There’s a place for lawyers in any industry. Whether it’s negotiating patents, fighting false claims or debating over mergers and acquisitions, any company will either have an in-house legal team or, at the very least, access to a law firm in order to make their business run smoothly and stay competitive.

The gambling sector is no exception to this rule. In all forms of gambling – including online sportsbooks, casinos or bingo halls – there is a need for lawyers. That need can cover many aspects of trading and ever since operators have started to take bets, there has been a space for law firms to work alongside them.

Responding to constant legal change

The gambling industry is a very fluid sector that’s vulnerable to major change at any given moment. It’s at the mercy of heavy regulation in most parts of the world – so gambling operators must remain agile and prepared for changes in the law.

Just look at the UK, where it’s suddenly been decided that in-game advertising during live sport is now off the table, and high-street bookies will soon be banned from taking more than a £2 stake at their fixed-odds betting terminals. These two developments will have a major impact on the revenue gambling operators make – and in both cases, they came quite out of the blue.

What’s more, given the nature of gambling and the amount of scrutiny operators are placed under, they need lawyers to make sure they’re fully compliant with ongoing regulations as these are often strictly enforced.

Being on the right side of the law is crucial when drawing up and changing terms and conditions. At a very basic level, there are obvious restrictions as to who a company can take on as a customer – not only in regards to age but also for certain countries across the world where gambling is heavily regulated.

Partnering Up

The global gambling market is set to yield around $500bn in 2019. In any sector that profitable, there’s a huge amount of competition. Every year, a number of brand new betting operators come along to give an extra edge to a crowded area of commerce – and mergers are a way for some brands to survive, and others to stay ahead.

In recent times, we’ve seen some of the biggest names come together and while, on occasion, some big brands have disappeared, we often see the two entities involved continue to trade as separate organisations.

Elsewhere, it’s also common for an established operator to take over a new brand. That was the case back in 2009 when 888 Holdings acquired Wink Bingo. Wink Bingo had been launched a year earlier and had made a strong start in a competitive market before 888 came calling. The overall deal, which included two other bingo brands was estimated to be worth up to £60m.

The deal paid off for 888, who have now operated the Wink Bingo brand within the UK for nearly 10 years. The online bingo market has proven to be highly competitive, which has also influenced many other large brands to form mergers or acquisitions.

Both companies relied on teams of lawyers to facilitate this complex acquisition – and this will be the case at the moment, when there are no doubt other mergers being discussed between brands keen to protect and grow their market share.

Online gambling expanding into the US

In May 2018, the Supreme Court in the USA voted to lift the PASPA ruling which had effectively outlawed sports betting across much of the country. We’ve yet to see the full ramifications of that decision but the big global operators have already made early moves to capitalise on this new era.

Sports betting halls have been opened up in some of the biggest casinos in the US and gambling facilities have also appeared at certain race tracks up and down the country. Meanwhile, an isolated set of mergers have also been confirmed.

Shortly after the news of the PASPA ruling broke, it was confirmed that one of the biggest Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operators in the US was lining up a partnership with an established UK brand. This move was intended to harness the expertise of a sports betting company that was already a familiar name across the world and the deal was ratified shortly afterwards.

Clearly none of this would happen without lawyers in place to ensure that all parties are happy with the arrangements. Significant amounts of money are changing hands in all of these situations and legal forms and agreements are at the heart of any development in the growth of online gambling on the west side of the Atlantic.

Over in the US, this post-PASPA landscape will see more activity in the months ahead. While the second half of 2018 involved a trickle of mergers and new entities being set up in the US – some are predicting that trickle to turn into a flood. Everyone in the industry is trying to second-guess the intentions of President Trump, who as a former casino tycoon, surely understands that the trajectory of the industry is headed online. However, his hands may be tied as one of his biggest donors is Sheldon Adelson – a casino magnate who has launched a war against online gambling in a battle to protect his land-based empire.

Despite that, the US is a big focal point for the online gambling industry and global operators who have been established for some time will be looking to get a foothold in its sizeable market – however incrementally it grows. Lawyers, as we have seen, will therefore continue to play a necessary and important role in facilitating new contracts and drawing up and overseeing draft proposals between multiple parties.

Summary

All the while, the markets in Europe and across the world are lively enough to keep gambling operators very busy indeed – and who do they need to respond changes in legislation, agree mergers and make sure their terms and conditions remain water-tight? Lawyers – and that’s why the two will continue to work hand in hand as global gambling market keeps growing.

As you progress through your legal studies, you need to develop your reflective skills to enable you to understand your learning style, learn from your mistakes and work out how to improve in future. If you go on to life in the legal profession, you will also be expected to be a reflective practitioner. In fact, for solicitors and barristers in England and Wales that’s what their Continuing Professional Development requirements are based on! This article explains what reflection is and how you can use it in your legal studies

What is reflection?

Some people (such as Donald Schön) divide reflection into two types – reflection in action and reflection on action. Reflection-in-action is something that happens while you are engaged in a task. For example, if you are taking part in a seminar, realise you aren’t properly prepared, and decide to make a note of the articles other students are referring to for reading later. Reflection-on-action is something that takes place after the event. For example, when you get home after the seminar you might start to think about why you weren’t properly prepared and decide to start to plan your time to fit in a trip to the library before the next session. You might find you do reflection in action automatically, as issues arise, but reflection on action can be harder to master.

Why does reflection matter in legal studies?

If you just jump from one task to the next without pausing to think, the likelihood is you will keep making the same mistakes. You might be able to think on your feet and get through problems as they arise, but you won’t really have learnt from the situation. Reflection on action is the step you need to take to make sure you can change your behaviour in future and achieve better results. In the seminar example above, changing your study plans to build in more library time could help you to establish a more effective way of study that helps you to do your work more effectively and contribute better in sessions. It could even help you to understand that you are the sort of person who tends to leave things to the last minute (a very common trait) and to think of ways to combat that.

How do I make sure I am being a reflective student?

Build time into your daily routine to pause and think about how things have gone. For example, you could take 5 minutes before you go to bed each night, or perhaps plan in 30 minutes each Friday afternoon to think back over the week. Some people find it really helpful to keep a reflective journal, writing down their thoughts on different experiences and issues that have arisen. Even if you don’t fancy writing a lot, noting down a few bullet points and lists can be a really useful reminder to look back on in future. You can ask yourself questions such as:

• What went well and why?
• What didn’t go well and why?
• How did my response influence what happened?
• How can I change things in future?

It can also be really helpful to speak to people around you – maybe a friend, family member or even a tutor, and get their thoughts on the situation. They can help you look at things from a different perspective, or simply get your own thoughts in order.

Everyone has the ability to reflect, but in reality it can be hard to keep it up. This is particularly the case when things get very busy, deadlines are looming and time is short. In fact, these are the times when you need reflection more than ever, to help you think about how you are dealing with the challenges you are facing. Get into a good routine and keep persevering and it will provide you with valuable insights into your study journey.

The insurance consultancy firm, which works with corporate clients of all sizes – including over a quarter of the FTSE 100 – believes many in-house legal departments overlook the insurance requirements and risks facing their employers, wrongly believing this is the responsibility of their colleagues in the finance or risk departments.

Mactavish data suggests that 45% of larger, more complex commercial claims are currently disputed by insurers, and that on average they take three years to resolve, with settlements of around 60% of the initial estimated values.

Bruce Hepburn, CEO of Mactavish said: “On too many occasions, we have seen in-house legal counsel neglect their duties in this area, leaving their employers and themselves exposed.”

Mactavish warns that regulatory developments such as The Insurance Act 2015 and the update to the Corporate Governance Code earlier this year, means company directors and legal counsel need to be more aware of the risks facing their organisations, but many have a poor understanding. This means they are at greater risk of having insurance claims rejected because insurers were not told about all the risks they should reasonably have known. This is not only very damaging for a company and its directors, they are also at greater risk of being sued by shareholders.

In-house legal counsel should play a key role in helping determine what type of insurance coverage is needed; filing insurance claims; and answering questions from senior management about how policies work. They also have a huge contribution to make if their employer takes litigation against their insurer over its failure to pay a claim.

Bruce Hepburn said: “In-house counsel need to have a solid understanding of basic insurance law issues. If their employer needs to make an insurance claim, the legal department’s ability to spot issues and help guide the process can mean the difference between a quick pay-out or a long court battle with the insurer.

“They do not have to become an expert in insurance law expert, but they do need to know the basics, and when they should get external help.”

(Source: Mactavish)

The report, which was commissioned by the tax refund specialists and surveyed 2000 UK employees, revealed that a staggering 18% of employees will only get paid normal rate. 8% will receive time and a quarter, 20% will get time and a half, 35% will get double pay and 10% will receive triple pay for working on the 25^th December.

50% of employees working Christmas Day did not get a choice, whilst 24% of employees believe the rota to be unfair.

According to a similar report by the Office for National Statistics, 3.3% of employees will be working Christmas Day, this is the equivalent of 1.04 million workers.

Clergy workers will be the most likely to work on the 25^th with 60% of all employees within this occupation expected to work.

When asked how much notice employees get when working Christmas Day, 16% of employees stated that they will receive just 2 weeks’ notice.

Which occupations are working this Christmas?

According to recent reports, the following occupations will be the ones most likely to work this coming Christmas Day:

Which regions are paid the most to work Christmas?

The North East of England is the most likely to get paid triple time with 28% of employees receiving this wage for working on Christmas Day. Northern Ireland workers are the most likely to be paid the normal rate. A full breakdown of pay per region can be seen below:

Bradley Post, Managing Director of RIFT tax refunds, comments: “Christmas is a time for families and loved ones to meet and celebrate, however, we need to also pay tribute to those hard workers who keep the country running over the Christmas period.

Our research suggests that employees might not have a choice in working Christmas and where possible, I would like to see employers giving their staff some form of reward.”

¹https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/adhocs/006428peoplewhoworkedonchristmasdaybyoccupationandpeoplewhoworkedonboxingdaybyindustry2014

(Source: RIFT Tax Refunds)

For those optimistic travellers, a business trip can be seen as a way of breaking the mundane nine to five routine and provides the opportunity to work in a new, exciting environment – even just for a couple of days. However, for others, it can be seen as an unnecessary upheaval of daily life and more of a chore than a treat. At Christmas, business travel is 10 times more stressful.

Whatever your view, there are many ways to make business travel easier and more rewarding. We’ve enlisted the help of expert, Dorothy Saikia at Jet Airways, to help ensure your next trip - whether it’s your first or fiftieth - is turbulence free from the word go.

1. Plan ahead

By working out your calendar day-to-day, you can focus on the priority meetings but also plan rest and work. For example, if your meeting is in the morning, the afternoon might be a good time to re-charge before picking work up again in the evening. If you’re most productive first thing, try working when you’re fresh. Downloading instant messaging apps such as Slack or creating groups on WhatsApp is a useful way to keep in touch with colleagues, regardless of the time zone.

2. Pack smart

If you’re a frequent traveller, keep an emergency bag of essentials ready at home, including a charger, toothbrush and toiletries, so all you need to do is add a fresh set of clothes and a laptop, then you’re good to go. Sticking to hand luggage always speeds up the airport process, removing the need to wait for baggage. Some travellers swear by dark clothing. Easier to match and good for hiding stains.

3. Use your flight time

Take advantage of being ‘switched off’ from the world with no mobile or internet signal, by focusing on tasks which require uninterrupted concentration. Often having the opportunity to step out of the day-to-day will allow you to focus on wider strategy and the bigger picture. Some travellers work for three quarters of the journey, then switch off towards the end to prepare for arrival. Work on your outbound flight but relax on the way home – you’ll have definitely earnt it.

4. Manage jet lag before you arrive

Jet lag can be a major hindrance to productivity levels while away. Tight schedules can make stopovers impossible. So, if you know you’re returning the same day, make sure you use the flight to rest. For long-haul flights, book one with an afternoon or early evening arrival so regular sleeping patterns can be achieved quickly.

5. Join frequent flyer schemes

Joining a frequent flyer program can offer a range of various tier-based benefits and privileges. Some schemes help you earn points or miles that are redeemable for free flights, upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals or shopping. Other loyalty programmes can help make your trip more enjoyable. For example, members of India’s premier airline Jet Airways’ program, JetPrivilege, can enjoy benefits such as complimentary lounge access, priority boarding and excess baggage allowance.

6. Eat & drink smart

Often business travellers prefer to fast to reduce the effects of jet lag. But if this isn’t an option for you, stick with light meals with plenty of vegetables that are easy to digest. Stay hydrated with water and avoid sugary snacks; even if you are craving a quick sugar fix.

7. Networking

When travelling for business, a sense of community is important because otherwise travelling can feel lonely. Some hotels will offer networking evenings, allowing you to connect with fellow travellers and build relationships. If you’re visiting a new city announce it on LinkedIn, or even through an alumni network. You may find people come to you.

Tier 1 Investor visas were introduced a decade ago to encourage more investment into the UK from foreign countries. The minimum requirement of investment into the UK is now £2 million and investors are granted indefinite leave to remain after a five-year period.

The Home Office apparently issued a statement to the press saying the suspension of Tier 1 Investor visas, or ‘Golden Visas’, would come into effect at midnight on 6 December. Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes was reported to have said at the time she was “bringing forward these new measures which will make sure that only genuine investors, who intend to support UK businesses, can benefit from our immigration system.” No official notice of the suspension has been issued by the Home Office.

However, this month the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) sent an email to its members stating the Home Office had in fact gone back on its purported suspension of the Tier 1 Investor visa, creating uncertainty for those applying to come to the UK and potentially jeopardising millions of pounds of investment. The backtrack on the suspension was confirmed by the Home Office today (11 December) in correspondence to ILPA, with an apparent further statement being announced ‘in due course’.

Tier 1 Investor visas have come under recent criticism with some saying they allow ‘dirty money’ to come into the UK under a false guise.

In 2017 over 1000 Tier 1 Investor visas were issued to applicants and their families, mostly to Chinese and Russian citizens. Earlier this year the high-profile case of football manager and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich withdrawing his Tier 1 Investor visa to the UK hit the headlines and raised the prospect of others following suit and taking their wealth out of the UK.

Philip Barth, partner and head of immigration at Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth said: “This is no way to run an immigration policy, effectively trying to legislate by press release. Not only are there significant amounts of money involved – the minimum requirement for a Tier 1 Investor visa’s investment in the UK is £2 million – but there are real, hardworking people who are already in the process of applying to come to the UK. They have done nothing wrong and yet are being treated like they have.

“There were eyebrows raised when the change of policy was hastily announced through a press release with no prior consultation with immigration law practitioners and no formal Home Office notice, and to have backtracked so quickly shows that much more care needs to be taken with this kind of policy. Some of our team were working through the night for our clients because of this suspension, working to a deadline that did not in fact exist.

“Hopefully now the government will take the appropriate time and care on the design and implementation of its future investor visa policies, particularly at such a fraught time politically and globally when we should be encouraging investment into the UK.”

(Source: Irwin Mitchell)

Blair told Sky News that the "logical thing is to go back to the people", with Theresa May struggling to fight divisions in her own Cabinet over the withdrawal agreement.

He admitted that he feels "sympathetic" towards the Prime Minister, but she must "switch course".

Mrs May has fended off a confidence vote on her leadership, but must now try to push her Brexit deal through Parliament.

This week Lawyer Monthly hears from Robin Ferris, Solutions Architect at Pulsant, on how law firms can manage compliance and regulatory challenges hand in hand.

Law firms hold a lot of data. This may be more sensitive than that of other businesses due to the legal privilege and confidentiality between firms and their clients. But company data will also concern employees and third parties of interest, and it all needs to be compliant. So how do those reasonable keep everything together, take on

Compliance is now an extremely high priority for businesses and requires cooperation from all employees across all areas of an organisation. However, meeting compliance requirements for the vast amount of data law firms hold is not easy and it can be very expensive.  It’s important to understand which data is sensitive, what regulations apply and where is it held. Not an easy task when the data may be held in multiple locations; on premise, other offices, the cloud, or a combination of all three. And GDPR is just a small part of this.

Compliance is now an extremely high priority for businesses and requires cooperation from all employees across all areas of an organisation.

The challenge the legal industry is facing today is the ability to maintain the required level of data security, while allowing this data to be fluid and available to those that need to access it.  Achieving compliance and maintaining it may be viewed as two sides of the same coin, but both are actually very different. Moving beyond simply achieving compliance and maintaining it are two different challenges.

Overcoming the challenges

As new technologies emerge, business transform, and clients change, existing compliance efforts may become undone. Only a continuous compliance approach can prevent this from happening.

There are additional challenges around continuous compliance. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework, for example, has close to 400 specific requirements that need to be met. When considering that this is one framework of many, it’s easy to understand the true complexity of the issue.

As new technologies emerge, business transform, and clients change, existing compliance efforts may become undone. Only a continuous compliance approach can prevent this from happening.

A lack of internal knowledge and understanding can also hamper continuous compliance efforts. Firms may not have the right skillset to translate compliance and controls in the physical world to the virtual world.

This begs the question: How can the legal firms of today overcome these challenges to successfully achieve continuous compliance in today’s ever-evolving technology landscape?

The answer depends upon individual business needs, but cloud technology can alleviate some of the burden through the elimination of hardware limitations.

Compliance in the cloud

While there are indeed technical and security-related obstacles to consider, the advantages that cloud technology has to offer from a compliance perspective certainly outweighs anything else. Businesses have already realised its potential in reducing operational complexities, and these benefits can also be transferred to the world of continuous IT compliance.

Most significantly, using cloud technology to monitor and control IT compliance offers a tremendous amount of transparency: being able to audit, query, alert and resolve any cloud infrastructure changes through virtual means is an incredibly powerful tool to have to hand. It can also deliver significant cost savings and streamline workflows through automating certain processes, simplifying reporting and cutting down on the number of compliance and reporting tools needed.

Using cloud technology to monitor and control IT compliance offers a tremendous amount of transparency: being able to audit, query, alert and resolve any cloud infrastructure changes through virtual means is an incredibly powerful tool to have to hand.

Looking more specifically at how this might help law firms achieve a continuous compliance approach, it largely comes down to unification. A cloud-based platform can enable firms to integrate all their relevant compliance-based data and information into a single view, thanks to the ability to consolidate any existing management tools and their respective data sources. When implemented and configured in the right way, this can provide operators with an intuitive compliance dashboard that combines data sources from across any organisation. It also enables automation and manual remediation to fix non-conformities and further prevent breaches.

The use of cloud technology also allows firms to continually track infrastructure and trigger instant alerts when necessary. Using pre-defined rules and the ability to add bespoke policies, a cloud-based platform can continuously pull information and check it against the controls it has in place to identify any instances of non-conformities, which makes it simpler to identify and resolve any issues.

Conclusion

Continuous compliance can seem a daunting prospect if IT is not a core competency. But data is a pivotal resource in most organisations; this is especially true for law firms. One thing to be certain of is that as businesses continue to generate more data, new regulations are as likely to follow.

Compliance is an organisational commitment and as the regulatory landscape continually shifts, firms must anticipate the effects of these new regulations. Continuous compliance provides a framework to work within and respond to any changes with a level of agility and effectiveness.

According to law firm RPC, intellectual property disputes between big brands were more likely to happen in 2017 and 2018 compared with previous years. IPO data has shown a 30% increase in UK trademark applications between 2016 and 2017, an increase predominantly attributed to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. On a similar note, the PTO alleges a 13% increase in US trademark applications for the same period; this also being twice the increase as the previous year’s comparisons.

Some might say that trademark applications have gotten a little out of hand at this point, with some of the strangest and most obscure filings making the news. And those are just the ones that make the news. In 2018 Paisley Park Enterprises Inc., representing deceased musician Prince’s estate, filed an application for “Love Symbol #2”, the official colour of Prince’s brand and a particular shade of purple he sported religiously. Maybe they wanted to protect the undying brand image of Prince?

With a YoY rise in trademark filings, of which the most part are of course very serious corporate branding claims, it’s no surprise trademark disputes are also on the up. So, without further ado, here’s 10 of 2018’s top trademark disputes we thought worthy of citing and discussing.

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Although there are countless schools from which to choose, you’ll need to put your best foot forward regardless of which one you wind up at. Since obtaining a law degree takes a considerable amount of hard work and dedication, a fair number of prospective lawyers wind up dropping out before completing their respective degrees. Law students looking to get the most out of their time in school and earn their degrees with aplomb are sure to benefit from the following pointers.

1. Never Stop Preparing for Exams

While it’s true that exam scores play an important role in determining one’s final grade in most academic situations, they’re absolutely crucial in law school. Sure, you’ll still have homework, but its primary goal will be preparing you for exams.

Since exam scores are vitally important to one’s success in law school, it’s imperative for students to be in a consistent state of preparation. However, this isn’t to say that you’ll need to constantly pull all-nighters and completely sacrifice your personal life. Instead, you’ll need to set aside time for studying each day. As any law school grad can attest, a little bit of daily studying will do you more good than a full night of pre-exam cramming. This approach also ensures that students will properly digest and retain course material instead of quickly memorizing and subsequently forgetting it. Whether you’re fully confident in your test-taking abilities or suffer from exam anxiety, perpetual test preparation is an absolute must for law students.

2. Understand What You’re Signing up for

Law school is among the most difficult educational institutions to succeed in. The class structure, workload and exams are dramatically different from what you’ll find at traditional colleges, so earning a B.A. isn’t necessarily a solid indicator of success in this new setting. Before attending your first class, it pays to learn exactly what will be expected of you as a law school student and make the necessary alterations to your schedule. Unfortunately, a sizable number of incoming law students don’t bother with these steps and wind up overwhelmed as a result. Although institutions like the Santa Clara University School of Law allow students to complete degree programs online, hard work and preparation are still central to one’s success.

3. Don’t Skip out on Class

Since exam scores are largely what determine your final grades, some law students don’t feel the need to attend class on a regular basis. The way they see it, if attendance counts for nothing, they can just work their way through the syllabus on their own. The problem with this approach is that it discounts the valuable lectures given by professors, as well as their insightful explanations of the course material. To develop a solid understanding of the subjects covered, you’ll need the guidance and wisdom of your professors.

4. Don’t Shrug off Homework

In the same vein as habitual class-skippers, some law students feel that homework is pointless because test scores determine their final grades. As long as they understand the material, they don’t see the value in completing homework 

assignments that essentially reiterate things they already know. While law school homework can be time-consuming, it’s crucial to enhancing one’s understanding of course material. The more time you spend poring over case studies, law journals and other assigned reading, the stronger your grasp on the material will become.   

5. Avoid Over-Joining  

Like most educational institutions, law schools are home to assorted clubs and study groups. There generally isn’t any harm in committing to one or two of these, but if group-related obligations begin to take precedence over exam prep and homework, it may be time to rethink your priorities. While extracurriculars are fun, academics should be every law student’s foremost commitment.

Every aspiring judge and attorney can benefit from a good education. While it’s no secret that law school can be tough, the rewards for one’s hard work are invaluable. A degree from the right law school can set you on the path to long-term success and prosperity. However, before you can begin a rewarding career in law, you’ll need to fulfill the necessary academic requirements. Although this won’t be easy, it’s well within the abilities of anyone with sufficient strength, willpower and follow-through.