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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Commercial Law

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, February 1, 2022

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will discuss the rise of blockchain in the supply chain as new state and federal laws establish that contract validity cannot be denied due to "smart contract" terms. The panel will address how blockchain may replace the traditional bill of lading, how the blockchain can streamline indexing and price adjustments, and what blockchain agreements should include when drafting force majeure and termination provisions. The panel will discuss best practices to handle data privacy concerns and compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Faculty

Robert A. Musiala
Counsel
BakerHostetler

Mr. Musiala, the firm’s blockchain counsel, is esteemed for his roles in the areas of cryptocurrency anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing, and concept development for blockchain-based solutions. His practice includes advising blockchain industry clients on the application of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act and regulations issued by FinCEN. Mr. Musiala also counsels clients that have previously completed “initial coin offering” events on strategies for mitigating personal and business risk, limiting business disruption, and achieving regulatory compliance. His experience also includes assisting clients with blockchain based alternative trading system applications, advising blockchain technology firms on strategies for achieving compliance with GDPR, and counseling businesses that are working with blockchain enterprise consortia. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Musiala was a founding member of the blockchain practice at a “Big Four” accounting firm and one of the largest professional services firms in the world, where he was introduced to blockchain through his work as an intelligence analyst and financial crimes investigator.

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Veronica Reynolds
Attorney
BakerHostetler

Ms. Reynolds’ experience in digital media and technology provides a firm foundation for her legal work in the technology ecosystem, which encompasses blockchain and digital payments, data privacy and protection, intellectual property and emerging technologies. Her experience includes facilitating white collar cryptocurrency investigations and securities enforcement litigation, assessing legal issues related to NFTs and decentralized finance, and working with clients to address issues related to digital payments, including providing counsel related to money services businesses and market transactions related to the use of digital currencies. Ms. Reynolds’ work with the firm’s blockchain team also includes providing insight into emerging issues in the rapidly developing distributed ledger, blockchain and digital currency space. She has spoken on the subject at numerous academic institutions, including UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, guest lectured on the topic at UC Irvine School of Law and co-organized the firm’s inaugural blockchain and emerging technologies summit at UCLA.

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Description

Blockchain technology is everywhere. Companies are using it throughout their daily operations, from supply chain security to smart contracts and beyond. While it might sound like something only IT teams need to understand, blockchain will affect every company, and business leaders should be at the forefront.

As companies begin to implement blockchain solutions, counsel should consider what contract terms to adjust in supply agreements and other commercial contracts related to the use of blockchain in the supply chain. Buyers must consider whether it would be beneficial to contractually require their suppliers to join the buyer's supply chain blockchain to provide deeper visibility into its supply chain. For smaller suppliers and sub-suppliers, the ability to keep up and participate in this evolving area may present a challenge that impacts their ability to compete for certain businesses.

Other provisions, such as force majeure and termination, need to explicitly address blockchain malfunction or limitation of one party's access to the blockchain. In the event of termination of a supply agreement, the parties will want to explicitly set forth any requirements to unwind the blockchain or terminate the related smart contracts.

While blockchain is considered a highly secure means of data storage, paradoxically, some of blockchain's other attributes (being decentralized and immutable) pose a compliance barrier with many data privacy regulations, such as the CCPA and GDPR. Blockchain's decentralized platform makes it tricky to determine which privacy laws apply.

Listen as our expert panel discusses how to integrate blockchain into supply chain agreements for stakeholders to realize the real benefits of cost savings and reduction in fraud.

Outline

  1. Blockchain in supply chain agreements
    1. Provisions
      1. Subs and suppliers
      2. Governance
      3. Force majeure
      4. Termination
    2. Data privacy concerns
      1. CCPA
      2. GDPR
  2. Benefits of the use of blockchain
  3. Limitations of liability

Benefits

The panel will address these and other key issues:

  • How is blockchain best incorporated into new and existing blockchain supply chain agreements?
  • How can force majeure and termination provisions address blockchain concerns?
  • How can privacy restrictions in the CCPA and GDPR be reconciled with the use of blockchain?