Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

The unfolding conflict in Eastern Europe is likely going to cause a wide-ranging impact to companies with business operations or personnel in the region. For technology and commercial contracting professionals, this means potential contract disputes, force majeure issues, business continuity implications, and cybersecurity concerns.

The Law Commission of England and Wales has published a detailed analysis of the application of existing law to smart legal contracts and concluded that the current legal framework is able to facilitate and support the use of smart legal contracts. The Law Commission determined that the jurisdiction of England and Wales "provides an ideal platform for business and innovation, without the need for statutory law reform."

Investment in UK technology companies continues apace, with 2021 marking another record year. The UK government announced in December 2021 that the UK tech sector achieved its “best year ever” in 2021 through investments totaling £29.4 billion, with record IPO capital raising and 37% of all funding coming from the United States. The United Kingdom is creating on average almost one $1 billion “unicorn” technology business a week, primarily fintechs followed by healthtech and enterprise software businesses.

The UK government is considering responses to its proposed reforms to auto-subscription rules for consumer contracts, as part of a broader consultation on reforming UK competition and consumer policy.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at 12:00 pm ET as Morgan Lewis partners Barbara Murphy Melby and Mike Pierides discuss the outlook for the outsourcing industry in the new year and what opportunities and challenges may lay ahead.

As 2021 comes to a close, we have once again compiled all the links to our Contract Corner blog posts, a regular feature of Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis. In these posts, members of our global technology, outsourcing, and commercial transactions practice highlight particular contract provisions, review the issues, and propose negotiating and drafting tips.

With the exponential growth of cyber threats, cloud computing and remote working, contract provisions regarding data security requirements have also expanded in size and frequency. It has become common practice to prepare schedules to detail (and limit) security requirements. Customers and vendors both have a vested interest in clearly identifying expectations and obligations for such requirements. In this week’s Contract Corner, we explore considerations when it comes to drafting security schedules.

As part of our M&A Academy series, please join us on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at 11:30 am ET as Morgan Lewis partners Vito Petretti and David G. Glazer discuss key considerations in structuring and negotiating transition service agreements in the context of M&A transactions.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has held in Case C-410/19 The Software Incubator Ltd v Computer Associates (UK) Ltd that the supply of software by electronic means, where accompanied by the grant of a perpetual user license in return for a fee, could constitute a “sale of goods” for the purpose of defining a commercial agent under the EU Commercial Agents Directive (the Directive).

The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published a set of revised outsourcing principles for regulated entities. IOSCO is an international policy forum for securities regulators and a global standard-setter for securities regulation whose membership regulates more than 95% of the world's securities markets.