Law School for the CFO: What We Learned

Every now and then, every CFO probably wishes that they went to law school. On Wednesday, October 16, 2013, 100+ local CFOs and other senior financial executives joined The CFO RoundTable Boston as we presented our 4th annual “Law School for the CFO” program, where our speakers dug deep into the areas of equity compensation, social media risks and IP patent processes.

Speaker presentations are included as PDF links in this article.
To go directly to the presentation links, please click here.

Our speakers included:


Mark Macenka, Partner, Goodwin Procter (moderator)	Joel. E. Lehrer, Partner, Goodwin Procter	Brenda Sharton, Partner, Goodwin Procter	Marian Tse, Partner, Goodwin Procter

What did we learn?

Be Knowledgeable Of Your Equity Compensation Practices

100+ CFOs gathered for our 4th Annual
Law School for the CFO program

Marian Tse, Partner, Goodwin Procter, provided an in-depth overview of equity awards and their accounting and tax implications on companies, including:

Types of awards commonly granted, including Options, ISOs, Non-Qualified Stock Options, Restricted Stock, and Stock Appreciation Rights
The tax consequences of these awards at grant date, vesting date, upon exercise, at sale of stock and upon company sale and cash-out of awards
The general accounting treatment of these awards, and their P&L effect at grant or over time
Guidelines for tax withholdings for employees when granting equity awards
Considerations of equity grants on 409A valuations
An explanation of Sections 280G and 4999 of the Federal Tax Code (also known as the ‘Golden Parachute Rules.’)

To download Marian’s presentation in PDF format, please click here.

Be Mindful Of Your Social Media Usage and Policies

Brenda Sharton at Law School for The CFO

Brenda Sharton, Parter, Goodwin Procter,
presents on data security and privacy issues
in social media

Brenda Sharton, Partner, Goodwin Procter, reviewed the privacy and data security issues inherent with social media usage, including an explanation of different types of social media, business use cases of social media, and risk mitigation strategies around social media. Our key takeaways included:

Like it or not, social media usage by employees is widespread. And while social media can benefit organizations, it also poses a number of compliance risks that must be taken seriously.
Social media policies are a necessity for all companies. In light of NLRB decisions and reports, take care in their crafting to ensure that you are well-protected.
Social media monitoring can help, but must be done in compliance with the law and must be disclosed to employees.
If in a situation where you choose to terminate an employee due to their social media usage, do so carefully, and be sure to consult with an employment law attorney before doing so.

To download Brenda’s presentation in PDF format, please click here.

Think Practically About Your Patent Strategy

Law School for the CFO by The CFO RoundTable

Further presentation at Law School for The CFO

Joel E. Lehrer, Partner, Goodwin Procter, reviewed practical approaches and processes for patenting IP, including:

How aligning business goals with IP strategy can help rationalize your spend on patent work, capture valuable IP assets, avoid hurdles down the line and ultimately add to the value of the company
Questions to ask about the value of the patent to the company’s portfolio
Common timelines and costs for patents, as well as hurdles to be on the lookout for
Key aspects of patent reform that all CFOs should be mindful of

To download Joel’s presentation in PDF format, please click here.

2013 Law School for the CFO Presentations

To download the presentations from this year’s Law School for the CFO program, please click the following links:

3rd Annual CFO RoundTable Boston Members Social

Directly following our Law School for the CFO program was our 3rd Annual CFO RoundTable Boston Member Social, where 80+ CFO RoundTable Boston Members and guests networked and connected in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Our hats off to Jack McCullough, Founder and President of The CFO RoundTable, for attending our social in costume as Walter White/Heisenberg! In our opinion, he’s a dead ringer (and who knew we had a few Skyler look-alikes in our membership?)