They’re going to see smoke weeks or
months before you do.”
Chen emphasized the importance of
training staff to respond to incidents of
data security. Getting caught off guard is
a surefire way to fail as general counsel.
“There is nothing worse than getting a call at 2 a.m. on a holiday saying ‘we don’t know what happened,’”
she exclaims.
In the afternoon, attendees participated in substantive sessions
on cyber-attack damage, emerging
security technologies, and post-breach
law enforcement interactions. Sessions
provided guests with the opportunity
to engage on a more personal level
with cybersecurity professionals that
are experts in their field.
The event closed with a large-scale
interactive exercise, in which guests
were given a specific set of cybersecurity circumstances and were then
asked to use skills learned form the
summit to react. In-house counsel
were prompted with incidents of ran-somware attacks, extortion, and stolen
data dumps.
“Just because you’re a victim, doesn’t
mean that’s your only role. You’re in
a position of having to defend your
actions in the courtrooms, before regu-
lators, and in the media. You have to
be prepared,” says moderator Edward
McAndrew, partner, Ballard Spahr LLP.
The ACC Foundation Cybersecurity
Summit was a huge success because it
provided tangible, real-world strate-
gies for how to mitigate and respond
to a data breach. For more information
about the ACC Foundation, visit www.
acc-foundation.com.
ACC Chicago Holds Ethics CLE
Luncheon with New Sponsor
On January 18, the ACC Chicago
Chapter hosted an ever-popular ethics CLE luncheon with a brand new
sponsor, Shook, Hardy & Bacon. The
program was presented to a packed
house of over 100 in-house counsel at
Petterino’s in downtown Chicago.
The panel addressed myriad
privilege issues, including privilege
ownership and jurisdictional considerations. The dynamic program included
personal experiences and best practices
for protecting your privilege and how
to keep it under the legal umbrella,
rather than business advice.
At the end of the day, the role of
in-house counsel is to advise and give
guidance. Ultimately, however, busi-
ness decisions are often out of their
hands. A key takeaway from the event
was to discourage using “reply all” or
email chains, as you keep more control
and save dollars and time down the
road. If you can’t find a request for
legal advice — proceed with caution.
Rephrase your response to questions in
a strictly legal manner. Also, con-
sider using a product that turns legal
requests into IT tickets — it creates
segregation and assumes privilege as a
legal issue.
For expanded advice and more
information, the program material is
available on the ACC Chicago website:
www.acc.com/chapters/chic/program-
materials.cfm.
ACC Europe Presents Contracts
and Disputes Seminar in Geneva
On February 2, ACC Europe held a
contracts and disputes conference in
Geneva, Switzerland. The all-day event
— which focused in Med Tech and
Bio Tech — brought members from
around the region to discuss pertinent
legal issues affecting in-house counsel
working in the medical field.
The event began with a discussion
of The Human Brain Project, which
aims to put a cutting-edge, ICT-based research infrastructure for
brain research. Based in
Europe, the organization
Registration at the ACC Foundation Cybersecurity Summit. Juana Barrera, associate general counsel, US Foods; and Victor
Gonzales, assistant general counsel, Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Illinois, pose for pictures at the ACC Chicago Ethics CLE
Luncheon.
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