TheCorporateCounsel.net

Early this year, I met a woman sitting next to me at a small meeting named Julie Yip-Williams who practices at a major firm in New York City. We did not talk long but I liked her and invited her to join my advisory board for this site. I was shocked to recently learn that she is battling colon cancer – and has been writing regularly in her blog about that battle. If you find her writings to be inspiring, please drop her a line to say so – even if you have never met her. A young mother of two, it’s selling her short to say that she is inspiring and quite a writer.

Below is a list of Julie’s favorite posts:

– Invictus explores the questions of why and whether there is a reason and purpose for all the bad things that happen in the world. Smarter thinkers than I have considered these abstract and metaphysical questions for centuries. This is my humble attempt.

– Moments of Happiness describes how I have come to find happiness after being diagnosed with cancer.

– Faith, A Lesson of History speaks to my love of personal history, in large part because my memories serve as the source of the faith I have in my own strength. I believe that strength lives within each of us; it’s just a matter of whether we are willing to study our own past to unlock that strength.

– Deals With God describes my belief in God, the rage I’ve felt for him, the love I have for my husband, the fear I have for the safety of my family after being diagnosed with cancer and the deal I am making with God now.

– No Man Is An Island is about the bonds that unite us as human beings.

– Splendor in the Grass and Glory in the Flower speaks to the magic and power of our children and their ability to help us through our darkest hours.

– Dreams Forsaken is a seemingly sad piece about the dreams that cancer has taken from me, but it is excruciatingly honest and through that honesty I find comfort and the hope of new dreams.

– Numbers Mean Squat describes my sentiments about my statistical odds of survival.

– Death, I’m Not Afraid of You is my attempt at confronting Death.

– I’m Not Crazy is an explanation of why I believe sharing my cancer fighting journey with the entire world denies the cancer power over me.

– Armor On! is what I read when I am preparing myself for chemo, complete with a speech for the chemo and a battle cry.

Insider Trading: The SEC v. Mark Cuban Case Continues

Thankfully, I haven’t been blogging about all of the developments in the SEC’s insider trading case against Mark Cuban – for violating a confidentiality agreement – because it’s been years and still ongoing (this was my initial blog about it). Here is Professor Bainbridge’s blog on the latest as the case proceeds to a jury trial…

Survey: Board Attitudes

Recently, BDO USA released this board survey that, among other things, shows that:

– Social Media – 64% are aware of the new SEC guidance that allows companies to disclose material information through postings on social media, but only 11% anticipate utilizing social media for material disclosures in the future.

– Time Management – When asked what topics they would like to spend more or less of their time on, directors cite succession planning (47%) and studying industry competitors (45%) as areas they would like to spend more time. Risk management (38%) and evaluating management performance (32%) were the other areas where sizable percentages expressed an interest in spending more time. Perhaps more revealing is how few of these directors expressed a desire to spend less time on any of these areas, with the possible exception of compliance and regulatory issues.

– Ranking Risks – 69% cite regulatory/compliance overload as the greatest risk facing their businesses. Cyber breaches (13%), fraud/corruption (9%), privacy violations (6%) and intellectual property misappropriation (3%) are cited by far smaller percentages. When asked to identify the greatest risk for fraud at their companies, a large proportion cite embezzlement or similar crimes against the company (42%). Corruption/bribery (20%), earnings management (18%), insider trading (12%) and revenue recognition (8%) are cited by smaller proportions.

– Executive Pay – Given the sensational performance of the stock market in 2013, 34% are concerned that this focus on equity is leading to a growing gap in compensation between the CEO and other members of the management team. Of those expressing this concern, a majority (56%) believe the most approach to address the gap is to expand equity-based compensation to more members of the management team, while one-third (33%) suggest moving a larger portion of CEO compensation back to traditional, long-term cash or annual cash incentive programs. Few (11%) suggest re-introducing executive perquisites back into the compensation mix for key employees.

When asked what performance measurement they consider the best substitute for at least a portion of equity-linked pay, directors cite profit growth (39%) and free cash flow (24%) as the most likely substitutes. Operational efficiency (18%), revenue growth (14%) and market share (6%) are the other alternative measurements cited by the directors.

– Broc Romanek