CRISIS in the C-Suite – A Playbook for In-House Counsel

Overview (Program Summary)

8:30 – 9:00 am PT | Registration & Breakfast 
9:00 – 10 am PT | Program

Please join ACC-San Diego and Mintz for an interactive discussion regarding the challenges in-house attorneys face as they advise their companies and business partners on responding to crisis events that have direct consequences for their various stakeholders. Increasingly, crisis events are a significant part of the work of general counsels and their teams – both avoiding them from a proactive compliance standpoint as well as developing effective reactive strategies. Our panel will present, in an iterative, moderated “docudrama” format, the approach, roles, responsibilities, and best practices associated with responding to a corporate crisis that unfolds in real time.
 
Fact pattern: A board member of public company NMC, Inc. (“Not My Circus,” a key manufacturer of widgets used in everything from cars to hair dryers to wind turbines) receives an anonymous letter accusing NMC’s CEO of engaging in a history of inappropriate personal relationships with her subordinates. The letter demands that the company send disclosable dollars — or unsavory material would be unleashed on every popular social media platform. The board member forwards the letter to company counsel (you). What you do next will impact the board, the company, employees, customers, potentially certain government agencies, and your career. Insights will be shared on the decision-making and pitfalls around these types of challenges and how various companies create constructs to include diverse stakeholder interests.
 
Join us as we outline a legal, regulatory, and PR playbook for in-house counsel regarding how to respond to a C-suite crisis. Specific topics to be covered include:

1. PR management in light of attorney-client privilege
2. Governance guides for communications with the board
3. The framework for the legal analysis
4. Disclosure issues for public and private companies
5. Who needs to be involved (and why)
6. Charters, bylaws, indemnification, and other corporate basics
7. Notification to insurers (which ones, why, and when)

Aubrey Marlow | [email protected]