Law Seminars International Presents

An Important Advanced Conference On

Employment Law for the Technology Industry

October 25 & 26, 2004
Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel in Palo Alto, CA
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Who Should Order Homestudy

Private practice attorneys, in-house counsel, CFO’s, COO’s and Human Resource professionals

Why Order

Now more than ever, unwary employers can find themselves embroiled in complex employment litigation, facing significant liability and attorneys fees. Often such cases start with one seemingly trivial employee relations matter that grows into a class action or representative action under the ever-broadening unfair competition laws. The rules have changed and the stakes are higher when dealing with employees who "blow the whistle"; when determining which employees receive overtime pay; and when investigating claims of workplace misconduct. Many employment policies that previously served employers well now need modification. Employment practices previously unchallenged now face attack. This two-day seminar is designed to provide employers, particularly in the technology industry, the knowledge and the tools to avoid legal landmines without crippling their ability to run their business. Our esteemed faculty, which includes in-house counsel, outside counsel and experienced business people, will offer state-of-the-art, practical advice on the key employment law issues every employer must understand and address.

What You Will Learn

- Current Benchmarking Standards - Minimizing and Handling Stress Claims - The Current Status of Workplace Harassment - The Rise of the Whistleblower - The Perils of Section 17200 Claims - Ensuring E-mail/Electronic Documents Don’t Come Back to Haunt You - Changes to Make to Your Employment Policy Right Now - Employee Privacy vs. Employer Security Needs - Special Considerations When Hiring from Competitors or When Competitors Hire fromYou - Insight into the Mind of the Plaintiff’s Lawyer when Handling Employment Claims

Agenda

Monday, October 25, 2004
8:00 am Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30 am Introduction and Overview
  Shawna M. Swanson, Esq., Program Co-chair, Partner
 Fenwick & West LLP / San Francisco, CA
  Patricia Woolcock, Program Co-chair, Principal
 Jackson Hole Group / San Francisco, CA
8:45 am Benchmarking: Identifying the Current Standards
  Identifying "the norm" for stock option grants, severance pay to rank and file employees, severance pay to executives, employment agreements for executives, and domestic partner benefits; identifying resources for benchmarking
  Stewart Gill, Associate
 The Jackson Hole Group / San Francisco, CA
  Scott T. McCall, Esq.
 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati / Palo Alto, CA
9:30 am Minimizing and Handling Stress Claims
  Steps to prevent employees from feeling the need to take "mental health" leaves of absence
  Patricia Woolcock, Program Co-chair
 The Jackson Hole Group / San Francisco, CA
  Navigating the web of laws governing leaves of absence including ADA, workers compensation, FMLA/CFRA, disability insurance policies and state disability
  Shawna M. Swanson, Esq., Program Co-chair
 Fenwick & West LLP / San Francisco, CA
10:45 am Break
11:00 am Workplace Harassment 2004: The Rules and the Claims have Changed
  Major changes in the laws governing sexual and other workplace harassment; importance of the "McGinnis" defense
  Rebecca Speer, Esq., Founder and Principal
 Speer Associates / San Francisco, CA
  Preventing the "new breed" of harassment claims
  Rhoma Young, Principal
 Rhoma Young and Associates / Oakland, CA
12:15 pm Lunch (on your own)
1:30 pm The Rise Of The Whistleblower
  Update on new developments in the law; steps to prevent claims from occurring; creating a record to help defend claims once alleged
  Victor Schacter, Esq.
 Fenwick & West LLP / Mountain View, CA
  Lisa P. Sullivan, Esq., Asst. Gen. Counsel
 Intuit Inc. / Mountain View, CA
3:00 pm Break
3:15 pm The Perils of Section 17200 Claims
  Preventing section 17200 "unfair competition" claims from arising: what employers need to know; why section 17200 claims are extremely expensive to defend; how section 17200 is used to augment employment claims
  Thomas E. Duckworth, Esq.
 Otis, Canli & Duckworth LLP / San Francisco, CA
  Robert S. Shwarts, Esq.
 Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP / San Francisco, CA
5:00 pm End of Day

Tuesday, October 26, 2004
8:30 am Introduction and Overview
  Shawna M. Swanson, Esq., Program Co-chair, Partner
 Fenwick & West LLP / San Francisco, CA
  Patricia Woolcock, Program Co-chair, Principal
 The Jackson Hole Group / San Francisco, CA
8:45 am Ensuring E-mail and Other Electronic Documents Don’t Come Back to Haunt You
  Best practices of document retention/destruction policies; a sobering look at what comes out in discovery; examples of problematic communications and how they affect litigation; how to train employees to avoid creating the "smoking gun"
  Lee Curtis, Senior Managing Director
 CoreFacts, LLC / Newport Beach, CA
  Thomas O. Moyer, Esq., Senior Corporate Counsel
 Siebel Systems, Inc. / San Mateo, CA
9:45 am Changes to Make to Your Employment Policies Right Now
  The biggest mistakes employers make in their policies and communications to employees
  Geralynn Patellaro, Esq., President
 Building a Better Workplace / San Jose, CA
  Common policies employers must modify in light of recent legal developments and new insights
  Melinda S. Riechert, Esq.
 Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP / Palo Alto, CA
10:30 am Break
10:45 am Privacy vs. Security: The Workplace as the Battleground
  How to balance security needs against employees’ right to privacy; state of the art methods of monitoring employees and the advantages and risks inherent in each
  Emily Q. Freeman, Senior Vice President
 JLT USA / San Francisco, CA
  Francoise Gilbert, Esq.
 IT Law Group / Palo Alto, CA
12:00 pm Lunch (on your own)
1:15 pm Special Considerations When Hiring from Competitors or When Competitors Hire from You
  Avoiding/responding to employee "raiding" claims; bringing employee "raiding" claims; ensuring new employees don't bring their former employer's trade secrets; protecting your trade secrets when losing an employee; forms in place to protect the company
  Susan Keck-Truman, Human Resource Consultant
 Wireless Valley Communications / Los Altos, CA
  Elissa R. Wellikson, Esq., Vice President & General Counsel
 Thales Navigation, Inc. / Los Altos, CA
3:00 pm Break
3:15 pm What Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Look for in Their Next Case
  A rare opportunity for defense counsel and corporate clients to gain insight into the mind of the plaintiffs' lawyer; facts that make a case particularly appealing to the plaintiffs' lawyer; the plaintiffs' lawyer's strategy for success
  Jotham S. Stein, Esq.
 Stein & Smith, LLP / Palo Alto, CA
  Sharon Rachel Vinick, Esq.
 McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky / San Francisco, CA
4:30 pm Adjourn

Cancellation

There is a $25 cancellation fee for Course Materials orders and $50 for Homestudy orders

Continuing Education Credits

Law Seminars International automatically obtains CLE credit approval for the state in which a seminar is held. On request, we will apply for CLE credits in other states and other types of credits. Current credits status: CA MCLE13 | NV CLE 12.5 | TX CLE 12.5 (#000070885) | WA CLE 12.5 (#125663)

Cost

Our complete Homestudy Course, consisting of a VHS or DVD recording and the written course materials, is available for $905. The course materials alone are available for $100. We will ship your homestudy order via UPS ground within two weeks after the seminar or the date we receive payment (which ever is later).
Order Homestudy

Faculty Bios

Shawna M. Swanson is a Partner in the San Francisco office of Fenwick & West LLP, where she advises technology and non-technology clients on a wide range of employment issues such as personnel policies, wage and hour laws, EEO compliance, hiring and firing issues, trade secrets, and reductions in force. She also litigates actions involving claims for wrongful termination, employment discrimination, trade secrets and employee solicitation issues.

Patty Woolcock in a Principal with Jackson Hole Group and has over 15 years of human resource consulting and executive management experience. She advises a wide variety of clients from small, high-tech start ups to major, multinational corporations on matters regarding organizational and executive effectiveness, including effective HR management practices and programs and their implementation. She is currently Executive Director of the California Strategic Human Resource Partnership (CSHRP), a consortium of HR executives in the Bay Area..

Lee Curtis is Senior Managing Director at CoreFacts, LLC. He has extensive experience in computer evidence recovery and data analysis. His 30 years of law enforcement has included responsibility for computer forensics and investigations of proprietary theft and other high-tech related cases.

Thomas E. Duckworth is partner at Otis Canli & Duckworth, LLP, where he advises and represents employees and employers in numerous employment law matters including discrimination cases, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, fraud, defamation, privacy and wage and hour disputes. He is a frequent lecturer on employment law matters and serves as a panelist for the San Francisco Early Settlement Program.

Emily Q. Freeman recently became Senior Vice President for JLT USA, the largest broker for Lloyd's, where she is the Errors and Omissions Practice Leader. Previously, she was Vice President of the Western Region and the Executive Director of Consulting for AIG eBusiness Risk Solutions. She has been a principal drafter of cyberspace insurance products and senior consultant for e-business risk management. She participates as a speaker and advisor on technology-related risks for major corporations with infrastructure and commerce applications utilizing computer networks and the internet.

Francoise Gilbert is the founder and managing director of the IT Law Group. She has over 21 years experience negotiating high tech deals. A recognized expert on information privacy and security, she advises companies high stakes transactions, outsourcing or strategic relationships. She serves on the Boards of several Silicon Valley technology start-ups.

Stewart Gill is an Associate with Jackson Hole Group where his consulting practice focuses on working with senior executives and their boards, developing total compensation programs. He also works with individual executives, assisting with the design of their new hire/or separation compensation packages. He is the former Chief Human Resource Officer for Palm, Inc.

Susan Keck-Truman has led Human Resources and Marketing Communications efforts for several start-up companies including Trimax, Astra Communications and SynOptics Communications, growing them to the point of going public or preparing them for merger and acquisition. She has worked in the Silicon Valley over the last 22 years and her most recent position was with Virginia based Wireless Valley Communications, where she currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board

Scott McCall practices in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's Palo Alto office where he represents both private and public high-technology clients in connection with executive compensation and employee benefits matters. He focuses on the design and implementation of equity compensation and bonus plans, executive employment agreements and the corresponding tax, accounting and securities law issues.

Thomas Moyer is Senior Corporate Counsel at Siebel Systems, Inc., the world's leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions and a leading provider of business intelligence applications. He manages a team of international attorneys who are responsible for all Domestic US and international labour and employment matters including establishing and guiding many of Siebel's business practices with respect to data retention and privacy.

Geralynn Patellaro, President of Building a Better Workplace, specializes in human resources consulting, workplace investigations and mediation. She advises clients on all aspects of human resources, leveraging her distinctive combination of business, legal and human resources expertise. Her clients respect and enjoy her balanced approach to employment matters.

Melinda Riechert, of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP specializes in litigation and arbitration of employment disputes for a number of major high-technology and other companies, including defending companies in wrongful termination, discrimination, and sexual harassment disputes. She also counsels employers on how to avoid litigation and conducts training of employees on all aspects of employment law.

Victor Schachter is a partner at Fenwick & West LLP in the San Francisco and Mountain View offices and a member of the firm's Litigation and Employment/Labor Law groups where he represents employers in employment law, labor relations, privacy, trade secrets, unfair competition and related litigation. He has pioneered the development of training programs for executives and managers, and he is an accomplished advocate and mediator in alternative dispute resolution matters..

Rob Shwarts, the Administrative Partner in Charge of Orrick's San Francisco office, has extensive experience in employment related litigation, including defending claims of wrongful discharge, retaliation, sexual harassment, wage and hour violations (including class actions), breach of contract and all forms of employment discrimination. His practice also includes litigation and counseling relating to trade secret misappropriation and non-compete/non-solicitation agreements.

Rebecca Speer is the Founder and Principal of Speer Associates where she brings extensive experience to her work with a wide range of corporations and public-sector and non-profit organization, providing employment law consulting with a specialized focus on employee relations management, internal investigations of misconduct, and the prevention of workplace violence and sexual harassment.

Jotham S. Stein is a founding partner of Stein & Smith, LLP and has represented individuals, partnerships and corporations as plaintiffs in a wide variety of legal disputes, including employment discrimination matters, wrongful termination claims and other employment law matters. He offers a “both sides of the aisle” perspective to his clients as he has also represented high-tech companies in many litigation matters and was a part-time General Counsel for a Silicon Valley start-up.

Lisa P. Sullivan is Assistant General Counsel at Intuit, Inc. where she is responsible for managing all of Intuit's domestic and international litigation. She also manages Intuit's employment law team, including all HR counseling/advice, immigration and benefits. In that capacity she advises regarding all employment-related issues, including harassment, discrimination, hiring, discipline, whistleblower claims, and employee fraud investigations.

Sharon Vinick is a partner with McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky, where she has practiced since 1994. She handles numerous employment discrimination, wrongful termination and wage and hour cases on behalf of employees. She began practicing employment law in 1991 as a staff attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she litigated class action cases and drafted numerous amicus curiae briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Elissa Wellikson is Vice President and General Counsel for Thales Navigation, Inc, where she brings 27 years experience in a variety of legal areas including employment law and strategic business development. She is a former general counsel for Redback Networks where she established the legal department and was instrumental in developing company processes and policies. She also has held senior legal positions at LSI Logic Corp., Bay Networks and Stanford Telecommunications.

Rhoma Young formed Rhoma Young & Assoc. in 1983. Her commitment is to guide organizations through planning and problem solving/avoidance strategies in employee/labor relations, work force reductions, managing and evaluating employee performance and labor market forecasting. She is a frequent speaker on employment issues and testifies as an expert witness in wrongful termination and discrimination cases.