on competition law topic of no more than 10,000 words by 31 December 2009. For details regarding the scholarship and an application form click here.  Or visit the Law Council of Australia website. www.lawcouncil.asn.au

11 June - ACLA announces winner of its 2009 Member-get-Member Promotion

More ACLA Prize winners!

ACLA is pleased to announce the names of the prize winners from its 2009 Member-get-Member membership promotion.

The winner of the lucky draw for a Travel Voucher valued at $2,500.00 from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel is: Giselle Bates, Senior Legal Counsel  at Toll Holdings Pty Ltd in Melbourne.

The member who signed up the greatest number of new members for ACLA during the promotion was Tony Serone, Regional Counsel at IBM Australia Ltd, in Sydney. Tony wins a Notebook PC valued at $1,000.00.

ACLA congratulates Giselle and Tony and thanks all of the participants in this year’s membership drive, which once again produced a large number of new members for ACLA. All the new members will now reap the rewards of ACLA membership.

ACLA’s objective is to be, and be recognised as, the primary professional association of in-house lawyers in Australia. We appreciate your support.

Permit Nos. NSW LTPS/09/03192, ACT TP 09/01393.

26 May – ACLA and Commercial Bar Association of Victoria Member Survey.

Recently the ACLA Victorian Division and the Commercial Bar Association of Victoria invited members to complete an online survey on their experiences of ‘briefing the Bar direct’.  

Please click here to read the results of this survey.

13 May - ACLA Announces:  Legal Department Benchmarking Report wins Gold.

The "ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report" won a Gold medal at the 2009 New Zealand Print "Pride In Print" Awards, held at a black-tie gala event on 8 May 2009, the same night as the CLANZ annual conference.

Described as "a huge collection of metrics hitting just about every performance point a legal department needs to make" (National Business Review) the Report finds that the best way for law firms to improve working relationships with clients is to be more concerned with costs. This is especially important in the current economic climate, when benchmarking tools become even more important for leading legal departments and law firms.

For legal departments, the Report delivers huge amounts of data for in-house leaders to develop robust strategies for demonstrating the value of the legal function; a critical investment for in-house leaders.

And for law firms, no longer immune from economic  downturns, what their top clients say in this ground-breaking Report helps provide valuable insights in developing strategies more effectively to connect with the needs of their top organisational clients.

The "ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report" is the leading benchmarking resource of its kind in Australasia, with respondents together spending a billion dollars on lawyers annually delivering an unparalleled clarity of view.

The report, complied by New Zealand - based professional services company Team Factors,  is available in Australia exclusively from ACLA - for full ACLA members at the price of $2,300.00 (inc GST) or for non-members, at the price of $2,500.00 (inc GST).  To order, click here. Purchasers also gain access to all of the graphs and tables in electronic format for use within their organisations.

7 May - ACLA Announces: Member Offer -  Boardroom Radio Legal Updates.

ACLA members can now directly tune into the latest legal updates, alerts and news provided by Boardroom Radio.  - Listen to the latest in legal updates, alerts and news.

To listen, simply go to the Members Area Reading Room on the ACLA website and click on the Audio Broadcasts link.  From Private Equity to Climate Change, Industrial Relations to Continuous Disclosure, Boardroom Radio delivers the most timely and relevant legal content via audio webcast (or podcast).

Boardroom Radio is an online communications tool for lawyers, companies, investors and professional services providers with over 300 clients broadcasting their messages to more than 30,000 listeners each day.

If you’re interested to know more about Boardroom Radio, please contact David Bushby at dbushby@brr.com.au or +61 2 9339 6509.

We are pleased to provide this service free-of-charge to ACLA members.

1 May - ACLA Announces: Annual Member-gets-Member promotion!

As you know, ACLA is the peak body representing the interests of in-house lawyers in both the private and the public sectors in Australia.  Our membership has been steadily growing over the last five years, but of the over 12,000 in-house lawyers in the country, only about 2,300 are currently ACLA full members.

ACLA in May, is offering you the chance to introduce new full members at a special promotional membership fee of $190.00 (inc GST) with membership valid until 30/06/10.   (Normal 2009/10 membership fee will be $190.00 (inc GST) from 01 July 2009 to 30 June 2010).

Every ACLA member who ‘signs up a friend’ as a new  ACLA full member during May using the special Membership Application Form, will go into a draw for a travel voucher from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel, worth $2,500.00*. 

In addition, employment conditions permitting, the ACLA member who signs up the greatest number of new full members during May will win a brand new Notebook PC valued at $1,000.00* – that’s right! Right off the shelf! 

The travel voucher winner will be drawn from names in a barrel.  If more than one member signs up the greatest number of new full members, the PC winners' name will also be drawn from a barrel.  Draws will take place at 10am on 5 June 2009 at ACLA’s National Office, Suite 2, Level 1, 620 Bourke Street, Melbourne.  Winners will be notified in writing and an announcement of the winners' names will appear in the public notices of The Australian Newspaper, on Friday 12 June 2009.  Please note:  ACLA Directors, Executive Committee Members and Staff are not eligible to enter this promotion. 
 
In the event that prizes are unclaimed after 3 months from the original draw date, a re-draw of unclaimed prizes will occur on 4 September 2009 at ACLA’s National Office. 
 
Authorised under NSW Permit No:  LTPS/09/03192
Authorised under ACT Permit No:  TP 09/01393

Use the special Membership Application Form – and become a winner!

11 March:  ACLA Announces – Results of ACLA/Austhink Survey

Late in 2008, ACLA was approached by Austhink Consulting, on behalf of the Legal Workshop at the Australian National University, about conducting a survey of corporate lawyers with regard to their uses of various techniques for refining legal argument. The survey was designed by Austhink and, with our support, distributed on-line to the membership. There was a good response - over 250 members completing the survey. The attached report was written over the summer by Austhink director and principal consultant, Paul Monk, following on from the preliminary description of the survey by his colleague Jane Lewis, in the ACLA journal in December 2008.

The report is a preliminary inquiry and both Austhink and the Legal Workshop at ANU remain very interested in furthering their understanding of the issues it raises. If any member wishes to make a considered comment or raise an issue with Austhink/ANU, they should please contact Paul Monk at: pmm@austhink.com

6 March:  Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s (‘Deloitte’) In-house Counsel Survey 2009.

ACLA is delighted to provide members with Deloitte’s second annual survey report, “Managing in Volatile Times”.  The report is based on the findings of a survey of ACLA members conducted during and after the 2008 National Conference.   In these volatile financial times, the role of in-house counsel becomes critical to managing legal risks. In the face of strict expenditure control, in-house counsel face increased pressure to demonstrate the value they provide to their organisations.   More than 200 ACLA members from the private and public sectors completed the on-line survey to express their views on issues such as workload, budget, headcount, demand for services, priorities, cost effectiveness and legal risk.

To read the report, click here.   If you have any comments, please feel free to contact Deloitte Forensic Partner, Nicholas Adamo, on nadamo@deloitte.com.au.

24 February:  ACLA Announces:  Co-operation Agreement with IBA’s Corporate Counsel Forum.

On Tuesday, February 24 in Paris, ACLA signed a co-operation agreement with the Corporate Counsel Forum (CCF) – the in-house section of the International Bar Association (IBA).
 
The agreement gives ACLA access to articles and website content of interest to ACLA members and vice-versa and secures the right, on a reciprocal basis, for ACLA members to attend the IBA Annual International Corporate Counsel Conference and other activities of the CCF at CCF member rates.   Importantly, the Agreement also contains certain “flow-through” benefits for ACLA’s existing international partners: the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, the Corporate Lawyers Associations of New Zealand and South Africa and the Corporate Counsel Associations of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
 
More about the Agreement will be published in the March edition of the ACLA journal: The Australian Corporate Lawyer.

23 February - The National Mentoring Program 2009 - Register Now.

Register today for the National Mentoring Program which is available free of charge to ACLA full members.  The program aims to develop both mentors and mentees within the in-house legal profession - providing an opportunity for mentors to give back and gain fresh perspectives and for mentees to raise fresh ideas in a safe space, gain independent and objectives perspectives and enhance their skills and confidence.

If you are interested in the program click here for the Mentoring Program Registration of Interest Form and fax to 03 9642 4924 or email your name, employment and contact detail with subject heading:   “Registration ACLA Mentor Program” to mentoring@acla.com.au

2008 - What's New

28 November – Review of the International Arbitration Act 1974

On 21 November 2008, the Federal Attorney General announced the Governments’ intention to review the International Arbitration Act 1974.  Click here to read the Discussion Paper.

ACLA is considering the possibility of making a submission in relation to the review and invites your comments.  The areas for review are set out in the Discussion Paper.  Please submit comments to:  membership@acla.com.au, no later than Friday 10 December 2008.

21 November - ACLA Announces:  New book dedicated to Australian in-house lawyers

ACLA is pleased to announce the publication of an exciting new book Leadership and Management Challenges of In-house Legal Counsel, edited by Dr Benny Tabalujan, Adjunct Faculty Member of Melbourne Business School and Melbourne Law School and Director of niche consultancy, IKD.

The book covers a host of practical issues faced by Australia’s in-house lawyers in corporations as well as government organisations.  It is written in a readable style combining Australian and Asian perspectives and will appeal to those leading large or small legal teams, those transitioning in-house, as well as other professionals interested in the in-house role.

The book is published by LexisNexis Butterworth’s and is available to ACLA members at a significant discount.
Enquires:  academic@lexisnexis.com.au

7 November - ACLA Announces Winners & Finalist of the 2008 Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards.

ACLA is delighted to announce the Winners and finalists of its 2008 Awards, which were presented at its Annual National Conference Dinner in Sydney on Thursday, 6 November.

Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year
Winner:      Helen Gillies, Corporate Counsel, Sinclair Knight Merz
Finalists:    Saveria Dimasi, Director, Legal Services, The University of Melbourne. 
                    Justin Forsell, General Counsel, Vodafone Australia Pty Limited

Australian Government Lawyer of the Year
Winner:      Lesley Power, General Counsel, Special Broadcasting Service Corporation
Finalists:    Stephen Bouwhuis, Assistant Secretary in Office of International Law, The Attorney-General’s Dept
                    Joanna Davidson, Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office

Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year
Winner:      Louise Leaver, Legal Counsel, BlueScope Steel.
Finalists:   Stefanie McDowell, Corporate Counsel, Wagners
                    Anthony Wright, General Counsel, Transpacific Industries Group Ltd 

Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year
Winner:     Caltex Australia Legal Team
Finalists:   Workplace Ombudsman Legal and Advice Branch. Brisbane
                   Woolworths Legal Team

Excellence in Sustainability:
Winner:    Canberra Greening Group, Australian Government Solicitor
Finalist:  GN2010 Legal Australia, National Australia Bank.  Melbourne

ACLA congratulates the winners and finalists and thanks all those who participated in this year’s event.

3 November - ACLA supports IBA's Corporate Counsel Forum Scholarship 2009

The International Bar Association Corporate Counsel Forum is awarding a scholarship for in-house lawyers on the occasion of the upcoming 8th Annual International Corporate Counsel Conference, which will be held in Paris on 22 - 24 February 2009.  The scholarship will provide an invaluable opportunity for young in-house lawyers to participate by submitting a short paper, of at least 2,500 words, answering the following question:
 
‘The new IBA code of conduct for in-house counsel specifies that the in-house lawyer’s professional responsibility is to the “Company.” What interests comprise the “Company”?’

The prize for the winning paper will include the following:
• Free registration for the 8th Annual Corporate Counsel Forum Conference of the IBA to be held in February 2009 in Paris, France.
• A contribution towards travel costs to the conference.
• Two years’ free membership of the IBA, LPD, PPID and the Corporate Counsel Forum.
• A waiver of either the next IBA Annual Conference registration fee or the registration fee for the next Corporate Counsel Forum Conference in 2010.
• Free membership of the Scholarship Alumni Group.

The deadline for receiving the paper is 3 December 2008. 

Click here for details of the 2009 scholarship.

Click here 2009 Rules for participation here.

30 October - ACLA Announces:  Professional Indemnity Insurance - larger discount on premium for members

ACLA is pleased to announce that is has now negotiated a larger premium discount then previously, so that its members are entitled to a discount of 20% on the quoted premium at all levels.

Click here for more details of the new premiums.

ACLA and its insurance brokers Marsh Pty Ltd, last year developed a dedicated professional indemnity insurance policy for in-house lawyers.  This product is the only dedicated insurance cover for in-house lawyers in Australia.

15 September - ACLA Announces:  Extension of ACLA's In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards Nomination Date

As you are aware, there are two senior awards this year: the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award and the Australian Government Lawyer of the Year Award. There is also a junior Award: the Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year Award and a team award, the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year Award.  In addition, for the first time we have introduced a new "green" award - the ACLA Excellence in Sustainability Award which is available to either an individual or legal team.

The presentation of all five Awards will take place on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at ACLA's Annual Dinner - which will be held during our National Conference 2008, at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney.

The nomination process is very simple and only requires the completed Nomination Form to be accompanied by a brief letter of support setting out in no more than 300 words why you think the nominee should win the award for which they are nominated plus an abbreviated curriculum vitae of the nominee. I do encourage you to nominate a suitable candidate, even yourself, or your legal team, for one of these prestigious Awards.  Nominations must be returned to the address shown on the Awards Nomination Form by the extended closing date of Friday 3 October.

Click here for an Awards Nomination Form for your use.

Please support your profession and your professional association - nominate a candidate or team for the ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2008 now!

9 September - For ACLA WA Members: WLWA Offers Career Resilience Seminar for Female Practitioners

On Saturday, 20 September 2008, Women Lawyers of Western Australia (WLWA) will be holding a seminar entitled "Smashing the Glass Ceiling Effective strategies to take you to the next level."  The seminar will be presented by Terry Power, and is designed to assist female practitioners to strengthen their 'career resilience' and to advance their position within the legal profession.

This is a one day program will give female practitioners a opportunity to not only improve their skills relevant to modern legal practice and the potential to gain a large number of CPD points. (the allocation of CPD points for this event is subject to WLWA applying for accreditation to the Legal Practice Board).  Please download the flyer and registration form for more details.

4 August - ACLA Announces: Launch of ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards

ACLA is pleased to announce the launch of the 2008 ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards, presented by ACLA with the generous support of principal sponsors Middletons and LexisNexis.

This year there will again be two senior individual awards: the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award and the Australian Government Lawyer of the Year Award.  In addition, there will be our junior award, sponsored by Allocatur Consutling: the Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year Award and a team award, the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year Award, sponsored by SAI Global.

We are also delighted to announce that, for the first time, we will be presenting this year, the ACLA Excellence in Sustainability Award, which will recognise an individual or team contribution to sustainable practices within an organisation.

Click here for the Nomination Form.  Nominations close:  15 September 2008.

2 July - ACLA Announces: ACLA SmartDocs Service

ACLA is pleased to launch the ACLA SmartDocs service and the ACLA Model Confidentiality Agreements.

ACLA SmartDocs has been developed by ACLA as an on-line automated drafting tool for the access, benefit and use of ACLA full members free of charge.  It is an interactive web-based service powered by Exari, intended to provide basic working models from precedent documents which can be generated immediately and adapted and applied easily to a particular situation.  ACLA SmartDocs can be generated as MS Word RTF files capable of amendment or as PDF files.

Each ACLA SmartDocs precedent has been developed by an Advisory Group of experienced ACLA members who are broadly representative of the ACLA membership and is based on and compiled from precedents currently in use provided by members of the Advisory Group on a confidential basis.

The first precedents within ACLA SmartDocs are the ACLA Model Confidentiality Agreements (MCA).  Members will be able to select from 3 alternative MCAs covering a range of different situations.

Go to SmartDocs - click here.

20 June - ACLA National Conference and Annual Dinner 2008

ACLA is pleased to announce its 14th annual National Conference, which will be held on 6-7 November in Sydney.  We are delighted to advise that the Conference will take place at the Sydney Hilton Hotel. 

The theme of this year’s Conference is The In-house Jigsaw:  pulling the pieces together.  We have selected this theme to recognise the complex, multi-facetted role in-house counsel play in their business or department.  Reflecting this theme in the program are several key sessions including three international addresses on:  The Role of In-house Counsel in Globalised Markets, The International Brain Drain and Going Green: Preparing Your Company for 2010, as well as important keynote address from Tony D’Aloisio, the Chairman of ASIC. 

We would like both members and non-members to attend this year's Conference.  The Conference represents an excellent opportunity to broaden your professional network and explore ways to develop your career in-house.  Make sure your friends and colleagues come along too!

The full Conference brochure will be available shortly but if you register before the end of the financial year, you can take advantage of this year’s new special pricing, see the Advance Program for details.

11 June - ACLA announces winner of its 2008 Member-get-Member Promotion

Campbell Flack, General Counsel, Knight Frank Australia Pty Ltd in Melbourne, won the draw for a travel voucher valued at $2,500 from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel, in the ACLA 2007 Member-get-Member Promotion.  The voucher is valid for travel before 30 September 2008.  Enjoy your trip Peter!

ACLA sincerely congratulates Campbell on his wins and thanks all those members who took the time and trouble to participate in this Promotion, which achieved significant success.

We hope all our new members enjoy and value their membership of ACLA.

ACLA’s Member get Member promotion permit nos.: NSW: LPS/08/03789, SA:  T08/1522, ACT:  TP 08/01577.

1 May - ACLA Announces: Annual Member-gets-Member promotion! 

As you know, ACLA is the peak body representing the interests of in-house lawyers in both the private and the public sectors in Australia.  Our membership has been steadily growing over the last five years, but of the over 12,000 in-house lawyers in the country, only about 2,300 are currently ACLA full members.

ACLA in May, is offering you the chance to introduce new full members at a special promotional membership fee of $175.00 (inc GST) with membership valid until 30/06/09.   (Normal 2008/09 membership fee will be $175.00 (inc GST) from 01 July 2008 to 30 June 2009).

Every ACLA member who ‘signs up a friend’ as a new  ACLA full member during September using the special Membership Application Form, will go into a draw for a travel voucher from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel, worth $2,500.00*.  

In addition, employment conditions permitting, the ACLA member who signs up the greatest number of new full members during May will win a brand new Compaq Presario Notebook PC with carry bag valued at $1,000.00* – that’s right!  Right off the shelf!
 
The travel voucher winner will be drawn from names in a barrel.  If more than one member signs up the greatest number of new full members, the PC winners' name will also be drawn from a barrel.  Draws will take place at 10am on 6 June 2008 at ACLA’s National Office, Suite 2, Level 1, 620 Bourke Street, Melbourne.  Winners will be notified in writing and an announcement of the winners' names will appear in the public notices of The Australian Newspaper, on Friday 13 June 2008.  Please note:  ACLA Directors, Executive Committee Members and Staff are not eligible to enter this promotion. 
 
In the event that prizes are unclaimed after 3 months from the original draw date, a re-draw of unclaimed prizes will occur on 5 September 2008 at ACLA’s National Office. 
 
Authorised under NSW Permit No:  LTPS/08/03789
Authorised under SA Permit No:      T08/1522
Authorised under ACT Permit No:    ACT TP 08/01557

Help your association to expand and grow. Get your in-house friends and colleagues to join ACLA today.  Use the special Membership Application Form – and become a winner!

31 March -  Job vacancy at ACLA National Office

The National Office of ACLA in Melbourne is looking for a bright, motivated person with MS Office and administrative skills to join the ACLA team as our Administration Officer, assisting the Member Service and Office Manager and Chief Executive Officer.  

Excellent salary and working conditions apply.  If you are interested in applying for the role, send your CV to Louise Trewarne, email:  membership@acla.com.au 

17 March - ACLA Announces - Constitution of new Tasmanian Division

At its annual Strategy Meeting in Adelaide during the weekend, the Board of Directors of ACLA considered and approved a resolution to establish a new ACLA Division in Tasmania.

Yasmine Healy, the General Counsel and Company Secretary of Zeehan Zinc Ltd based in Hobart convened a meeting in Hobart during February that led to the proposal and following the Board’s favorable decision Yasmine will shortly convene a further meeting to appoint the first Officers of the Division.

ACLA congratulates Yasmine and her colleagues on the successful outcome and welcomes Tasmania to its fold. 

13 March - Law Council of Australia Gaire Blunt Scholarship

The Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia is offering a scholarship to commemorate the life of Gaire Blunt who played a central role in developing and mentoring the careers of many young lawyers.

The scholarship is being offered for the first time in 2008. For details regarding the scholarship and an application form click here.  Or visit the Law Council of Australia website. www.lawcouncil.asn.au 

20 February - ACLA announces:  ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008

 ACLA in conjunction with its Program Partner, Catalyst Consulting (Canada) is delighted to announce the publication of the first authoritative benchmarking survey of the in-house segment of the legal profession in Australia since 2001.

With over 100 pages of commentary and analysis and over 140 graphs, charts and tables, the ACLA/CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008 is crammed with management information and metrics that will assist in-house practitioners to run their legal functions - and legal spend - more effectively and efficiently.

The ACLA /CLANZ Legal Department Benchmarking Report 2008 is a trans-Tasman survey containing information submitted by over 125 participants with a combined legal spend of over $1 billion.  The Report has been compiled by professional services company Team Factors for ACLA and the Corporate lawyers Association of New Zealand (CLANZ).

Richard Stock, a Partner of Catalyst will be in Australia to launch the report at a nationwide series of seminars during March, kindly hosted by international recruitment company Hudson.  If you would like read more about the Report and register to attend one of the seminars click here.  If you wish to order a copy of the Report, click here. 

ACLA receives royalties from the sale of the Report. 

4 February - ACLA goes to Tassie!

On Friday, February 15 ACLA will hold a free information luncheon at the Law Society of Tasmania for all those interested in the establishment of an ACLA Division in Tasmania.  Yasmine Healy, Company Secretary and General Counsel of Zeehan Zinc Limited will act as the Convertor of the luncheon and the Law Society of Tasmania will kindly host it.

If you are interested to come along click here for details.

The luncheon will be followed by a joint LST/ACLA/AMPLA Seminar on Disclosure, Negotiation and Employment - for details click here. 

29 January - For ACLA VIC Members: EPA Victoria Media Statement

EPA Victoria urges industry to respond to Climent Changes Challenage - Media Statement.

The EPA will be running a number of briefing sessions in February to help businesses understand their requirements under the EREP program and answer any questions that they may have.  To find out more, please click here.

2007 - What's New 

20 December - ACLA Announces National Conference 2007 DVD Offer Pack for sale.

Building on the success of the past twelve years, ACLA’s National Conference 2007 on 1-2 November in Melbourne brought together leading players and expert speakers.  These speakers have provided comprehensive papers in support of the sessions they presented.  For members who where unable to attend the National Conference, ACLA has prepared a document pack of the DVD footage and CD-Rom of the papers from the ACLA National Conference 2007 for sale at $990.00 (inc GST).  If you wish to order this documentation pack please click here for a order form or contact LexisNexis Customer Relations on 1880 772 77.

23 November -  ACLA supports IBA's Corporate Counsel  Forum Scholarship 2008

The Corporate Counsel Forum of the International Bar Association (see www.ibanet.org) has just announced that for the first time it is offering a scholarship for in-house lawyers on the occasion of the 7th Annual International Corporate Counsel Conference in Frankfurt on 17-19 February, 2008.

The prize for the winning paper will include the following:

• Free registration for the Corporate Counsel Forum Conference in Frankfurt.
• A contribution towards travel costs to the conference.
• Two years’ free membership of the IBA, LPD, PPID and the Corporate Counsel Forum.
• A waiver of either the next IBA Annual Conference registration fee or the registration fee for the next Corporate Counsel Forum Conference in 2009.
• Free membership of the Scholarship Alumni Group.

For further details about the scholarship please click here
 

20 November - ACLA releases:  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act MP3 Audio file 

ACLA is pleased to advise that the sound track of the recent Mayer Brown International Briefing webinar on The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is now available to members.  Click here for access.

Just a reminder too that Part 2 of this series on the FCPA will be held on 27 November at 9.00am (Sydney time).  To participate in the online, live presentation, you must register in advance to membership@acla.com.au

We hope members got value from this excellent new International Briefing series brought to you by international law firm Mayer Brown in co-operation with ACLA.

5 November – ACLA makes 2nd submission to ALRC Privilege Inquiry

ACLA continues to closely monitor the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into client legal privilege and whether it should be abrogated or amended in any way.

In particular, ACLA is concerned that in-house counsel could in future be treated differently from other lawyers in this respect.  ACLA believes that the correct starting point for the analysis of a privilege claim is to examine the communication in question, which includes an examination of the role held by the relevant person rather thanconsidering that person’s ‘independence’ i.e is the person a lawyer, acting as a lawyer and is the communication for the dominant purpose of giving legal advice?

Following the recent publication of the ALRC’s Discussion Paper,  ACLA has filed the attached second submission, on behalf of in-house counsel; click here to read.

2 November - ACLA Announces:  2007 Award Winners

ACLA is pleased to announce the winners of its 2007 Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards.

Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year – Brett Johnson, General Counsel, Qantas Airways Limited (NSW)

Australian Government Lawyer of the Year – Alastair Shields – Executive Director, Policy, Department of The Chief Minister (Northern Territory)

Australian In –house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year – Madeleine Love, General Counsel, Southern Cross University (NSW)

Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year – the Mincom Legal Team – Mincom Limited (QLD).

The ACLA Awards recognise excellence in the provision of legal services by in-house lawyers employed in both the corporate and government sectors.  ACLA believes that their wealth of knowledge and expertise should be recognised and rewarded through these annual Awards.

The Awards were presented at the ACLA 2007 Annual Dinner at the MCG in Melbourne on Thursday, 1 November 2007.

29 October - ACLA Announces:  New ACLA_LINK Partner – SAI Global

ACLA is delighted to announce that SAI Global, a leader in publishing, compliance and assurance businesses and training services, is now an ACLA_LINK partner.

As part of SAI Global’s contribution to ACLA, SAI Global will provide ACLA members with a package if Regulatory Newsfeeds, Legislative Alerts and Compliance Training at a special members’ price.

The SAI Global offer is a single user package available to members at approximately 15% below list price.
 
Members attending the ACLA National Conference in November will be able to see the SAI Global products on display.

Members will be advised shortly how to take advantage to of this new exciting offer.

To learn more about the ACLA_LINK Program click here.

8 October - ACLA announces winners of its 2007 Member-get-Member Promotion

Peter Anderson, Group Counsel, American Express in Sydney, won the draw for a travel voucher valued at $2,500 from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel, in the ACLA 2007 Member-get-Member Promotion.  The voucher is valid for travel before 30 September 2008.  Enjoy your trip Peter!

David Forbes, General Counsel at Legal Service Board in Melbourne won the draw for the member who signed up the greatest number of new members.  His prize is a brand new Notebook PC valued at $1,000.00. 

ACLA sincerely congratulates Peter and David on their respective wins and thanks all those members who took the time and trouble to participate in this Promotion, which achieved significant success.

We hope all our new members enjoy and value their membership of ACLA.

ACLA’s Member get Member promotion permit nos.: NSW:  LTPS/07/24701, SA:  T07/3694, ACT:  TP 07/03487

24 September - ACLA Announces:  Final Extension of ACLA's In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards Nomination Date

Due to many requests for more time and considering the ongoing interest in ACLA’s Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2007, the Judging Panel has agreed to a further - but final - extension of the Closing Date for nominations for this year's Awards until Friday, October 5 2007.
 
This year there are two senior Awards: the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award and The Australian Government Lawyer of the Year Award. There is also a junior Award: The Australian In-house Lawyer, Young Achiever of the Year Award and a teams Award, The Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year Award.  The presentation of all four Awards will take place on Thursday, 1 November 2007 at ACLA's Annual Dinner, which will be held during the 2007 National Conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne.

We now have a simplified nomination procedure so I do encourage you to nominate a suitable candidate, perhaps yourself, or your legal team, for one of these prestigious Awards. Nominations must be returned to the address shown on the Awards Nomination Form by the extended Closing Date: Friday 5 October.
 
Click here for the Awards Nomination Form.
 
Please support your profession and your professional association - nominate a candidate for the ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2007!

20 September – ACLA Announces a new milestone – 3000 members!

ACLA is delighted to announce having crossed over the 3,000 member mark for the first time!

Katy-Jo Tuner, Corporate Counsel, Transpacific Industries Group Ltd in Queensland became the 3,000th ACLA member earlier this month.  To celebrate this milestone ACLA gave Katy-Jo a complimentary membership for one year and a nice bottle of bubby!

ACLA’s 2000th member joined up in 2000.

17 September - ACLA Announces: A Reparitaion Survey: Home Sweet Home, or Reverse Culture Shock?

Have you returned home from a company-initiated international assignment in the past 12 months?  If so, you might be eligible to participate in a voluntary research study on the repatriation process.  In return for your participation in the survey, you will be sent a US$25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate.  Read on to learn more about the study.

For many repatriates, this last stage of the expatriation process is often fraught with challenges and frustrations.  Indeed, studies report that about 25% of employees quit their jobs within the first year of returning from an international assignment.  To help individuals and organizations manage this process more effectively, you are invited to participate in a research survey being conducted by a researcher at the University of Melbourne and funded with a grant by the SHRM Foundation.

What Will Participation Require?

Participation in this project will simply require you to complete a 20 minute survey. To be eligible you must have returned from an international assignment within the past 12 months and your assignment must have been initiated by your employer. The surveys can be distributed by either postal mail (paper/pencil survey) or electronic mail (electronic survey), depending on your preference.  All responses will remain confidential. To further protect privacy, your company’s name will not be shared with anyone outside the research team.

How Will This Benefit You?

In return for taking the time to complete the survey, I will provide you with a summary of the overall results and you will receive a US$25 Amazon gift certificate.

How Do I Find Out More?

If you would like to learn if you qualify to participate in the survey, or would like more information about the project, please contact me, the researcher, directly.

Associate Professor Maria L. Kraimer
The University of Melbourne
Department of Management & Marketing
E-mail: mkraimer@unimelb.edu.au
http://www.management.unimelb.edu.au/staff/staffPage.cfm?StaffId=93.

3 September - ACLA Announces: Annual Member-gets-Member promotion!

As you know, ACLA is the peak body representing the interests of in-house lawyers in both the private and the public sectors in Australia.  Our membership has been steadily growing over the last five years, but of the over 12,000 in-house lawyers in the country, only about 2,300 are currently ACLA full members.

ACLA ,in September, is offering you the chance to introduce new full members at a special promotional membership fee of $95 (inc GST) with membership valid until 30/06/08.

Every ACLA member who ‘signs up a friend’ as a new  ACLA full member during September using the special Membership Application Form, will go into a draw for a travel voucher from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel, worth $2,500.00*. 

In addition, employment conditions permitting, the ACLA member who signs up the greatest number of new full members during September will win a brand new Compaq Presario Notebook PC with carry bag valued at $1,000.00* – that’s right! Right off the shelf!
 
The travel voucher winner will be drawn from names in a barrel.  If more than one member signs up the greatest number of new full members, the PC winners' name will also be drawn from a barrel.  Draws will take place at 10am on 5 October 2007 at ACLA’s National Office, Suite 2, Level 1, 620 Bourke Street, Melbourne.  Winners will be notified in writing and an announcement of the winners' names will appear in the public notices of The Australian Newspaper, on Friday 12 October 2007.  Please note: ACLA Directors, Executive Committee members and staff are not eligible to enter this promotion. 
 
In the event that prizes are unclaimed after 3 months from the original draw date, a re-draw of unclaimed prizes will occur on Monday 7 January 2008. 
 
Authorised under NSW Permit No: LTPS/07/24701
Authorised under SA Permit No:   T07/3694
Authorised under ACT Permit No:  TP 07/03487

Help your professional association to expand and grow. Get your in-house friends and colleagues to join ACLA today.  Use the special Membership Application Form – and become a winner!

24 August - ACLA Announces:  Extension of ACLA's In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards Nomination Date

Due to continuing interest and in order to allow more time to complete the required formalities, the ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2007 Judging Panel has decided to extend the Closing Date for nominations for this year's Awards by three more weeks - until Friday, September 21 2007.

As you are aware, there are two senior Awards this year: the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award and the Australian Government Lawyer of the Year Award. There is also a junior Award: the Australian In-house Lawyer, Young Achiever of the Year Award and a team Award, the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year Award.  The presentation of all four Awards will take place on Thursday, 1 November 2007 at ACLA's Annual Dinner, which will be held during the 2007 ACLA National Conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne.

We now have a simplified nomination procedure so I do encourage you to nominate a suitable candidate, perhaps yourself, or your legal team, for one of these prestigious Awards.  Nominations must be returned to the address shown on the Awards Nomination Form by the extended Closing Date: Friday 21 September. Click here for a Nomination Form.

Please support your profession and your professional association - nominate a candidate for the ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2007!

23 August - ACLA congratulates Awards winners:

ACLA is pleased to recognise and compliment the following high achievers:

•  Bruce Brown – National President of ACLA and his in-house legal team at the Department of Finance and Administration, Canberra, winners of the Griffith Hack Award Government In-house Team of the Year, at the recent Mazda ALB Australasian Law Awards 2007;  (ALB Awards)

•  Guy Jalland – General Counsel, Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and his in-house legal team, Sydney, winners of the Allens Arthur Robinson Award Australian In-house Team of the Year, at the ALB Awards;

•  Saul Cannon – General Counsel of Telstra’s Finance and Administration business unit, Melbourne, winner of the Hays Legal Award, Australasian In-house Lawyer of the Year, at the ALB Awards;

•  Chris Madden – General Counsel, UBS and his in-house legal team, Sydney, winners of the DX Solutions Award Investment Bank In-house Team of the Year, at the ALB Awards;

•  Mathew Kaley – General Counsel, Allianz and his in-house legal team, Sydney, winners of the Moray & Agnew Award Insurance In-house Team of the Year, at the ALB Awards;

•  David Cohen – General Counsel, AMP Limited and his in-house legal team, Sydney, winners of the Banking & Financial Services In-house Team of the Year, at the ALB Awards;

•  David Krasnostein – Chief General Counsel, National Australia Bank, Melbourne, winner - for the third year in a row - of the Leading In-house Counsel in Australia Award at the 2007 Asialaw In-house Counsel Awards.

 David and his team also recently won the much coveted ILO Global Counsel Award for Pro-bono work which was  presented to David in July in New York.

22 August - ACLA Announces:  New ACLA_LINK Partner - DocsCorp

ACLA is delighted to announce that DocsCorp, a global leader in PDF integration technology, is now an ACLA_LINK partner.

As part of DocsCorp's contribution to ACLA, DocsCorp will provide ACLA members with a complimentary copy of its proven pdfDocs Desktop software valid to 30th June 2008.  Members attending the ACLA National Conference in November will also be entitled to receive a copy of DocsCorp's document/contract comparison software — compareDocs.

The pdfDocs Solutions Suite software empowers corporate lawyers to solve everyday problems associated with distributing electronic documents in a format that is safe, secure and universal — the portable document format.

pdfDocs Desktop integrates into your business and document management systems to enhance processes and workflow, providing PDF creation, collation, annotation, redaction, security and digital signatures.

To take advantage of this offer, simply log on to the DocsCorp website and complete the online form.

Log on to www.docscorp.com/acla

DocsCorp also offers complimentary online product training to ACLA members. To learn more about pdfDocs Desktop, click here

To learn more about the ACLA_LINK Program click here.

21 August - ACLA Announces:  New member benefit:  free subscription to ALB (Australasian Legal Business) magazine

ACLA has reached a special agreement with the publishers of ALB (Australasian Legal Business) magazine whereby all full ACLA members can receive the magazine every month free-of- charge.

For those of you not already familiar with it, ALB magazine (see www.asianlegalonline.com for more details) is a well established and respected information source covering the legal services industry in Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world.  Aimed at senior lawyers from both the in-house and private-practice segments of the profession, it contains in-depth articles on industry trends and developments as well as reports on major transactions, firm strategies, technology and the job market.

This offer is timely in that the upcoming issue of ALB will contain the magazine’s annual “In-house 25” selection of Australasia’s leading in-house lawyers.  By signing up within the next 5 working days this will be the first issue you receive – simply click on this subscribe link, fill out your contact details and the rest will be done for you.

We trust you enjoy this member benefit over the coming years.

16 August – ACLA Announces:  Mahlab Recruitment’s Annual Survey 2007

ACLA was again pleased to support Survey 2007, Mahlab Recruitment’s annual survey of salaries and market trends.

This year Mahlab has spread its research results and conclusions over 4 booklets.  They include:

Private Practice - Australia
Private Practice - International
Corporate - including lawyers, company secretaries and contractors
Development Professionals - including marketing, human resources and knowledge management professionals

You can view Survey 2007 at www.mahlab.com.au.  Please note, in order to view the Survey 2007 you will need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat.

7 August – ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2007 – Nominations open.

As announced in the June edition of The Australian Corporate Lawyer, nominations for the 2007 ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards are now open!

This year, again, there will be two senior individual awards, the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year and the Australian Government Lawyer of the Year as well as a junior award, the Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year.  We will also again be offering, an award for the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year.  ACLA is delighted to welcome LexisNexis and MIddletons Lawyers as the major sponsors of this year’s Awards.  We thank them for their support and commitment to these prestigious Awards.

The ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards are designed to recognise excellence in the provision of legal services by in-house lawyers employed in both the corporate and government sectors. ACLA believes their wealth of knowledge and expertise should be recognised and rewarded through these annual Awards.  The presentation of the Awards will take place at the Annual Dinner which will be held during ACLA’s 2007 National Conference in the Members’ Dining Room at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), on the evening of Thursday 1 November.

We look forward to seeing you there!

To access a 2007 Nomination Form, click here.

6 August - ACLA Announces: New Zealand Seminars in Melbourne - Thursday 6 September 2007

New Zealand law firm Quigg Partners will again hold seminars in Melbourne in September on the following topics:

 - Buying and Selling a Business in New Zealand
 - Managing your New Zealand Business:  Employment and Labour Issues

If you are interested to attend these events, please register using the Registration Form.

2 August - ACLA Announces: Extension of early-bird registration date to Friday 17 August 2007 for National Conference 2007.

As you may be aware, due to construction works at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Conference venue was recently changed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground.  This and related late changes led to the delayed mail out of the ACLA National Conference 2007 brochure.

In order to ensure that all members and other persons interested in attending the Conference have an opportunity to take advantage of the early bird Conference rates, we have decided to extend the early bird registration expiration date from Tuesday 31 July to Friday 17 August

30 July - ACLA Announces:  Release of In-house Law Report 2007

ACLA's In-house Law Report 2007, prepared for ACLA by Beaton Consulting, is based on one of the largest studies carried out amongst government and corporate lawyers in Australia.  It identifies the key challenges facing in-house lawyers and how they are dealing with them. 

26 June – ACLA Announces: 2007 National Conference Program and move to new Venue

Following the announcement of major renovations at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, ACLA has moved the venue for its 2007 National Conference to the stunning new conference facilities at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).  Recently refurbished for the Commonwealth Games, the MCG offers superb function rooms set against the backdrop of the most hallowed turf in the country.  Accommodation for guests travelling from interstate for the Conference will be offered at Melbourne’s stately Hilton on the Park Hotel, just 5 minutes walk from the ground.

Befitting the exciting new venue, is our inspiring Conference theme “Circles of Influence – Inform/Involve/Inspire,” a theme intended to recognise the important role in-house counsel play in guiding the strategy and operation of their business or department.

The calibre of speakers we have been able to attract for this year’s Conference confirms the high regard in which ACLA is held.  We invite you to view the program and register now for the Conference while early-bird rates still apply.

25 June – ACLA makes submission to ALRC Privilege Inquiry

ACLA continues to closely monitor the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into client legal privilege and whether it should be abrogated or amended in any way.

In particular, ACLA is concerned that in-house counsel could in future be treated differently from other lawyers in this respect.  As well, the suggestion that corporations could lose the right to claim privilege is of great concern.

ACLA is actively assisting the ALRC through both its General Counsel Group and its Professional Issues Committee.

Following the recent publication of the ALRC’s Issues Paper and Questions List, ACLA filed the attached preliminary submission, click here to read.

31 May – ACLA Announces: Second Semester Intake for Diploma of In-house Legal Practice

Following national accreditation (except in the Northern Territory, where accreditation is still pending) the College of Law successfully launched the new Diploma of In-house Legal practice, inspired and endorsed by ACLA, on 26 February.

Over 20 students from many cities enrolled in the first semester of this exciting new program and their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

The program is of particular value to those in the early stage of their careers, and to colleagues in private practice looking to make the transition.

The second semester intake for the Diploma of Legal Practice commences on 23 July.  Take this opportunity to enroll for the Program – chick here for enrolment details.

23 April - ACLA Announces:  ALRC Privilege Inquiry - Media Release

Today's Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) media release will be of interest to all members.  Read the Media Release.

3 April - ACLA Announces National Seminar:  "Money and Metrics Matter – Communicating Value and Controlling  Costs"

ACLA is delighted to announce that following last year’s successful seminar series for senior counsel “The High Performance Legal Department”, Catalyst Consulting (Canada) and Beaton Consulting (Melbourne) have agreed to run another ACLA national seminar series for senior counsel under the above title.

This new series of half-day seminars will focus on the ‘value add’ of in-house counsel and will run in Brisbane on Wednesday, May 23, Melbourne, Thursday, May 24, Adelaide, Friday, May 25, Perth, Monday May 28, and Sydney, Tuesday, May 29.

All seminars are restricted to 25 participants and registrants will be accepted strictly on a first-come-first-served basis. Registration form.

2 April – Reminder: Professional Indemnity Cover for In-house Lawyers

ACLA, through Marsh Pty Ltd, has obtained a new Professional Indemnity Insurance product for in-house legal counsel in response to their growing concern over potential liabilities and obligations.

Asia Pacific Head for Financial & Professional Services (FINPRO) at Marsh, Ray Armstrong, says the new Corporate Lawyers Insurance protection arranged by Marsh will fill an important insurance gap in the legal profession.

“Previously, there has been little, if any, insurance cover for in-house lawyers in Australia. Compulsory insurance for solicitors in private practice will not cover all the potential liabilities of in-house lawyers.

“In-house counsel are playing an increasingly important advisory role within organisations and commercial negotiations and this exposes them to greater liability,” Ray said.

The policy, underwritten by a leading Lloyds of London syndicate, operates on an individual basis, providing personal ‘sleep at night’ protection. It comes with a limit of indemnity of $1m and sub-limit for legal costs of $250,000 in all cases.

The product covers pro bono work and is ideal for in-house lawyers sitting on charitable boards.

Coverage is for the defence of actions brought against in-house counsel by third parties (not the in-house lawyer’s employer or personnel).

For more information, including how to apply for Corporate Lawyers Insurance, contact Justin Meyer at Marsh on ph. 03 9603 2208.

See: Specimen Policy , Proposal Form and Premium Table

21 February- ACLA Announces Legal Professional Privilege and Confidentiality Specialist Course in Hobart.

ACLA, the Law Society of Tasmania and AMPLA: The Resources and Energy Law Association will hold a specialist course on the topic of legal professional privilege and the challenges of confidentiality in a rapidly changing legal, commercial and political environment in Hobart on Friday16 March. 

This course will present the current state of the law on legal professional privilege and where it is heading, illustrated by some important recent cases and specialist discussion on particular problems and practical issues.

Presenters and Panelists include: Keith Steele, Head of Litigation, Freehills and author of the chapter Legal Privilege and Confidentiality in Australia in the IBA-sponsored book Privilege and Confidentiality: An International Handbook.  Peter Tree SC Derwent & Tamar Chambers, Hobart;  Peter Holden Director, Legal Affairs, Newmont Mining Corporation Asia Pacific.  Hypothetical Moderator will be Justice Alan Blow, Tasmanian Supreme Court. 

See Upcoming Events for full programme and registration form.

16 January -  ACLA Announces Diploma of In-house Legal Practice - Enrolments now open.

You will be aware that ACLA has been working with the College of Law over the last 12 months or so towards the launch of this exciting new program.

The national accreditation is virtually complete (only the Northern Territory is outstanding and that is expected shortly) and the first course will commence on 26 February 2007, with enrolments now available.  Click here for more details.

This is an exciting development for in-house lawyers in Australia, and one that ACLA has been looking forward to for some little while.  It will be of particular value to those in the early stages of their career, and to colleagues in private practice looking to make the transition. Please tell your colleagues – including those in private practice who might be interested.

2006 - What's New

19 December - ACLA Announces National Conference 2006 Documentation Pack Offer

Building on the success of the past eleven years, ACLA’s National Conference 2006 on 2-3 November in Sydney brought together leading players and expert speakers.  These speakers have provided comprehensive papers in support of the sessions they presented.  For members who where unable to attend the National Conference, ACLA has prepared a document pack consisting of 9 papers plus 16 PowerPoint presentations in both hardcopy and CD formats for $300 (inc GST) for both.  If you wish to order this documentation pack download an order form or contact LexisNexis Customer Relations on 1880 772 77

2 November  - ACLA Announces Winners of the 2006 Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards.

ACLA is delighted to announce the Winners of its 2006 Awards, which were presented at its Annual National Conference Dinner on Thursday, 2 November. The winners are:

Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year:

Mr Will Irving, Group General Counsel, Telstra Corporation Limited

Australian Government Lawyer of the Year:

Mr George Kriz, Chief Lawyer, Department of Education and Training

Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year:

Ms Bronwyn Magdulski, Corporate Lawyer, Country Energy

Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year:

St John of God Health Care Inc

Read the Judges' Notes, for more information on the winners.

ACLA congratulates the winners and thanks all those who participated in this year’s event.  Certificates of Merit will be presented to all short-listed candidates in each Awards category shortly.

2 November -  ACLA Announces the Launch of National Mentoring Program

As part of its commitment to fostering the excellence of in-house lawyers, ACLA is pleased to announce the launch of the ACLA National Mentoring Program, commencing in 2007.  Building on a successful program piloted by the Victorian Division, ACLA is now introducing mentoring as a benefit of membership across the Divisions.  In 2007 the program will continue in Victoria and will also roll-out in New South Wales with other ACLA Division prgorams  being rolled-out in response to member demand and the availability of a suitable pool of mentors and mentees. 

Register your interest for 2007 by sending your contact details by email to mentoring@acla.com.au..  National Program Advisor, Sue Zablud will contact you to commence the application process for 2007.

31 October - ACLA attends ACC 2006 Annual Meeting

A small delegation from ACLA attended the Annual Meeting of the Association of Corporate Counsel (USA) in San Diego during October.

The ACC has over 20,000 members from the US in-house counsel community.  Its Annual Meeting is attended by over 2,000 delegates.  The Meeting offers a comprehensive range of general sessions and a tailored Chief Legal Officer program over 2 and a half days.

The ACC has a small but growing interest in international legal issues.  Through an association with ACLA and the Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand (CLANZ), this growing interest is demonstrated by an ongoing invitation to ACLA and CLANZ to present at the ACC Annual Meeting on a topic of international interest to US-based in-house lawyers.  Attendance at the Meeting is sponsored by leading Australian law firm Minter Ellison, which also co-ordinates and participates in the presentation.

Over 30 countries were represented at this year’s Annual Meeting. The ACC makes ACLA and CLANZ feel very welcome, with a number of references made to us on meeting-wide occasions and many invitations extended to us to attend social events.

International AML presentation

The topic of this year’s joint presentation was International Anti Money Laundering.

The presentation was chaired by Ross Freeman, a partner of Minter Ellison’s Melbourne office, with Rebecca Holbrook, General Counsel of Fisher & Paykel (NZ), and Bill Brown, Group General Manager, Legal & Regulatory of Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. (a former ACLA Director and Queensland Division President) as the panellists.
 
Ross Freeman presented generally on AML in the international environment, noting that reforms in Australia and other countries in the region are based on the principles set out in the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force.

Rebecca Holbrook presented specifically on NZ and referred to her experience in the AML space arising from a cross border acquisition by her company in Italy.

Bill Brown presented on the Australian law reform process in AML and his experience as an in-house lawyer in that process.  As well he gave some tips for US in-house lawyers whose companies might be impacted by the new laws, as well as discussing a case study on the difficulties of applying the law in the real world.

There were about 35 attendees, out of over 100 registrants, for the presentation, which was extremely well received.

ACLA thank Minter Ellison for its generosity and support for this program

29 September - ACLA Announces extension of its 2006 Awards Nomination Date

Due to continuing interest and in order to allow members more time to complete the required formalities, the ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2006 Judging Panel has decided to extend the Closing Date for nominations for this year's ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards is to be extended by two more weeks - until Friday, October 13 2006.
 
There are two senior Awards this year: the Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year Award and The Australian Government Lawyer of the Year Award. There is also a junior Award: The Australian Corporate Lawyer, Young Achiever of the Year Award and a teams Award, the Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year Award.   The presentation of all four Awards will take place on Thursday, 3 November 2006 at ACLA's National Conference Dinner, which will be held at the Sheraton-on-the-Park Hotel in Sydney.
 
A simplified nomination procedure is in place so feel free to nominate a suitable candidate, perhaps yourself or your legal team, for one of these prestigious Awards.

Awards Nomination Form

27 September 2006 - ACLA Announces the ACLA Linex Alerter - new weekly update service

 ACLA is pleased to announce the launch today of a new information service provided by Linex Legal .The service is available for free to all ACLA members. It brings together major legal articles and reviews published each week by leading law firm practitioners. There are 3 elements to the service:

1. An Email Alerter consisting of a selection of the most relevant legal articles and reviews for in-house counsel published in the previous week. (see http://www.linexlegal.com/ACLAAlerter.php for an example).  Members must register with Linex Legal to receive the Email Alerter. 
 
2. A searchable database of legal articles and reviews published by Australia's leading law firms and other relevant organisations.  This database is accessible from the Linex Legal website (www.linexlegal.com) and also from the members' section of the ACLA website. 

3. An XML feed on the members' section of the ACLA site consisting of links to the most recently published legal articles and reviews.

To register for the Email Alerter please visit http://www.linexlegal.com/register_step1.php.  You must indicate that you are a member of ACLA during the registration process to benefit from the free service.
 
If you have any queries about the service please contact editor@linexlegal.com

4 September 2006 – ACLA Submission on National Profession Model Rules Project

ACLA has filed a submission with the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General referring to the provisions of the Model Bill dated 4 April 2006.

The submission addresses five key areas of concern for in-house lawyers:

1. Need for practising certificates
2. Supervised legal practice
3. Use of the title "Senior Counsel'
4. Application of the Fidelity Fund provisions/P.I Insurance
5. Uniformity in implementation of the Bill across Australia.

ACLA continues to monitor the project of behalf of members.  ACLA Submission.

24 August 2006 – ACLA On-line Employment Register goes ‘live’

ACLA today launches a new nationwide on-line service for members – the ACLA On-line Employment Register.

The new service allows members seeking in-house positions to post their résumés free-of-charge to our on-site Résumé Board where they can be inspected by employers and recruitment agencies.  Members may also freely search the on-site Job Board where such organisations post in-house vacancies.

For a small fee, employers and agencies can register their in-house vacancies on the web site in four categories:  full-time, part-time, contract and supervised training.  A further fee is payable by the organisation if a successful placement is made.

Employers and recruitment agencies wishing to use this new service should register with us using the on-line Registration Form.

For more details read the brochure.

If you have any questions, please contact the ACLA Member Services Manager.

25 July 2006 – ACLA Australian in-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2006 – Nominations open.

As announced in the June edition of The Australian Corporate Lawyer, nominations for the 2006 ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards are now open!

Nominations can be made in four categories:

• Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year
• Australian Government Lawyer of the Year
• Australian In-house Lawyer Young Achiever of the Year
• Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year

The 2006 Awards will be presented at ACLA’s National Conference Dinner at the Sheraton-on-the-Park Hotel, Sydney on Thursday 2 November.  Be there!  Register for the Dinner now.

Nominations close 30 September 2006!  Download a Nomination Form.

July 21 - ACLA Announces New Professional Indemnity Cover for In-house Lawyers

ACLA and its insurance broker Marsh Pty Ltd are delighted to announce a “first” on the Australian insurance market place.

Resource Underwriting Pacific Pty Limited has agreed to offer a special Professional Indemnity cover for Australia’s in-house lawyers with the following features:

• a uniform policy limit of $1,000,000 per policy
• an automatic reinstatement of the limit for all insureds
• pro bono work cover applicable to all policies
• a sub-limit for legal costs of $250,000 in all cases
• a single excess (deductible) of $2,500

The new policy covers practice in Australia and New Zealand and can be taken up at any time but the policies have a uniform expiry date of 30 June each year.  The premium payable depends in each case on the income of the insured but ACLA members are entitled to a discount of 10% on the quoted premiums at all levels.

A package of materials about the new policy will be mailed to all full members of ACLA shortly.

See: Specimen Policy , Proposal Form and Premium Table

July 3 - ACLA announces new Legal Update Service from Linex

ACLA has signed an agreement with Linex Legal (UK) under which Linex will provide a new on-line legal update service for ACLA members.  The new service is sourced from legal articles, updates and newsletters published by leading Australian law firms and will be available on-line to members via the ACLA website.

The new service is expected to commence within a few weeks. Press Release.

June 30 - ACLA Victorian Division announces 'New to In-house Practice' Initiative

The Executive Committee of the Victorian Division of ACLA has been working on some ideas to assist lawyers who are new to in-house practice. As part of this, they intend to hold a series of monthly discussion group meetings for new practitioners, the first of which will be held at Spotless Services, Level 3, 350 Queen Street, Melbourne, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday 12 July.  See upcoming events for more details.

The format for this event will involve an introduction by the host, David Patience, Corporate Legal Manager for Spotless, (formerly from Mallesons Stephen Jaques) followed by a brief talk by a senior in-house lawyer on a matter of topical interest. The floor will then be thrown open to discussion on that topic and other practical issues faced by in-house counsel.

The Division envisages that the sessions will be very informal and provide a great opportunity for networking with fellow in-house lawyers as well as an opportunity to learn through swapping war stories. The session should be fun as well as an opportunity to learn from others who have “been there and done that” and it will enable attendees to catch up with their peers.

As part of the New to In-house Practice initiative ACLA has on-site  a number of materials for new practitioners to read in the members only area of the  new to In-house section.

June 30 - ACLA announces Chief Legal Officer Report 2006

Chief Legal Officer Report 2006 - extensive new report on the metrics of managing the legal function and the use of lawyers in New Zealand, with information equally applicable for Australian legal departments and law firms. For more information and to purchase, with discounts for multiple copies, see: www.teamfactors.com/research.htm

June 9 - ACLA announces winners of its 2006 May Member get Member Promotion

Simone Gasparini (Brookes) Solicitor, Retail Brands with Coles Myer Ltd in Victoria, won the draw for a travel voucher valued at $2,500 from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm Travel, in the ACLA inaugural May Member-get-Member Promotion.  The voucher is valid for travel before 30 June 2007.  Enjoy your trip Simone!

Simon Brookes, Deputy Group General Counsel at Telstra Corporation in New South Wales won the draw for the member who signed up the greatest number of new members.  His prize is a brand new Compaq Presario Notebook PC valued at $1,100.00.  Simon has advised that he plans to use the prize to raise money for charity.

ACLA sincerely congratulates Simone and Simon on their respective wins and thanks all those members who took the time and trouble to participate in this inaugural Promotion, which achieved significant success.

We hope all our new members enjoy and value their membership of ACLA.

ACLA’s Member get Member promotion permit nos.: NSW:  TPL06/4600, SA:  T06/1679, ACT:  TP 06/01756

May 25 - ACLA announces new Corporate Counsel/Law Firm Relationship Survey

May 8 - ACLA Announces Date for its National Conference 2006!

ACLA's 2006 National Conference will be held at the Sheraton on the Park Hotel in Sydney, on Thursday and Friday November 2-3.  See the registration form.

May 1 - ACLA Announces "Member-get-Member" National Membership Promotion

Join up a friend and WIN a BREAK AWAY!

As members know, ACLA offers a range of benefits and services to its members that are not available from any other source.  Our membership fee of $150 (inc GST) per year it is one of the cheapest professional member subscriptions available.

Yet, of the approximately 9,000 in-house lawyers in the country, only about 2,000 are currently full ACLA members.

We want to enlist your help to bring the benefits of ACLA membership to your friends and colleagues who work in-house.  With increased membership, ACLA will be better able to represent the in-house sector and to speak with authority on the professional issues affecting in-house lawyers.

Every ACLA member who ‘signs up a friend’ as an ACLA full member during May using the special Membership Application Form, will go into a draw for a travel voucher from ACLA’s travel agent, FCm travel, worth $2,500.00 *.  At the time of writing, this is sufficient for two return economy flights to Asia - a great chance for a break away!

In addition, the ACLA member who signs up the greatest number of new full members during May will win a brand new Compaq Presario Notebook PC valued at $1,110.00* – that’s right! Right off the shelf!

The travel voucher winner will be drawn from names in a barrel.  If more than one member signs up the greatest number of new full members, the PC winners' name will also be drawn from a barrel.  Draws will take place at 10am on Monday 5 June 2006 at the National Office, Suite 2, Level 1, 620 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Winners will be notified in writing, and an announcement of the winners names will appear in the public notices of The Australian Newspaper, on Friday 9 June 2006.  Please note: ACLA Directors, Executive Committee Members and Staff are not eligible to enter this promotion. 

In the event that the prizes are unclaimed after 3 months from the original draw date, a re-draw of unclaimed prizes will occur on 11 September 2006.

Help your professional association to expand and grow. Get your in-house friends and colleagues to join ACLA today. Use the special Membership Application Form – and become a winner!

Authorised under NSW Permit No.  TPL 06/04600 
Authorised under SA Permit No. T06/1679
Authorised under ACT Permit No.   TP 06/01756

*conditions apply; see Application form

May 1 - New Website - Email from Bruce Brown, National President

I am delighted to inform you that ACLA is now “on-line” with a brand new, website at www.acla.com.au.

A special feature of the new site, exclusive for members, is free access to a new, daily update news service – “LegalBix” – sourced from Australia’s leading daily newspapers and the specialist legal press.  The service is provided to us by the ABIX Division of LexisNexis.  This outstanding new resource gives ACLA members real-time news about what is happening in the legal space in Australia and the region.

Another great new feature of the new site is the provision on the site of secure discussion forums for members – and for certain member segments.  Here is a place where you can swap your ideas and “war-stories” with your peers – and post relevant documents.

The new ACLA website comes packaged in a complete new “look and feel” and gives members the convenience of paying their membership subscriptions – and admission charges for most ACLA events - directly on line.  Other new features include a password reminder system, self-update process for membership details and for the first time, a full search facility that gives easy access to everything on the site.

A precedent library and an employment register for members seeking employment in in-house roles are additional features, which will also go “live” shortly.

The new ACLA website is designed to enhance in-house effectiveness and efficiency and much thought has gone into its design and features.  We welcome your feedback!

April 3 - ACLA, CLANZ and Minter Ellison to present to ACC Annual Meeting 2006

Bill Brown, ACLA Queensland Division President and national Director, General Manager- Legal, Casino Division of Tabcorp Holdings Limited; Rebecca Holbrook, General Counsel of Fisher & Paykel Appliances (New Zealand) and Ross Freeman from the Melbourne office of the national law firm /session sponsor, Minter Ellison will make up the team to present at this year's Annual Meeting of the Association of Corporate Counsel - America (ACC) in San Diego (USA) in October.   The topic of the presentation is International Anti-Money Laundering.

The ACC is the largest single association of in-house counsel in the world with over 19,000 members.  The Annual Meeting attracts well over 2,000 delegates.

March 20 - ACLA and the College of Law release Graduate Diploma of In-house Legal Practice program

Last year ACLA and the College of Law signed an agreement under which they agreed to work together to develop a Graduate Diploma of In-house Legal Practice, which will combine on-line and face-to-face instruction. The Diploma course is still subject to formal accreditation by the higher education authorities. The course is planned to commence in the first half of 2007 (see Press Release). An outline of the course program is now available.

February 15 - Results of ACLA 2006 Membership Survey Released

The ACLA 2006 Membership Survey, prepared for ACLA by Beaton Consulting, was undertaken as part of the larger Annual Professions Study 2006. The detailed findings of the Survey form a significant input into ACLA's strategic and business planning process and are therefore confidential. The Survey documents members' perceptions of ACLA's performance and benchmarks ACLA against peer organisations in the legal sector.  A  Summary of Survey outcomes, is on-site. 
 

2005  - What's New

ACLA Goes to Washington

ACLA Participates in International Panel Discussion at US Conference

In November 2005, ACLA was represented at an international panel session at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Annual Meeting in Washington.

 Bruce Brown,  ACLA's National President, was one of five participants in the panel session. The others were:

• Darren Gardner, the San Francisco Managing Partner of Minter Ellison and MC for the session;
• Bruno Cova, (Italy) the former Chief Counsel to the International Administrator of the Parmalat group of companies;
• Ron Pol, (New Zealand) director of TeamFactors.com and former President of CLANZ;
• Jill Schatz, (Canada), General Counsel of ONX Enterprise Solutions.

The topic was ‘Dealing with the Regulators — An International Perspective’. The panel gave attendees their insights into how regulators operated overseas, and how U.S. based companies should go about dealing with them. All speakers agreed that, although regulators generally tended to operate in apparently similar manners, regardless of the country or industry that was being regulated, the most effective way for U.S. general counsel to deal with them was by having someone ‘on the ground’ in the relevant country.

This was because local culture and setting were critical, and too many U.S. companies had made the mistake in the past of assuming that what worked in one country would always work in another.

Examples were given of how even seemingly common laws in Australia and New Zealand, and between European countries and the U.S. in the competition law area had led to completely different outcomes because of different appeal procedures and subtle variations in statutory criteria. In particular, even the Canadian regulatory environment was very different to that of the U.S., although many U.S. based companies assumed there was a seamless environment.

Even the ability of a company to gain access to a senior level decision maker in an overseas regulatory agency (such as a Commissioner) can vary significantly between countries and agencies, with the door often being closed.

The panel provided advice as to what U.S. general counsel should be looking for in their local representative. They will generally want to look for someone who:

• ‘Knows their stuff’ (applicable local laws and U.S. laws, and how the client company operates)
• Knows how the local regulator thinks and operates;
• Is always available for the regulator to consult with; and
• Can deal with the matter in a seamless manner (regulators don’t like having to deal with many players on various parts of the same exercise).

Dealing with multiple regulators was a particularly hot topic. Bruno Cova described in detail the challenges that were faced in having to liaise with up to five regulators in each country, in respect of an administration that traversed up to fifteen countries. Strategic management of the entire project was paramount, particularly because many of those regulatory agencies operated in slightly different ways to each other.

Attendees at the session were particularly interested in discussing the nature of regulatory agencies in Eastern Europe, which many U.S. companies were now dealing with for the first time, and regulators in Asia (particularly China).

ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer of the Year Awards 2005 - The Winners!

ACLA is pleased to announce that the winners of the prestigious 2005 Awards for excellence in in-house practice are:

ACLA Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year:

Helen Conway - Caltex

ACLA Australian Government Lawyer of the Year:

Susan Pryde - Australian Government Solicitor (Melb)

ACLA Australian In-house Lawyer, Young Achiever of the Year:

Saul Cannon - Telstra

ACLA congratulates the winners and the short-listed nominees. We thank all participants and nominators.

To read what the judges thought of the winners, visit Judges' Notes 2005.

ACLA Student Membership Package

ACLA has just announced a new “Student Membership Package. 

The ACLA Student Membership Package will provide students with all the benefits offered to our Associate Members. 

ACLA membership gives Students many valuable resource tools including our quarterly journal The Australian Corporate Lawyer and access to the “members only” area of our website (which houses the on-line Practice Manual and our exclusive Member Directory).  We host regular education seminars and presentations which student members will be able to attend at discounted rates

In addition ACLA is offering the following excellent benefits to its student members:

• Reduced ACLA membership fee ($50.00 inc GST)
• Free subscription to “Lawyers Weekly” published by Lexis Nexis
• Reduced subscription to “ACC Docket” (US $90), the journal of America’s Association of Corporate Counsel (conditions apply)
• Discounts on registration fees for ACLA events * (20%)
• $250 (inc GST) registration fee for ACLA’s National Conference. +
  (conditions apply)

If you wish to join ACLA as a Student Member please contact Louise Trewarne our Member Services Manager on 1300 558 550 or email membership@acla.com.au

* - Does not include ACLA’s National Conference
    - Subject to sponsor approval, where applicable

 +   Does not include meals, sponsored events or Conference Dinner.

In-House Law Report 2005

ACLA's In-House Law Report 2005, prepared for ACLA by  Beaton Consulting, is based on one of the largest studies carried out amongst government and corporate lawyers in Australia. It identifies the key challenges facing in-house lawyers and how they are dealing with them.

ACLA Adopts Equal Opportunity Briefing Guidelines

The Law Council of Australia has produced a document on Policies and Guidelines — Equal Opportunity, Model Equal Opportunity Briefing Policy for Female Barristers and Advocates.

ACLA has produced additional guidelines for its members on Equal Opportunity.

2004 - What's New

ACLA_LINK Program

ACLA_LINK is a program that allows selected suppliers of products and services - those that assist in-house lawyers to work more effectively and efficiently - to introduce and/or promote them to the in-house environment.

The program offers exciting benefits to ACLA members.

Meet our approved suppliers and see the range of services and benefits they offer.

LexisNexis Corporate Law Alert Service

ACLA is pleased to announce that LexisNexis (LN), one of ACLA's major sponsors, has offered to provide free of charge to members a "Corporate Law Alert" service in the form of an email 10 times each year. You should receive the first such alert service email on 20 September, 2004 and thereafter normally in the last week of the month. The emails will contain a summary of content extracted from two of LN's subscriber newsletters, namely, Inhouse Counsel and Corporation Practice. A hyperlink will be provided to one entire article summarised in the alert service. Members who wish to subscribe to either newsletter will be able to do so at a discount of 10% to normal retail price. Alternatively, members will be able to purchase a single issue of a newsletter if desired.

The main benefits for ACLA members are:

• up-to-date, relevant corporate law information without cost through a regular email alert service
• 10% discount on full year subscriptions to the LN newsletters if desired
• option for members to purchase single issues of a relevant newsletter if they wish 

Agreement with ACC for Australian and New Zealand In-House Counsel

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the US in-house bar association, a specialty bar association comprised solely of attorneys who practice law in corporations and other private sector organisations. ACC's network includes 46 Chapters and 14 Committees. Founded in 1982, ACC has grown to over 18,000 members from 53 countries, representing over 7,500 organisations. ACC provides programs and resources to further your professional education and expand your in-house network. Visit www.acca.com to find out how ACC helps in-house lawyers do their job better.

CLANZ was established in 1987 to meet the needs of corporate and government lawyers in New Zealand and recognizes the distinct interests and professional needs of in-house counsel. CLANZ aims to promote the value of in-house lawyers and demonstrate their multi-faceted roles, identify and produce professional development opportunities, encourage networking opportunities and provide current information on national and international trends affecting the in-house community. To learn more about becoming a CLANZ member, visit www.clanz.org or email info@clanz.org.

As a benefit of full membership of ACLA and CLANZ, in-house counsel in Australia and New Zealand can now access ACC's online resources for a nominal cost. These resources include:

• The Virtual Library, which gives you 24 hour a day access to articles, checklists, policies and other resources relating to issues that affect all in-house counsel. The resources on U.S. law are especially useful for Australasian organisations with a U.S. presence or pending transactions.
• Online access to the ACC Docket. This award-winning monthly magazine contains 3-6 full-length feature articles, plus dozens of smaller articles and news, all focused exclusively for in-house counsel.
• Surveys, statistics, and polls. These are especially valuable for legal department improvements and benchmarking.
• Inhouse Jobline for those with international career aspirations.
• Networks of in-house counsel around the world segmented by locale and by practice area. These can help you identify experienced counsel for major transactions or other international needs.
• Material specifically geared to the needs of Chief Legal Officers.
• Advocacy resources, especially in the areas of corporate governance, ethics, professionalism, and multi-disciplinary practices.
• MemberToMember allows you to tap into the expertise of your peers through ACC's network of in-house volunteers who provide advice about legal issues, such as retaining local counsel, benchmarking, corporate forms, policies, and procedures. .
• InfoPAKS , which save you time and money. Access more than 30 InfoPAKS that include sample forms, policies, checklists, helpful websites, and case law on conflicts and waivers, records retention, outside counsel management, technology, and much more.
• ACC's Alliance partnerships include leading legal vendors who provide products and services, at discounted rates, designed to help you better manage your time, workload, and budget.
• Online access to Global Counsel magazine, the monthly journal of Practical Law Company, which features articles and benchmarking surveys on law department management, articles on cross border issues, and transactions to name a few.

These resources are normally available exclusively to ACC members, and are now also available to full in-house counsel members of ACLA and CLANZ at a heavily discounted rate as a benefit of ACLA or CLANZ membership.

In addition, a subscription to ACC Online will entitle you to ACC member rates for the ACC Annual Meeting - traditionally the largest gathering of in-house counsel in the world. There is normally an attendance of more than 2,500 in-house lawyers from Fortune 500 companies and from other organizations, representing the U.S. and 20 other countries.

Ethics for In-House Counsel Handbook

The new edition of the highly regarded Ethics for In-House Counsel Handbook is now available in the members Reading Room. 

Please use the link to access this important reference guide. Updated since the first edition, the relaunched second edition contains a substantial new section for public sector lawyers and updated commentary on important topics such as whistle-blowing.

ACLA and CLANZ are very grateful to St James Ethics Centre and Minter Ellison for their involvement and ongoing support of the Ethics Handbook.