Agenda / Content Covered

All times are shown in Eastern time

1. Essential Elements of Business Contracts
   10:00 - 10:30, Michael D. Cross Jr.
   1. Contract Terminology, Definitions and Key Legal Elements
   2. Understanding Contract Concepts
   3. Key Provisions in Contracts
   4. Contract Law - What Paralegals Need to Know
2. Initial Business Contract Considerations - Practical How-to's (with Real-World Examples)
   10:30 - 11:00, Daniel S. Welytok
   1. E-Contracting and E-Signatures
   2. E-mail
   3. Nuances, Current Trends
   4. Letter of Intent
   5. Negotiation Considerations
   6. Handling Term Changes
   7. Conditional Language and its Place
3. Walking Through Key Business Contracts (with Checklists and Samples)
   11:15 - 12:15, Julie D. Copley
   1. Non-Disclosure Agreements
   2. Purchase and Sale Agreements
   3. Product/Inventor License/IP Agreements
   4. Shareholder Agreements
   5. Operating Agreements and Bylaws
   6. Commercial Leases
4. Drafting General Provisions (with Checklists and Samples)
   12:45 - 1:45, Julie D. Copley
   1. Defined Terms and Conditions
   2. Rights and Liabilities of Parties
   3. Dispute Resolution Provision
   4. Forum Selection Provisions
   5. Restrictive Covenants (Confidentiality, Non-Compete, etc.)
   6. Boilerplate Provisions
5. Reviewing/Maintaining Contracts - Best Practices and Tips
   1:45 - 2:45, Daniel S. Welytok
   1. The Importance of a Thorough Document Review Process
   2. Establishing a Template
   3. Understanding the Goal
   4. Material Terms and Conditions
   5. Contract Maintenance: Tips for Calendaring and Process Management
6. Language Landmines, Problematic Words, Phrases and Other Issues
   3:00 - 4:00, Julie D. Copley, Michael D. Cross Jr. and Daniel S. Welytok
   1. Avoiding Risks Associated With "Boilerplate" Provisions - Integration Clauses and More
   2. Translating Legalese Into Alternative Language
   3. Words and Phrases Paralegals Must (or Should) Stop Using
   4. Other Issues: Commonly Misapplied Terms, Couplets/Triplets, Passive/Active Voice, etc.
   5. Exhibits and Schedules Issues
   6. Selecting the Appropriate Formatting
   7. Problem Spotting: Reading and Correcting Sample Clauses
7. Ethics
   4:00 - 5:00, Michael D. Cross Jr.
   1. The Dangers of Using Boilerplate Provisions
   2. Clients That Don't Read the Document(s)
   3. Multi-Party Negotiation Considerations
   4. Amendments and Waivers

Accreditation Details:

JULIE D. COPLEY is an in-house global sourcing contracts paralegal for International Paper. She helps source corporate, raw materials, energy, transportation and procurement ops. For more than 13 years, she was an in-house paralegal at The Service Master Company working with the franchise brands, which includes Merry Maids, ServiceMaster Clean, Furniture Medic, and AmeriSpec. Ms. Copley began working for ServiceMaster in 2000. Her responsibilities included 3rd party contracts, reviewing marketing materials, maintaining an E&O insurance program, litigation and claims management, franchisee issues, and tracking legislation. Ms. Copley passed the national paralegal certification exam in 2006. She passed the advanced certified paralegal exam for contract administration/contract management in 2014. She earned her paralegal certificate from the Institute of Paralegal Studies in 1996. Ms. Copley worked in private practice for four years and Baker Donelson Bearman and Caldwell, and Krivcher Magids prior to joining ServiceMaster.

MICHAEL D. CROSS JR., is a member of the Alpharetta business and technology law firm of Briskin, Cross & Sanford, LLC, where his areas of practice include partnership and LLC law, mergers and acquisitions, franchise law, and corporate law. For more than a decade, Mr. Cross served as an adjunct professor at Reinhardt University, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses involving business law, media law, entrepreneurial law, organizational leadership, and ethics. He also speaks frequently at continuing legal education seminars and has worked with Emory Law School and the Georgia Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism since 2005. Mr. Cross recently was listed by Georgia Trend magazine as one of the 2017 Legal Elite and has been selected five times for inclusion in the listing known as Georgia Super Lawyers Rising Stars for his work representing entrepreneurs, investors, and privately-held companies. He is admitted to practice law in Georgia and Indiana, as well as before the U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Cross earned his B.A. degree from Anderson University, his J.D. degree from Emory University School of Law, and his LL.M. degree, with honors, from the University of Alabama School of Law.

DANIEL S. WELYTOK is a shareholder in the Milwaukee office of von Briesen & Roper, s.c., where he assists clients with tax issues, acquisitions and divestments, capital structuring, financing, corporate governance, information technology, licensing and distribution, regulatory and compliance issues, labor and employee benefits matters, and dispute resolution. He serves as chair of the firm’s Opinion Review Committee. Mr. Welytok was appointed in 2018 by the U.S. Department of Treasury to serve on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities; and has served on the American Bar Association's Advisory Committee, articles editor for The Tax Lawyer, and chair of the ABA Tax Law Committee, Young Lawyers Division. He is also a past member of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Tax Section Board of Directors and past chair of the TE/GE Council for the Great Lakes Area liaison with the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Welytok is an Editorial Board ember and on the editorial staff of the TAXFAX column of The Cooperative Accountant. He has authored and edited various tax and law-related books, including the 2018 National Income Tax Workbook, Nonprofit Law & Governance for Dummies, Sarbanes-Oxley for Dummies, and The Wisconsin Guide to Nonprofits.