The Purpose of Corporate Governance

 An accomplished legal practitioner with a career spanning over 15 years, Jamie Hurewitz serves as general counsel and member of the executive team at eSSENTIAL Accessibility in Toronto. In this role, Jamie Hurewitz provides business strategy and market operations advice to the company, as well as overseeing its commercial contracting process, risk strategy, and corporate governance.

Corporate governance refers to the system by which a corporation is directed and controlled. At its core, an effectively implemented corporate governance system ensures the long-term operation and growth of a company through accountability to shareholders, transparency, and reassurance that all actions taken align with the best interests of the shareholders. For this reason, corporate governance is essentially the duty of the board of directors.

Each member of the board undergoes auditing and is appointed based on a binding contract that involves them pledging to adhere to federal laws as well as corporate rules specified by the shareholders and provide pertinent reports for scrutiny as and when due. If the rules contradict the opinion or incentive of the board of directors, the board must voluntarily comply regardless. This gives business owners and investors the peace of mind that the business is operated in their best interest.

Corporate governance spawned from the need to mitigate financial risk to shareholders due to the actions of the board of directors. In the past, some businesses failed due to malpractice by the board of directors that was sometimes unknown to shareholders until significant lawsuits emerged. It appears that the shareholders are the ones who feel the adverse effect of these penalties the most.

Fourth Floor’s Back Room Gives Women Access to Private Investment

 Since 2012, Jamie Hurewitz, an attorney from Minnetonka, Minnesota, has served as counsel for various businesses. In addition to her work as an attorney, Jamie Hurewitz is also involved with the women’s networking group, The Fourth Floor.

One opportunity that women who are involved with The Fourth Floor can participate in is the Back Room. The Fourth Floor’s mission is to make a place for women on boards and to increase the number of women-led start-ups, with the purpose of empowering women and making sure they have access to capital.

The Back Room is a private club for women who launch startups. Here, women can network with fund managers, angels, and other sources of capital. It also provides opportunities for funders to connect with one another and with women interested in becoming limited partners (LP).

The organization states that not a lot of women have check-writing power, and the ones who do, do not have access to LPs/capital. Moreover, not a lot of women are angel investors or venture investors. With that in mind, the whole purpose of creating this opportunity is to make it possible for more women to access capital and have the ability to write checks, so they can fund more female founders.

The Advantages of Remote Working

Remote working is a working style where professionals can work outside their regular office space. It allows employees to telework (work from anywhere) because it functions on the belief that work does not have to be done in a specific location to be effective.

Remote working allows employees to work comfortably, as long as the work gets done. Most of the time, employees set up workspaces in their homes or comfortable spaces. Although, it can be other places since there are several methods in which people can work remotely. People work in places like coffee shops, libraries, or wherever they choose. The transition to remote working is growing exponentially, allowing both employees and employers to maximize the advantages.

The benefits of remote working revolve around empowerment for many employees. Working from home allows employees to have the best work experience. Remote working gives flexible schedules, which boosts the work rate of employees. Employees can carry out tasks without interruptions or organizational politics or activities (time-consuming meetings). Remote employees have more time which allows them to focus on performance.

Employee morale and contentment grow as a result of remote working. There is an increase in productivity when employees successfully maintain a work-life balance. Working from home eliminates the stress from physical jobs for both the employees and the companies. Employees have more time to concentrate on their personal life or activities that make them happy without the burden of commuting and having control over work hours. At the same time, companies have more time to focus on their services.

Further, remote working allows companies to embrace diversity and inclusion by employing more people from different backgrounds. Employees from different socioeconomic, regional, and cultural groups and people with diverse opinions come together to work under one company providing the same services. Normally, this would be difficult because recruiting is limited to a single location. However, hiring remote staff eliminates the time and geographical differences, allowing people to work from areas where they feel safe and supported. It also benefits people who have difficulty finding employment, such as those with impairments or who require flexible hours.

Most employees tend to trust and remain loyal to organizations that give them the freedom to work anywhere. The liberty in these jobs reflects in their work ethics or readiness. Due to this, there is an increase in retention rate in workplaces and a reduced percentage of absenteeism. More employees will be less motivated to move employment, fostering a sense of loyalty and devotion.

Nevertheless, remote working allows employees and employers to save money. Companies can save money on expenditures such as rent, utilities, and office supplies by working remotely. Remote working enables companies to operate using a cloud-based system or small physical spaces. More businesses may save money on operational consistency. Also, employees who work from home can save more money on transportation, food, and clothing.

Another advantage of working from home is that employees spend less time commuting. Remote workers spend less time transporting and more time working. According to the report from Auto Insurance Center concerning commuting, commuters spend over 100 hours every year transporting themselves on buses or trains, with others spending even more time due to traffic, depending on their location.

According to further research, spending a significant amount of time commuting every day raises stress and anxiety levels. It is also related to specific health conditions such as higher cholesterol, raised blood sugar, and an increased chance of depression. Working from home allows employees to save time while improving their emotional and physical wellness.

In addition, remote labor largely contributes to a wide range of sustainability. Reduced commuting leads to increased financial development, more sustainable cities, and climate change. Cities suffer less congestion, pollution, and traffic if more people work from home.

Impact of Tech. on the Legal Profession

Technology has undoubtedly significantly impacted work-life in many industries and sectors. Its penetration is not just felt in the business sector but has found its way into the legal profession. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the growth of alternative methods and approaches to practicing law and increased the adoption of technology.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced courts to rethink their approach to the administration of justice to make it more efficient and quick. The pandemic halted public hearings because of social distancing and other health protocols. This led the courts to adopt virtual hearings where cases are heard remotely.

Corporate law firms have adapted legal technology (LegalTech) to make their processes much easier and faster. LegalTech has also enabled firms to be more efficient and agile. Sole practitioners and small law firms can also now compete with more established firms by deploying enabling technology such as digital research tools in their processes.

Advances in technology have created the demand for individuals, who are not necessarily lawyers, who can navigate technology and use it within the legal sphere. For example, the legal data scientist's role is to manipulate data to be used in legal systems and processes. The interesting thing is that they don't necessarily have to possess a legal qualification as they only need to have a good understanding of how the legal sector works. Those with a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) qualification fit the role of legal data scientists.

With the increase of remote working, the need to adopt file sharing solutions has grown. Knowledge management (KM) software assists law firms and solo lawyers in communicating with clients, polishing, organizing, and sharing opinions. Sharing important legal documents such as transaction files and judgments is now much easier. Popular KM software being deployed by lawyers include Dropbox, Citrix ShareFile, and IBM Aspera.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has also found its place in the legal profession. It has altered how legal teams conduct their research and other routine tasks like document review. For example, lawyers use AI to create contracts and facilitate signature collection. These technological developments are giving lawyers more time for case preparation and litigation. For instance, with the help of AI tools, lawyers can perform due diligence to uncover background information on a case, leaving the lawyers more time to focus on other tasks that require human input or cannot be delegated.

The online footprint of legal firms and attorneys is rapidly expanding with technology offering new methods of working which are more accessible, higher quality, and affordable. Many lawyers have already embraced technology in their practice. For example, billing and accounting software has made work much simpler and easier by providing financial tools that a lawyer can use to manage books of accounts, monitor financial performance, and track profit and loss.

For many years, law firms and lawyers have leveraged the marketing benefits of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. A technology trend gaining much traction among lawyers is using podcasts to reach current and potential clients. Podcasting can help establish a lawyer's credibility, authority, reputation, and expertise. As the lawyer's authority increases, other opportunities may come, such as being invited as a guest speaker at industry meetings or conferences.